​Every year, diaspora communities send hundreds of billions of dollars to their countries of origin. It is one of the most frequently cited facts about diaspora and development, but it may also be one of the least interesting. Measuring diaspora contribution primarily through money sent home misses something much bigger: a distributed global network of people who hold two worlds at once. ​Diaspora communities carry languages, relationships, cultural knowledge, and lived experience of their countries of origin alongside professional networks, institutional access, expertise, and connections to capital in the places where they live and work. ​Diaspora communities are not simply donors, NGOs, investors, beneficiaries, or government representatives. They can occupy several of those roles simultaneously. Their influence often moves through relationships, identity, trust, and informal networks that are difficult for conventional development systems to categorize or measure. ​Participants will move between the personal and the structural: examining what diaspora communities are already doing, where their distinctive advantages come from, and which institutional structures make that contribution easier or harder. Participants can expect: ​A broader framework for understanding diaspora contribution beyond remittances, including skills, networks, cultural investment, narrative power, entrepreneurship, and capital. ​Real perspectives on diaspora investment in creative economies and what cultural investment can produce beyond conventional financial returns. A clearer understanding of the distinctive role diaspora networks can play in connecting communities, institutions, markets, and countries. ​Practical questions for philanthropists, governments, investors, and development organizations about how they engage diaspora communities ​Connections among diaspora investors, cultural entrepreneurs, development practitioners, and policymakers who do not often find themselves in the same room. ​This session is for diaspora investors, entrepreneurs and community leaders; philanthropists and development finance professionals; creative economy practitioners; policymakers and diplomats working across migration and development; and anyone interested in how relationships, identity, culture, networks, and capital move between countries.

Five years on from August 2021, Afghanistan remains one of the most difficult places in the world to be a woman or a girl — and one of the hardest places to keep humanitarian and economic support flowing to the families who need it. This event is a firsthand briefing with United Nations Special Rapporteur on Afghanistan, Afghan women leaders, and the organizations documenting what is happening on the ground. Discussion will cover how things stand for Afghan women and girls today and what meaningful international engagement can still look like. Featured speakers include: Richard Bennett, UN Special Rapporteur on Afghanistan Quhramana Kakar, Women for Peace and Participation Hanifa Girowal, Women’s Rights First Alyse Nelson, President and CEO, Vital Voices Global Partnership Layma Murtaza, Co Founder and CEO, Aseel App Nargis Nehan, Founder, Farageer; Former Minister of Mines and Petroleum of Afghanistan The event is free to attend, but tickets must be reserved by 25 September.

Planning, Monitoring, Accountability and Learning (P-MEAL) is an essential component to ensuring quality and accountability in humanitarian action. Measuring and assessing the efficacy of a project allows humanitarian practitioners to learn and adapt, ultimately resulting in improved programming to better serve affected communities. This training offers a foundation of P-MEAL tools and processes, best suited for beginners who want to strengthen their practical monitoring skills. Participants can expect to: Work hands-on with developing indicators and designing protection tools. Gain practical experience with KoboToolbox for digital data collection and PSPP for analysis and interpretation. Learn how to design and prepare questionnaires as key data collection tools for monitoring. Explore the use of artificial intelligence in MEAL processes, including both benefits and challenges. Gain an understanding of how to use results to inform decision-making and reporting. The course will take place online in six sessions: 1, 8, 27 October and 12, 17, 26 November from 9:30 to 13:30. The language of instruction is English. The cost of attendance is €500,00. Members of ADH organizations can apply for fee reimbursement.

Together with Amnesty International, the Vienna Institute for International Dialogue and Cooperation (VIDC) is organising an event on 9 October 2026 on the topic of "Self-Care, Community Care & Resistance in Activism". Sustainable activism needs resilient structures, spaces and concrete skills that make it possible to remain healthy and capable of acting in the long term. This is an opportunity to create a space for activists and to deal with self-care, collective care and sustainable activism. On the podium, Aischa Sane, Asma Aiad and Salomé Sarah Grünberger will discuss experiences, challenges and opportunities to think about care as part of political and social commitment. This event is part of the new VIDC event series Diaspora Talks.This free event will take place in German on October 9, 2026 from 19:30 – 21:00.

In contexts where civil liberties are restricted, under repressive governments and amid internal or international conflicts, the civilian population faces a serious risk of fundamental rights violations. Human rights defenders, social activists, community leaders, and racialised groups, among others, are frequently targeted due to the vital roles they play in such contexts. Protection by Presence is a strategy designed to safeguard the lives and civic space of communities, civil society organisations, and activists. Through a deliberately visible presence, it aims to deter potential perpetrators from committing acts of violence, while also providing moral support, solidarity, and accompaniment.  This five-day training introduces participants to the principles, tools, and practical application of Protection by Presence (PbyP), combining theoretical presentations, participatory exercises, and simulations.  Participants can expect to learn: Introduction to Protection by Presence: fundamental concepts and historical evolution. Links between PbP and advocacy, self-protection, and communication strategies. Communication skills and advocacy messaging tools. Managing difficult actors. Challenges and opportunities of Protection by Presence. Key concepts and tools of community-based protection: understanding self-protection, community ownership, stakeholder analysis, community risk assessment and community-led protection strategy.  Analysis of privilege in power dynamics, including differential and decolonial analysis. And more. The course is taught in English in Manila, Philippines. It is best suited for humanitarian professionals with at least two years of experience.  The cost to participate is  €350, and scholarships are available upon request in cases of financial need. The payment deadline is 1 October 2026. Upon completion of the course, participants will receive a certificate from NOHA.