Geneva – IOM, the UN Migration Agency, published today (22/12) the report Setting Standards for an Integrated Approach to Reintegration. The report, prepared and conducted by the Samuel Hall think tank, outlines recommendations to support sustainable reintegration of migrants who return to their home countries in the framework of Assisted Voluntary Return and Reintegration (AVRR) programmes.

The research presented in this report was conducted under the Mediterranean Sustainable Reintegration (MEASURE) Project, funded by the UK Department for International Development (DFID) and managed by the Migrant Assistance Division at IOM Headquarters. MEASURE aimed to foster the sustainability of reintegration interventions through the completion of desk and field research in Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Iraq, Senegal and Somalia.

This research resulted in a broad set of recommendations to improve reintegration programming. “The report is an important step in connecting the dots in the field of reintegration to build on the existing expertise in different thematic areas: for instance, mental health and psychosocial support, community-based initiatives or partnerships for the creation of jobs and economic opportunities at the local level,” said Nazanine Nozarian, MEASURE Project Manager. “Efforts need to be made to adapt such practice under AVRR programmes and promote their implementation in a systematic and consistent manner,” she added.

The research also led to the development of a set of 15 field-tested indicators relating to the economic, social and psychosocial dimensions of reintegration, which are presented in the report together with a reintegration scoring system, allowing to measure post-return outcomes and to facilitate the understanding of returnees’ progress towards sustainability. These tools will allow IOM and other practitioners to compare trends in returnees’ reintegration across countries and over time.

“IOM is already taking concrete steps to implement the results of the MEASURE project. For instance, the indicators will be used by IOM within EU-funded migrant protection and reintegration initiatives in Africa and in Asia, to foster comparative analysis across regions and countries, and promote evidence-based programming,” added Nozarian. 

“Return is never easy nor straightforward. MEASURE findings confirm that reintegration is a complex, multifaceted process, one that not only concerns returnees but also their peers and communities. It is not simply a logistical or economic process, it also requires social and psychosocial support for returnees to feel empowered,” said Nassim Majidi, Co-Director of Samuel Hall. “Implementing the report’s recommendations will require innovative thinking and flexibility from donors and practitioners who will need to invest more time and energy to support each returnee,” highlighted Majidi.

To read the report, please click here. To read more on IOM’s Integrated Approach to Reintegration, please click here.

For more information on IOM’s Assisted Voluntary Return and Reintegration programmes, please click here.

For more information, please contact IOM HQ in Geneva: Nazanine Nozarian, Tel: +41 22 717 9314, Email: nnozarian@iom.int or Jorge Galindo, Tel: +41 22 717 9205, Email:  jgalindo@iom.int