The Advancement of Kenya’s Foreign Policy Goals: The Case of the Diaspora Diplomacy Pillar

The global rise in diaspora communities has emerged as a principal issue for policy makers in the Global South. Since the onset of the 21st century, respective governments in the region have increasingly recognized the economic, political and social implications of large diaspora communities abroad. Consequently, moves are being made to utilize this group to further national development and foreign policy goals. This is evident in the creation of diaspora offices, engagement policies, programs, and incentives targeting the diaspora. In the region of East Africa, Kenya has actively embarked in the process of diaspora engagement as reflected in the 2014 Kenya Foreign Policy and Kenya Diaspora Policy documents. Kenya‟s Foreign Policy highlights five key pillars of which Diaspora diplomacy is featured. The Kenya Diaspora Policy outlines in detail action to be taken by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and stakeholders in order to realize greater diaspora engagement. The main objective of this research is to examine the implementation of the Diaspora Diplomacy Pillar from 2008 – Present according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Trade Strategic Plan, inspired by Kenya Vision 2030. This was achieved through the collection of primary and secondary data on the topic of diaspora engagement policies. More specifically, in - person interviews and secondary data in the form of government publications, policy documents, journals and books.