EPIM is the European Programme for Integration and Migration, initiated in 2005 within NEF, the Network of European Foundations, by a group of foundations from different European countries. It aims to strengthen the role played by NGOs active on migration and integration issues in advocating for a European agenda that benefits migrants and host communities.
EPIM Evaluation Workshop, Dublin 2009
EPIM Partner Foundations support European NGOs active on migration and integration. EPIM Grantees projects cover 3 focus areas; Undocumented Migrants, Migrants’ Voices and Media. The EPIM governance structure relies heavily on the inputs of the foundations, and is enabled by the coordination of the Secretariat.
EPIM’s main objectives are based on two building blocks:
• To open up debate and encourage broader commitment to the development of constructive integration policies at the EU level and to promote effective linkages between these policies and those of Member States at both the national, regional and local levels;
• To engage the widest possible range of stakeholders in society in this process with a view to also embed constructive integration policies and practices in other social and economic programmes.
In the current phase of the programme (2008-2011), European foundations are investing approximately 3 million euros in grants to deal with issues of integration of migrants in Europe. Today, the EPIM network consists of 10 foundations and 18 grantee consortia from across Europe (a total of more than 450 organisations).
Grants focus on three priority areas: promoting access to fundamental rights and services for undocumented migrants; ensuring the voices of migrants are heard; and recognising and improving the role of the media in migrants’ integration.
