Measuring Migrant Integration — A Pilot Tool Offering a Multi-Dimensional Perspective on Migrant Integration

Jose Quero (in white jacket) left the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela with four friends three days ago, leaving behind his three children in the middle of the night, something he described as an “impossible decision.” September 2019, Colombia. Photo: ©IOM 2022 / Muse Mohamed

Over the past decade, the Latin America and Caribbean region has experienced the largest intra-regional migration movements in recent history, mainly due to the displacement of over five million Venezuelans, as well as the rise in large-scale movements from Central America to South American countries. As migrants settle into their host communities, governments and organizations working on the ground have been challenged with devising plans to integrate them into society. In addition to there being little knowledge on the broader integration experience of migrants, there is also a lack of empirical tools that measure their assets, knowledge, and capacities to establish themselves in the various spheres of community life.

Understanding migrant integration outcomes requires a method for measuring it, an ambitious task that’s at the core of a project supported by the IOM Development Fund. Initiated in 2020, IOM and its partner, the Immigration Policy Lab, a research think tank has developed a measurement tool called the IOM / IPL Migrant Integration Index.

Jose Quero (in white jacket) left Venezuela with four friends three days ago, leaving behind his three children in the middle of the night, something he described as an “impossible decision.” September 2019, Colombia. Photo: Muse Mohamed/IOM 2019

The index takes a multi-dimensional approach, capturing six key dimensions that successfully facilitate the integration of migrants into new environments: psychological, navigational, economic, social, linguistic, and political integration. It uses a pioneering methodology, offering a scoring system with flexible survey modules which examine migrant’s knowledge and capacities to integrate across these key dimensions.

The tool is being piloted in Brazil, the Dominican Republic, and Peru among Venezuelan and Haitian migrant populations, with over 10,000 expected interviews in total. As part of piloting the index, an innovative causal impact evaluation is being implemented in Peru, an approach that compares beneficiaries that receive assistance at different points in time, and involves multi-phased interviews that seek to measure the effect of cash-based interventions on the integration of Venezuelan migrants in the country. Meanwhile, the Dominican Republic and Brazil both implemented a one-off survey to capture a snapshot of the integration outcomes of their migrant beneficiaries, with a view to generating robust data to inform external stakeholders on improving local integration interventions.

Distribution of Non-Food Items at temporary border shelters in Rumichaca International Bridge, Northern border crossing point between Ecuador and Colombia. September 2018. Photo: IOM Ecuador

“For us, this is a big step forward in bridging the nexus between humanitarian assistance and long-term development outcomes, especially in a region where integration is increasingly a significant policy issue. Through the application of the IOM / IPL Migrant Integration Index, we are able to generate robust data and recommendations for improving IOM’s direct assistance services to migrants and shaping policy discussions with the government and our stakeholders on long-term and effective integration prospects for migrant populations.”

Jorge Baca, Chief of Mission, IOM Peru

When the tool was pilot tested in the implementing missions, most of the respondents found it to be useful and relevant to their personal situations. Thousands of interviews have been conducted so far to collect a robust dataset. Lessons learned from the interviews show how the index offers a new perspective on examining integration outcomes that leverages evidence and partnerships to facilitate the successful inclusion of migrants in their new communities. Preliminary results from the implementing missions also show that men generally have higher integration scores than women, and the marked gender gap in terms of integration outcomes suggests that gender needs to be factored into the targeting, design, and implementation of integration interventions. The feedback and data gathered from respondents have shown to be promising, and ongoing discussions with various stakeholders signal its replicability and scalability in different contexts.

“The opportunity to collaborate on developing the IOM / IPL Migrant Integration Index exemplifies the importance of bringing in a research perspective in monitoring and evaluation activities to generate robust data and shape new solutions. As a data-driven research institute, our team at the Immigration Policy Lab is quite thrilled to leverage our expertise and cutting-edge analytical tools to improve policy and practice on a global sphere and we are eager to continue working with IOM to advocate for evidence-based policymaking on migrant integration.”

Dominik Hangartner, Professor of Public Policy at ETH Zurich and Co-Director of IPL

This project is implemented within the framework of the DISC Initiative (Diversity, Inclusion and Social Cohesion Initiative). This project also aligns with the Migration Data Strategy and SDG 10.7 of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and Objective 16 of the Global Compact for Migration, facilitating more robust and evidence-based data to inform broader migration policies and programmatic innovation to support migrant integration.

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