The European Programme for Integration and Migration (EPIM) is a group of European Foundations who pool funding to strengthen civil society organisations in their efforts to advocate for constructive approaches to migration in Europe. This is done through grant-making, capacity development and networking. In 2012 EPIM commissioned RAND Europe to undertake an evaluation of their third funding round, which operated between 2012 and 2015.

Evaluation of EPIM III

2012-2015

Joachim Krapels, Emma Disley, Jennie Corbett, Emily Scraggs, Ben Baruch

ResearchPublished Apr 6, 2016

The European Programme for Integration and Migration (EPIM) is a group of European Foundations who pool funding in order to pursue a shared mission: to strengthen civil society organisations in their efforts to advocate for constructive approaches to migration in Europe. This is done through grant-making, capacity development and networking. Between 2005 and 2015, 17 foundations contributed funding to EPIM, together providing €7.2 million of funding for grants. In 2012 EPIM commissioned RAND Europe to undertake an evaluation of their third funding round, which operated between 2012 and 2015. The aims of the evaluation of EPIM III were to:

  1. Assess the progress made at the level of the EPIM III programme as a whole between 2012 and 2015.
  2. Identify lessons learned by the grantees about pathways to achieving impact.

Grants in EPIM III were awarded to ten organisations working in the areas of asylum seekers, undocumented migrants and in relation to equality, integration and social inclusion of vulnerable migrants. The evaluation of EPIM looked for the contribution made by grantees and by EPIM III as there was a clear understanding that it would not be possible to attribute changes in policy or practice directly to grantees' work under the EPIM III programme. The evaluation found that the overall achievements of EPIM III are substantial and have taken place against the backdrop of a difficult political climate.

Key Takeaways

Overall achievements

  • The evaluation found that the overall achievements of EPIM III are substantial and have taken place against the backdrop of a difficult political climate. Although aggregating and summing the achievements of the grantees into a single statement about the results of EPIM III is challenging (given the very diverse nature of the projects undertaken by the grantees, their objectives and approaches), a number of programme level outcomes and impacts were identified.

Capacity building

  • EPIM III resulted in capacity-building outcomes and development among all grantees, but particularly among newer and less mature organisations. Capacity building of grantees was central to the EPIM 'funding plus' model. All grantees evidenced outcomes of increased capacity to conduct research, to run advocacy and awareness campaigns and to influence stakeholders. However, for newer organisations the EPIM III grants enabled them to substantially build capacity. Workshops and conferences organised by EPIM provided grantees with valuable networking opportunities. Such linkages were welcomed by grantees and appeared to have helped grantees to achieve their outcomes and impacts, not just at the national, but also at the European level.

Delivering benefits to individuals

  • Through the work of some grantees, EPIM III was able to deliver benefits to individual migrants and asylum seekers. These outcomes were primarily as a result of direct service delivery by grantees, or as a result of grantees' engagement with professionals (such as healthcare workers) who were themselves working directly with migrants and asylum seekers.

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Krapels, Joachim, Emma Disley, Jennie Corbett, Emily Scraggs, and Ben Baruch, Evaluation of EPIM III: 2012-2015. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation, 2016. https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RR1489.html.
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The research described in this report was prepared for the European Programme for Integration and Migration (EPIM) and conducted by RAND Europe.

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