Since 2015, more than 1.5 million migrant and refugee young women have entered the EU, and have made the region their permanent home.

Why?

Since 2015, more than 1.5 million Third-Country Nationals (TCN) aged 18-35 have entered the European Union (EU) and have made the region their permanent home - about 46% of this group is women. The challenges for integration faced by them are numerous and multi-dimensional: stereotypes linked to being both a refugee or a migrant and female, language barriers, lack of knowledge regarding access to available services, limited public mechanisms focused on supporting their needs, and limited understanding related to how valuable vocational training can be to their integration process.

Although several integration policies have been tried by EU member states, very few focus on covering the full social and economic integration of their new residents. Integrating this population in an effective way is key to making our societies more inclusive, solidary and fair.

Considering the importance of education and participation in the labour market for a successful integration of migrant and refugee women in the EU, MOMENTUM was born to reduce barriers and facilitate the access to tailored training opportunities and skills assessments, with a localised focus.

Bringing together the most relevant stakeholders - employment centres, Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), governmental and non-governmental organisations, educational institutions, employers and social economy organisations - MOMENTUM stands for “Breaking silos, promoting young migrant and refugee women's access to targeted vocational training and labour market opportunities through social economy”.

Funded by DG HOME and the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund (AMIF), MOMENTUM is a 24-months program, taking place between January 2022 and December 2023 and piloting in 5 EU countries - Greece, Italy, Spain, Portugal and Hungary.

How?

In improving collaboration among interested stakeholders, MOMENTUM intends to reduce structural and cultural challenges faced by the target group. How so? By facilitating and improving access of young migrant women to vocational training and labour market opportunities.

So who can take part in Momentum?

1.

Individual migrant and refugee women - with a focus on 18-35 years old refugee women - who have been residing in partner countries for at least 2 years and a maximum of 6 years, and that hold a working permit

2.

Grassroot migrant and refugee organisations and associations

3.

Public employment services providers and authorities, especially those with a focus in labour and training

4.

Social enterprises, Civil Society Organisations and vocational training providers

5.

Policy makers at national, regional and European Union level, who focus on the design and monitoring of integration policy initiatives

.

Values

The program and all its activities are established and executed under the following values

Cooperation

Momentum’s central pillar, which affirms the importance of all those involved in the program coming together, exchanging, learning from each other and collaborating to achieve a common vision.
Solidarity

This fundamental value stands for sharing both the advantages - prosperity, for instance - and the challenges - of integration, for example - equally and justly among all of us. It's the ingredient that strengthens our ties and makes our community so collaborative.
Equality

Also a core value of the European Union, it expresses MOMENTUM's concern for human dignity, diversity and support for equal participation by all in economic, social and cultural spheres
Integration

Momentum believes that the process by which migrants and refugees become accepted into society, both as individuals and as groups, touches every aspect of the migrant experience - from education, housing, political participation, civic engagement, to work (on which the program is focused).

Momentum is committed to accomplish the following objectives:

1. To map and address obstacles and barriers on vocational training and employment support provision to young Third-Country National women, with a focus on refugees.

2. To remove structural obstacles faced by young Third-Countries National women in accessing targeted vocational training and employment support through a multi-stakeholder collaboration framework tested in social economy.

3. To provide integrated services of local language, vocational training and employment support to TCN women through a targeted and gender-sensitive approach.

Through a gender-sensitive and multi-stakeholder approach, MOMENTUM brings together partners at local level, to reduce the structural and cultural barriers faced by migrant and refugee women in accessing targeted and adapted to their needs vocational training and employment opportunities.

In practical terms, how is MOMENTUM planning to achieve its goals?

Based on a co-designed multi-stakeholder collaboration framework, the program is “breaking the working silos” in services provision and promoting a whole-of-government approach to skills development and integration, responding to TCN women's multiple vulnerabilities. It offers integrated services, combining

advanced local language courses,
targeted vocational training based on women’s skills needs and local labour market needs,
and employment support, engaging employers and raising their awareness about cultural barriers.

The project is going to test and assess the developed framework through a 7-month pilot programme in social economy, an emerging sector with enhanced integration potential for refugee and migrant women, according to the following roadmap:

First stage: Management and coordination

Scheduled activities 1 + Involved partners + Expected timeframe
Scheduled activities 2 + Involved partners + Expected timeframe

Second stage: Mapping of obstacles

Scheduled activities 1 + Involved partners + Expected timeframe
Scheduled activities 2 + Involved partners + Expected timeframe

Third stage: Dissemination, Advocacy, Sustainability

Scheduled activities 1 + Involved partners? + Expected timeframe
Scheduled activities 2 + Involved partners + Expected timeframe

Fourth stage: Setting up and pilot testing a multi-stakeholder collaboration framework

Scheduled activities 1 + Involved partners + Expected timeframe
Scheduled activities 2 + Involved partners + Expected timeframe

Fifth stage: Provision of integrated services

Scheduled activities 1 + Involved partners + Expected timeframe
Scheduled activities 2 + Involved partners + Expected timeframe

In a nutshell, Momentum is dedicated to trigger positive impact by promoting the participation of Third-Country National women who are living in the European Union in targeted vocational training and employment through social economy, as well as improving coordination among interested stakeholders.

At the end of 2023, we expect a series of outcomes to be generated in the European Union countries involved in pilot testing the program. This is what we want to have achieved when MOMENTUM concludes:

60

key stakeholders

will have improved their cooperation to promote access of young Third-Countries National women to integrated services, through 5 Participatory Labs and 29 workshops

250

young migrant and refugee women

will have been engaged in confidence-building activities; 175 will have received personalised employment counselling; 150 will have improved their language skills; 125 acquired employability & social economy skills, supported through mentoring sessions