Private sponsorship programs are a relatively new reality in the broader framework of refugees’ third-country resettlement, and potentially one of the crucial solutions for displacement worldwide. For this reason, there is an urgent need to develop strong and effective Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) systems to help decision-makers and civil society organizations investing in, expand and improve sponsorship programs. After a brief introduction of the durable solutions framework and the role of private sponsorship within it, this article tries to outline why M&E is crucial to develop private sponsorship, and how effectiveness, accountability, and public support can benefit from structural, evidence-based M&E systems.
Private and community-based sponsorship programs in the framework of durable solutions for refugees
As part of its mandate, the UNHCR promotes three major durable solutions for refugees.
- When workable, the first one is voluntary repatriation. Its goal is to restore the protection of the State of origin but often is impossible to plan a safe return.
- The second, local integration, involves the country of first asylum. Its effectiveness usually depends on how the refugees’ needs and the host countries’ socio-economical conditions match.
- The third solution, often the most effective, is resettlement. This option involves third countries and improves inter-State cooperation through redistribution and burden-sharing.
However, resettlement numbers are insufficient to meet the needs of the refugee population worldwide. In the last ten years, resettlement programs involved approximately 1 million refugees, only a small percentage in the face of the worldwide 26 million refugee population under the UNHCR and UNRWA mandate. The pandemic has further curbed the trend, with a decrease in resettlements in 2020 and, so far, in 2021.
After the 2015-2016 so-called refugee crisis, Europe saw a steep increase in migration flows. To face the increased protection needs of the displaced populations, it became more and more urgent to strengthen reception systems and develop new complementary avenues for the admission of refugees and asylum seekers.
Private sponsorship programs are among these complementary pathways, contributing to the overall resettlement capacity of European countries. There is no clear definition of private sponsorship, generally, the term refers to all those initiatives in which “the government facilitates legal admission for refugees, and private actors provide financial, social and/or emotional support to welcome and receive refugees in their local community”. Unlike traditional resettlement, entirely managed by the public sector, private sponsorships allow private actors and civil society organizations to have a direct role in the reception and integration of refugees. The pillar of private sponsorships is a public-private partnership, that enhances receiving capacities and directly involve the host community. In this way individuals and private entities in the destination community itself commit themselves to provide support to the refugees. The mobilization of the community provides the refugee with a sustaining network that facilitates a more holistic integration in the host community. The model is Canada, pioneer in refugee sponsorship, where since the ‘80s is active the Private Sponsorship of Refugees (PSR) Program, under which different categories of private actors can become eligible to sponsor refugees. Canadian individuals and private organizations can become refugees’ sponsors as a Group of Five, a Community Sponsor, or a Sponsorship Agreement Holder (to know more).
Why M&E matters in sponsorship programs
Being a relatively new phenomenon in many countries, research on the effectiveness and the existing shortcomings of such programs is still poor. On the contrary, to improve the response to displacement needs is crucial to develop functioning Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) systems within these programs. M&E is extremely important for various reasons. It is fundamental to ensure effectiveness, efficiency, and accountability. Its evidence-based nature enables good communication, internally and externally, facilitating to share lessons learned, accomplishments, good practices, and shortcomings to address. Through Monitoring and Evaluation, policymakers have precious sources of reliable information to take measured decisions, while the public opinion is better informed and supportive. M&E systems keep also track of the ongoing projects, checking outputs and data to compare the expected goals and actual outcomes. Knowing if and how the objectives are met, facilitates corrective interventions to improve the actions taken and address weak achievements. Gathering systematic information gives a step-by-step indication of the quality and effectiveness of the performance. It enables to identify which elements contribute positively to the outcomes and which do not.
Improving internal effectiveness
In sponsorship programs, M&E gives essential insights for the assessment of the overall impact of the project. It can measure refugees’ integration while assessing the impact of their arrival on the host community in terms of social cohesion and attitude toward the beneficiaries. For example, it can improve the effectiveness of the matching process between refugees and host communities, identifying which specific category of refugees benefits the most from private sponsorship. A contextual and micro-level analysis facilitates tailoring the intervention, considering the needs and skills of the refugees, in combination with the services and peculiarities of the receiving society on the other. In this way, the programs can identify which specific category of refugees benefits the most from private sponsorship.
Private sponsorship programs have to develop tools, select indicators, and be able to measure the results. Through data disaggregation and step-by-step monitoring is possible to intervene and address shortcomings at each stage of the project. The success of refugees’ reception and integration initiatives is first and foremost assessed through the level of community acceptance of the newcomers, which influences both the refugee’s integration and the community perception of foreigners. Coordination between raw administrative data on the refugee population and qualitative in-depth interviews with refugees, sponsors and other stakeholders is crucial to monitor the ongoing program.
