Good Practice Criteria
Inclusivity & Participation
Does the practice ensure that its services are accessible and responsive to diverse groups?
As part of the YES! project, ANKA targets young people aged 18 – 29 who are not in education, employment or training (NEETs). Anyone that fulfils these criteria is eligible for the programme, including those without a refugee background, asylum seekers, and refugees. Services are accessible in that they are adapted to the specific needs of participants, including those related to language and logistics. Information on the project is readily available thanks to its strong digital presence and online promotion strategy.
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?
The receiving society is actively involved in the mentoring, coaching and training elements of the project.
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.
Does the practice consult its beneficiaries and involve them in the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the action?
Beneficiaries are involved in the design of project elements as much as possible. ANKA distributes a questionnaire to identify interest in specific services, such as training topics or types of entrepreneurship support, and finds trainers to match the stated interests. Training and coaching is offered in participants’ native languages.
Good practice checklist
✓ Organise consultation activities with migrant beneficiaries in order to co-create actions where possible and secure their feedback on the design and evaluation of the action.
✓ Provide appropriate feedback mechanisms by which beneficiaries can safely express their opinions on service quality.
✓ Use flexible and interculturally-adapted formats and compensate participants for their contribution.
Relevance & Complementarity
Are the objectives of the practice relevant to the needs of the migrants?
As access to the labour market is a key priority for migrants, the objectives of the YES! project are indeed relevant: the project works to fill gaps in integration support that relate to training and employment, including through the provision of entrepreneurship support. The regular use of questionnaires to secure participant feedback allows the project to take into consideration the needs of its target group, and to adjust delivery and objectives as necessary.
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 main aim of the project is to facilitate participants’ access the labour market and to promote their success in entrepreneurship, through the provision of services in training, employment and business coaching, access to finance, and mentoring. The project employs a Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) approach in its service delivery, focusing on the present and the future and using gratitude exercises. This empowers migrants and refugees, encouraging their active participation.
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?
The provision of employment/entrepreneurship support to young migrants is a goal of many relevant stakeholders (public, local, and private) engaged in the facilitation of access to the labour market. The project is developing a network with these actors, utilising the trust-based partnership model (TBPM) upon which YES! is based. The project aligns with European human rights standards.
Good practice checklist
✓ Ensure that all actions are in line with international and European human rights standards.
✓ 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?
During the design phase of the project, internal indicators were decided upon to measure the quality of the services provided. These indicators include the completion rate of project participants, the extent to which it adheres to its original schedule, delivery of tangible materials to participants, and available human resources. Additional indicators were developed to assess the soft and hard impact of the project.
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.
Does the practice regularly monitor implementation and evaluate its results?
Project participants complete a feedback survey both during and after their involvement. The survey helps project coordinators and partners to better understand the personal, educational and financial profile and characteristics of participant NEETs, their personality traits, and their needs. Through these surveys, for example, a need was identified for more mentors. ANKA therefore proposed that mentor training be conducted on a regular, systematic basis, to ensure that mentors remain engaged, and that more incentives be offered to encourage people to join the mentoring scheme.
Good practice checklist
✓ Ensure regular monitoring of action implementation and compare actual performance to goals set during the design phase.
✓Anticipate obstacles that might occur and plan alternative scenarios during the design phase of the action.
✓ Ensure achievement of intended outputs / outcomes.
✓ Determine whether practice outcomes are considered successful by beneficiaries, the host and practitioner communities, funders, and policymakers.
− Assess whether interventions contribute to long-term sustainable change.
Partnership & Collaboration
Does the practice establish communication and coordination with other relevant actors to foster the integration of migrants? (e.g., migrants, civil society, public authorities, businesses)
Communication and coordination with other relevant actors is welcomed and pursued within the context of the trust-based partnership model that the project is built upon.
Good practice checklist
✓ Ensure the involvement and participation of key stakeholders in the development phase and create strategies to involve them in the action.
✓ Include multi-stakeholder consultation with professionals, institutions, and citizens, in order to promote the meaningful participation of refuges and migrants and support a joint sense of ownership of decisions and actions.
Does the practice contribute to discussion on the improvement of integration support policies?
The project advocates for the improvement of integration support policies through its networking, its participation in EU level meetings and EU visibility events, and its activities.
Good practice checklist
✓ Seize opportunities to contribute to the development of comprehensive integration strategies involving EU-level/national/regional/local authorities, service providers and civil society.
✓ Work with relevant partners to jointly review operations, practices, services, and integration outcomes.