In 2018, over 80,000 migrants returned to their countries of origin with IOM’s assistance. Returnees often struggle to adapt as they rebuild their lives back home. Economic pressure, the stigma of failure and the “push” factors that prompted many to migrate in the first place, often create new challenges, especially for returnees who have been out of the country for years.

Today (07/11) The International Organization for Migration (IOM), launched the Reintegration Handbook: practical guidance on the design, implementation and monitoring of reintegration assistance, a guide designed to help practitioners in reintegration assistance support migrants unable or unwilling to remain in host or transit countries and returning home through assisted voluntary return or through returns organized by host governments and other actors.

In recent years, there has been significant progress in the provision of reintegration assistance, mainly due to an improved understanding among policymakers, donors and practitioners of how crucial reintegration support is. It is consequently now recognized as a tool that can contribute to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals.

However, few global and comprehensive tools exist to guide practitioners in the provision of reintegration assistance. With this Reintegration Handbook, produced with financial support from the UK Department for International Development (DFID), IOM aims to bridge this gap by sharing its own experience, as well as that of its partners, in assisting returnees through their reintegration process.

“It has become evident that reintegration is a multifaceted phenomenon that needs to be addressed in a holistic manner,” explained Renate Held, IOM Migration Management Department Director. “This can only be done through solid partnerships and coordinated practices between relevant stakeholders at the international, national and local level,” she added.

Building on IOM’s Integrated Approach to Reintegration, the Reintegration Handbook includes modules on individual, community and structural levels, that focus on the economic, social and psychosocial dimensions of reintegration, as well as a module on monitoring and evaluation. Furthermore, a complementary chapter on the reintegration of children and their families is being developed with UNICEF and will be available in 2020.

The Reintegration Handbook is available in full here. An online training curriculum to accompany the Handbook is being developed and will be available by the end of the year.

For more information please contact Joy Paone, Project Manager at jpaone@iom.int  or at +41 22 717 98 27