The National Integration Evaluation Mechanism (NIEM). Measuring and improving integration of beneficiaries of international protection

NIEM was a six-year international research and advocacy project carried out between 2016–2022 and coordinated by the Institute of Public Affairs. It was co-financed by the European Union from the National Asylum, Migration and Integration within specific actions. 

The aim of the project was to improve the situation of asylum seekers, recognised refugees and beneficiaries of other forms of international and national protection in the European Union countries, by providing a standardized research tool for evaluating the existing legal conditions, public policies, the scope and methods of their implementation.
 
The tool aims to identify the strengths, partial solutions and shortcomings at the level of central authorities in relation to the requirements imposed on them by international law as well as European Union law and standards. It also provides a mechanism for standardized collection, validation, storage, updating and analysis of data necessary to build integration policies based on reliable data and accurate analyzes (evidence-based policies). 

Hence, the project as a whole, and what follows - the tool as one of its elements - are dedicated to:
•    central governments of the member states, public administration and all other entities influencing the creation and implementation of integration policies for asylum seekers and beneficiaries of different forms of national and international in the European Union
•    the stakeholders deciding on integration policies at the European Union level, including the creation of budgets and setting priorities in the funds allocated to integration, which are offered to individual countries and allocated directly by the European Commission for international cooperation in this area.

Project activities – NIEM in numbers

Between 2016–2022:
•    over 100 people were involved in the implementation of the project
•    over 200 meetings of national coalitions were held
•    31 national and international conferences were organised
•    74 different types of publications (comparative reports, country reports, comparative analyzes, policy briefs, in-depth analyzes) were created and published on the project website http://www.forintegration.eu/ 

NIEM was led and coordinated by the Institute of Public Affairs. The Migration Policy Group (MPG) was the coordinating research partner responsible for the development of NIEM indicators, analysis and comprehensive comparative reports. 

The organisations which took part in the NIEM project (in alphabetical order):

•    ANTIGONE Information and Documentation Centre on Racism, Ecology, Peace and Non-Violence, Greece 
•    Center for Public Innovation, Romania 
•    CIDOB – Barcelona Centre for International Affairs, Spain 
•    Diversity Development Group, Lithuania 
•    Fondazione ISMU – Initiatives and Studies on Multi-ethnicity, Italy
•    France Terre d’Asile, France 
•    Institute of Public Affairs, Poland 
•    Maastricht University, Netherlands 
•    Malmö University, Sweden 
•    Menedék – Hungarian Association for Migrants, Hungary 
•    Migration Policy Group, Belgium 
•    Multi Kulti Collective & Bulgarian Council on Refugees and Migrants, Bulgaria 
•    Peace Institute, Slovenia 
•    People in Need, Czechia
•    Providus, Latvia 

More information on the project website: http://www.forintegration.eu/