EU-IOM Joint Initiative

for Migrant Protection and Reintegration

A study underway in the Horn of Africa represents the first attempt at obtaining a robust estimate of the impact of a large-scale regional reintegration programme - opening the way for a replicable model available to the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the wider community of reintegration practitioners.

The focus of the Study is the EU-IOM Joint Initiative for Migrant Protection and Reintegration in the Horn of Africa (the EU-IOM Joint Initiative), now in its fifth year of operation and focused mainly on Djibouti, Ethiopia, Somalia and Sudan.

The impact study is based on a semi-experimental methodology by which the reintegration outcomes of programme beneficiaries are systematically compared with matched non-migrant individuals residing in the same communities. It also aims to inform improvements to the way IOM measures sustainable reintegration while providing a standard design for future impact evaluation of reintegration programmes.

The baseline data collection is ongoing. https://bit.ly/3AZmiZn

There are several other research outputs linked to the impact study: 

• A sub-study aimed at analyzing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on reintegration outcomes among the EU-IOM Joint Initiative-assisted returnees in Ethiopia, Somalia and Sudan.
• An in-depth analysis of the re-migration intentions of the EU-IOM Joint Initiative’s beneficiary returnees. This study is centred on a ‘discrete choice experiment’ conducted with a representative sample of beneficiaries in Ethiopia, Somalia and Sudan, which will allow the identification of the main factors considered in re-migration decision making. The study is being conducted in collaboration with academics from the University of Potsdam (Germany) and the University of Reading (UK).
• An evaluation of the mental health and psychosocial support component of the programme, incorporating a mixed-methods research of the psychological and social consequences of difficult experiences of returning migrants.
• Mapping of partnerships established by IOM with other reintegration stakeholders in the implementation of the EU-IOM Joint Initiative in the region. This also encompasses an analysis of partnership management dynamics based on a participatory process to which partners themselves will contribute. This study is strategic for the programme as it will showcase the large partnership network created in the Horn of Africa.
• The development of an online course on how to design and implement impact evaluations for reintegration programmes. The course will be publicly available through the IOM e-Campus platform. It is being carried out in collaboration with the Knowledge Management Hub at headquarters in Geneva, with the involvement of IOM’s Global Migration Data Analysis Centre(GMDAC)and the Office of the Inspector General. The course will be ready by the first quarter of 2022.

According to Mitsue Pembroke, the deputy regional coordinator of the EU-IOM Joint Initiative in the Horn of Africa: “The EU’s generous contributions for the impact study and affiliated research pieces are critical to ensure accountability and knowledge management, as well as evidence based programme adaptation for the EU-IOM Joint Initiative programme.  We hope to share all our learning with the community of reintegration practitioners.”

About the EU-IOM Joint Initiative

Launched in December 2016 and funded by the European Union (EU) Emergency Trust Fund for Africa, the programme brings together 26 African countries of the Sahel and Lake Chad region, the Horn of Africa, and North Africa, along with the EU, and IOM around the goal of ensuring that migration is safer, more informed and better governed for both migrants and their communities.

For more information please contact Julia Hartlieb, email: jhartlieb@iom.int or Wilson Johwa, email: wjohwa@iom.int