BAACBH Attends Secretary Clinton's Global Diaspora Forum From May 17-19, 2011, the U.S. Secretary of State's Office of Global Partnerships, in collaboration with the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Migration Policy Institute (MPI) organized the first "Global Diaspora Forum" in Washington, D.C. BAACBH was honored to have had the privilege to attend this event and represent the Bosnian-American diaspora. The aim of the event was to recognize and celebrate the contribution of diaspora communities to America's relationship with their countries of origin or ancestry, as well as to foster diaspora-centric partnership models and encourage intra-diaspora collaboration and learning. The United States holds the title as the world's leading host for international migrants however the history of immigration to the United States is a history of the country itself. Today, there are about sixty two million first and second generation diasporas living in the United States, and approximately forty eight billion dollars of recorded remittances are sent from the United States diaspora communities to their home countries.

The U.S. Secretary of State, Hillary R. Clinton stated that one of the great strengths of America lies in its diversity. As an example of diaspora importance and involvement, Secretary Clinton spoke about how Irish Americans were instrumental to the peace process in Northern Ireland and she hopes that this forum is able to spark cooperation between the U.S. and diaspora communities. BAACBH praises Secretary Clinton on this initiative and looks forward to continuing our work with the U.S. Department of State in order to implement projects and promote common interests between the United States and BiH.