Eurodiaconia, together with its members Diaconia Valdese (Italy), the Fédération de l’Entraide Protestante (France) and other project partners – the Federation of Protestant Churches in Italy, Oxfam Italia, Confronti, Idos, Piedmont Region, and Safe Passage – are launching a policy brief titled “Private Sponsorship for Integration: Building a European Model.” The publication, which focuses on humanitarian corridors, seeks to raise awareness about the benefits of community/private sponsorship programs (PSPs) for social cohesion and the integration of persons in need of protection and to encourage and inform the development and growth of sponsorship programs across Europe.

Funded by the European Commission’s AMIF programme, the Private Sponsorship for Integration Project (PPI) seeks to ensure that migrants arriving in Italy and France via humanitarian corridors are accompanied towards their full and effective social, cultural and economic integration through the implementation of a wide range of pre-departure and post-arrival activities. The model has garnered widespread recognition as an example of good practice. In 2019 the Italian humanitarian corridors program received the UNHCR Nansen Refugee Award for Europe.

At a time when 70% of European citizens express a need for investment in the integration of migrants, private sponsorship programs such as the Humanitarian Corridors offer a model for successful integration as various studies have attested to their better performance in integration outcomes. By supporting the creation and scaling-up of sponsorship programs across Europe, the EU could show solidarity with third countries and contribute to the expansion of durable solutions for those who are forcibly displaced.

Find out more here.