Attachments
SUMMARY OF KEY POINTS
-
The sustainability of sponsorship and other complementary pathway programmes depends on the engagement of a wide range of stakeholders, including governmental agencies, civil-society organisations, and crucially, individual members of receiving communities who act as volunteers. The volunteers involved in these programmes play a key role in helping newcomers build social connections and navigate the labour and housing markets. More broadly, this type of community engagement can help promote positive narratives about beneficiaries (including refugees and other people in need of international protection) and reduce xenophobic attitudes.
-
Engagement of volunteers in beneficiaries’ settlement and integration is not without risks. Volunteers often encounter social and institutional challenges that can make fulfilling tasks difficult and time-consuming, such as when helping beneficiaries get their residence permits or find accommodation. Providing volunteers with targeted guidance and training on how to successfully perform their tasks is thus an essential part of maximising the impact of their engagement, ensuring high-quality support for beneficiaries, and avoiding frustration on the part of volunteers as well as beneficiaries.
-
Training programmes and resources should aim to provide volunteers with information about the settlement process and the range of services and support available to beneficiaries within their receiving communities. Specific guidance should also be provided to volunteers on how to help beneficiaries navigate the transition out of the programme’s settlement support and towards self-sufficiency in their new community (for example, guiding them towards independently accessing public services and establishing meaningful connections with local stakeholders).
-
Developing initiatives to expand a programme’s volunteer base can help avoid overburdening current volunteers. This may entail targeted outreach to a wider profile of volunteers, beyond members of faithbased and humanitarian organisations who have thus far played a leading role (this could include, for example, outreach to diaspora, cultural, or LGBTQI+ organisations). In addition to numbers, a diversified pool of volunteers may increase the likelihood that a programme has volunteers with the right skills and experiences to effectively assist specific groups of beneficiaries (for example, language skills, previous experience working with vulnerable groups, or familiarity with beneficiaries’ cultural and religious backgrounds).