Diaspora Engagement Strategies for Development: A Comparative Analysis of Egypt, India, Mexico, Nigeria, and the Philippines

Migrant-sending countries are deliberately linking to their populations abroad and diaspora communities are also claiming rights and recognition from their home countries. In that context, this article examines the extent to which migrant-sending countries integrate an enabling environment for diaspora contributions into national development planning. It conducts a comparative analysis of key national development planning texts of sending countries with some of the largest diaspora globally: Egypt, India, Mexico, Nigeria, and the Philippines. Through a comparative analysis, the article finds that most sending countries foster an enabling environment for diaspora contributions through diaspora institutions and diplomatic/consular services. It also finds, however, that despite the growing attention to the migration-development nexus, an enabling environment articulated in national development planning is rather limited in the selected countries.