Good Practice Criteria
Inclusivity & Participation
Does the practice ensure that its services are accessible and responsive to diverse groups?
The practice is open to all refugee women, regardless of background, age, French language level or (dis)ability. Both supervisors and trainees receive a welcome booklet, adapted for non-French-speaking people, which details the entire course and enables them to familiarise themselves with relevant vocabulary at the start of the programme. Those trainees with particular needs are given tailored support via partnerships with relevant actors. The volume of work, and the equipment itself, is adapted as needed to better suit those who are differently abled. The practice offers flexible working hours to allow for trainees’ childcare and personal obligations (such as French lessons or administrative appointments).
Good practice checklist
✓ Adopt a participatory, gender mainstreaming, age sensitive, inclusive approach and secure equal opportunities for beneficiaries.
✓ Make sure to provide precise and accessible information on how to access services in different languages, formats and through different communication channels
✓ Ensure that equality and diversity are an essential part of how services are delivered, taking into consideration different needs and capacities.
✓ Make reasonable adjustments to service delivery in order to take into account particular needs of the target group.
Does the practice involve the active participation of the receiving society?
Individual members of the receiving society and civil society actors take part in the project as partners and clients.
Good practice checklist
✓ Consider integration as a two-way process, and aim for change on the side of the receiving society.
✓ Foresee an active role for the receiving society in the design and implementation stages of the practice, and involve actions that encourage native communities and beneficiaries to work together.
Relevance & Complementarity
Are the objectives of the practice relevant to the needs of the migrants?
A high proportion of refugees in France do not have a diploma or proof of their professional experiences in their home countries, and therefore face difficulties in accessing the labour market. This is particularly true of refugee women. The practice tackles this obstacle by creating employment opportunities for refugee women who have skills but no work experience in France, and no (proof of) qualifications or education.
Good practice checklist
– Identify and analyse the needs of the relevant migrants and prioritise methods which directly ask them about their needs.
✓ Identify and analyse gaps in integration support and design actions to fill these gaps.
✓ Aim for systemic improvement, satisfying the needs of the majority of target groups in the target area.
Is the practice relevant to the empowerment of migrants, the strengthening of their autonomy and the support of their long-term integration?
The practice contributes to the economic empowerment of those refugee women most excluded from the labour market and promotes their autonomy and independence. It also allows members of the host society to discover new recipes and cultural traditions, and to develop culinary and social links with refugees. This leads to a more inclusive society and serves to further refugees’ integration in the long term.
Good practice checklist
✓ Devise actions with the overarching goal of providing positive feedback and making migrants more confident, autonomous and independent.
✓ Contribute to migrants’ engagement with the community for the common good.
✓ Ensure that services contribute to the strengthening of the capacities of migrants/migrant communities.
✓ Include (or create the preconditions for) actions that facilitate long-term integration.
– Address discrimination and information gaps as obstacles to long-term integration.
Does the practice align with the priorities, strategic goals and policies of other relevant stakeholders, and contribute to the wider integration framework?
Integration through employment is one of the guidelines for refugee integration set out by the French government, which means that it is able to allocate funding to labour market integration projects for refugees. The activities of the practice align with this framework.
Good practice checklist
✓ Ensure that all actions are in line with international and European human rights standards.
✓ Employ regional/local, national and EU/international level integration-related guidelines and tools.
– Make sure that the services offered contribute to the strengthening of the capacities of relevant institutions to support future development.
Effectiveness
Is the practice adequately planned and based on a comprehensive design?
The project aims to create a welcoming and supportive environment for the labour market integration of refugees and the development of their language skills and self-confidence. Results are evaluated via a monitoring table that analyses the number of activities, participants and weeks of training carried out, as well as trainees’ development and their level of French on completion of the programme.
Good practice checklist
✓ Aim for actions that achieve observable outcomes among the target group or contribute to changes during the implementation of the action.
✓ Make sure that the objectives and planned results of the activity are feasible and clear.
– Develop a communications strategy during the design phase of the action and pay attention to communication with host communities and local authorities.
− Develop a staff management plan to identify team members with the right skills to work with beneficiaries, and their needs for training and further qualification.
Sustainability
Does the practice attract structural funding and support from new sponsors and individuals, or have the potential to develop a business model to generate its own resources?
The company attracts several regional and local sources of funding allocated to refugee integration. The business model of the practice itself also allows it to generate its own resources.
Good practice checklist
✓ Develop partnerships and relations with relevant stakeholders at the early stage of the action to ensure that the practice has strong support and potential partners for after the primary funding terminates.
✓ Identify new EU and national funding opportunities for long-term integration (e.g., shifting from project-based initiatives that are limited in time or dependent on one (external) donor to a comprehensive, multi-year strategy based on secured funding or diverse funding opportunities).
✓ Diversify funding opportunities and identify options for self-financing through business activities or social entrepreneurship.