The Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund (AMIF) is an EU programme designed by European Union to help member states managing migration, by promoting the implementation, strengthening and development of a common Union approach to asylum and immigration, with a total budget of € 3.137 billion for the period 2014-2020.
OBJECTIVES OF THE FUND PROJECT
The AMIF Fund sets out four specific objectives:
- asylum: strengthening and developing all the aspects of the Common European Asylum System by ensuring that EU legislation in this field is efficiently and uniformly applied
- legal migration and integration: supporting legal migration to the Member States in accordance with their economic and social needs, such as labour market needs; safeguarding the integrity of the immigration systems of Member States; and promoting the effective integration of third-country nationals
- return: enhancing fair and effective return strategies in the Member States which contribute to combat illegal immigration, with an emphasis on the effective readmission in the countries of origin and transit
- solidarity: making sure that EU States that are most affected by migration and asylum flows can count on solidarity and concrete cooperation from other EU States, enhancing responsibility sharing between the Member States
ELIGIBLE ACTIVITIES FOR FUNDING
The AMIF funding programme finances a wide range of activities, such as:
- the improvement of accommodation and reception services for asylum seekers
- information measures and campaigns in non-EU countries on legal migration channels
- education and language training for non-EU nationals, assistance to vulnerable persons belonging to the target groups of AMIF
- information exchange and cooperation between EU Countries and training for staff on relevant topics of AMIF
BENEFICIARIES OF THE AMIF EU FUNDING
All the European countries except for Denmark can participate to the AMIF funding programme. Examples of beneficiaries of the projects implemented under this Fund can be state and federal authorities, local public bodies, non-governmental organisations, humanitarian organisations, private and public law companies, education and research organisations.
OPEN CALLS FOR PROPOSALS
The European Commission launched several open calls for proposals on different topics:
AMIF-2019-AG-CALL-01: Fostering the integration of persons in need of protection through private sponsorship schemes
The objective of topic 1 of this call for proposals is to support transnational projects:
- in Member States that operate private sponsorship schemes, providing support and enhancing capacity building for sponsor organisations
- in Member States that do not yet operate private sponsorship schemes, supporting the design and implementation of pilot schemes on private sponsorship
AMIF-2019-AG-CALL-02: Social orientation of newly arrived third-country nationals through involvement of local communities, including mentoring and volunteering activities
The most important objectives of topic 2 are:
- develop activities involving local communities, including mentoring and/or volunteering, to facilitate the social orientation and active participation of migrants
- strengthen the sense of belonging to the new society and foster an active role in the community at local, regional, national and/or EU level
AMIF-2019-AG-CALL-03: Social and economic integration of migrant women
Topic 3 aims to:
- support the capacity of migrant women to interact and feel at ease in their social environment and their participation to social and political life at local level
- support migrant women moving into work and facilitate their sustainable labour market integration
AMIF-2019-AG-CALL-04: Awareness raising and information campaigns on the risks of irregular migration in selected third countries and within Europe
The general objective of this call for proposals is to contribute to the change of perceptions and behaviour of third country nationals pondering irregularly migrating to the EU and key influencers of their decisions.
AMIF-2019-AG-CALL-05: Support to victims of trafficking in human beings
The main objective of topic 5 is to improve the integration of third country national victims of trafficking in the host society and facilitate the safe and voluntary return of third country national victims of trafficking.
AMIF-2019-AG-CALL-06: Protection of children in migration
Topic 6 funds projects focusing on the exchange of good practices and/or provision of the necessary training across the Member States to support the implementation/expansion/improvement of alternative/non-institutionalised care systems for the migrant children.
AMIF-2019-AG-CALL-07: Transnational projects by Member States for training of experts in the area of asylum and immigration
Topic 7 aims at supporting transnational projects that foster practical cooperation among national authorities responsible for asylum and migration matters from EU Countries, which have similar specific training/learning needs or wish to exchange practices and experiences on training initiatives.
If you want to participate to the AMIF calls for proposals, or you are interested in other EU funding opportunities, please keep following our JOurnal.