M&E is crucial to establish the objectives of the program, to develop indicators and gather data to evaluate the performance. A positive example is offered by the United Kingdom, which in 2019 updated its Indicators of Integration framework. This renovated framework identifies 4 main areas to assess integration, divided into 14 subcategories: markers and means (work, housing, education, health and social care, and leisure); social connections (bonds, bridges, and links); facilitators (language and communication, culture, digital skills, safety, and stability); and the foundation(rights and responsibilities). This structure takes into account the complexity of the different dimensions of integration and allows to capture and describe the obtained results.
The multiplicity of stakeholders involved in sponsorship programs makes a participatory M&E fundamental to coordinate strategic actions and goals. As stated in a Migration Policy Institute report: “an M&E system can help crystallize a set of common objectives between these actors and ensure these aims are reflected in the logic guiding the sponsorship program’s design“.
Through results and performance indicators, M&E systems also strengthen accountability and efficiency. The involvement of private actors requires an enhanced structure of data gathering and sharing, to improve transparency and public oversight. Keeping track of the ongoing project can help improve efficiency in the program, allocating the limited resources at disposal according to the needs and investing in effective solutions, optimizing cost-efficiency and cost-effectiveness.
As the co-director of the Canadian Centre for Community Based Research Rich Janzen affirms, we can add that in community-based sponsorship programs with participatory M&E, final evaluation is not the only valuable outcome. The involvement of communities, sponsors, and refugees in M&E processes can help mobilize and engage people, building relationships. Those are themselves tools to achieve the goal of integration. From this point of view, M&E is not simply a mechanism to evaluate the performance but also an instrument to promote integration directly.
Enhancing external communication and networking
M&E is effective for the implementing organization to measure and improve its performance. But it is also crucially relevant to externally communicate the findings, making them available for other organizations involved in similar activities and the entire community.
Consistently implemented M&E systems help share good practices, identify challenges to address, and disseminate learning. Building knowledge for the broader resettlement framework provides replicable and sustainable models for policymakers and program designers. As we saw before, the Canadian model became paradigmatic for private sponsorship initiatives in Europe and all over the world; a shared set of experiences, data, tools and findings can further promote their diffusion, proving that they are not only feasible but also winning and effective.
Politically, the reception and integration of refugees are usually sensitive and dividing topics. M&E helps to face challenges in this sense too. A continuous, evidence-based sharing process of positive integration outcomes can improve the acceptance and support of public opinion. Proving to the communities the effectiveness of such projects facilitates creating a positive narrative, opposing defensive attitudes, and enhancing social cohesion instead of potential unacceptance. On the other hand, building public consensus and sharing knowledge has an impact also on politicians and decision-makers. Data gathered during the programs help improve political commitment and justify political decisions to support and invest in integration programs and M&E systems themselves, demonstrating accountability and effectiveness. At the same time, with well-documented benefits, attempts to suspend or limit these programs by some political leaders would be more difficult to justify.
In conclusion, many aspects underscore the importance of developing an effective M&E system within private sponsorship programs. Above all, the necessity to systematize the process of understanding and sharing, internally and externally, lessons learned and good practices. Quality, effectiveness, accountability, and political support, are, at heart, crucial means to achieve the essential, final goal of protecting and promoting integration, dignity, and rights for the refugees.
References and further materials
- HO_IIndicators of Integration Framework (publishing.service.gov.uk)
- Measuring Up? Using monitoring and evaluation to make good on the promise of refugee sponsorship (migrationpolicy.org)
- SHARE Network news | European Resettlement Network (cmbox.be)
- The 10-Point Plan in Action: Chapter 7 Solutions for refugees (unhcr.org)
- The Private Sponsorship of Refugees (PSR) Program – Refugee Sponsorship Training Program (RSTP)
- UNHCR – Refugee Statistics
- UNHCR – Refugee Statistics Resettlement
- UNHCR – Solutions
- Using Evidence to Improve Refugee Resettlement: A Monitoring and Evaluation Road Map (reliefweb.int)
- What is the private sponsorship of refugees? – UNHCR Canada
About the Author
At Trust, Nicola Padoan is a Junior Officer in the Business Development Department. He is currently a Human Rights and Conflict Management Master student at Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies in Pisa, and he has a bachelor’s degree in Political Sciences and International Relations. He developed volunteering experience in international development projects and migrants’ integration activities. During his academic experience, he cultivated his interests in Human Rights Law, Refugee Law, Migration Studies, and International Cooperation.
Learn more about Nicola on LinkedIn.
