The Consortium of Migrant Assisting Organisations has mapped, on behalf of the Ministry for Regional Development of the Czech Republic, integration projects funded by the EU in the period 2014-2020. 

The main objective of the mapping was to prepare a report on the implementation of the objectives of the Partnership Agreement for the period 2014-2020 in the field of the integration and social inclusion of foreigners, and to draw up recommendations for the next period (2021-2027). It also analysed the mechanism for use of the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund (AMIF) and the European Social Fund (ESF), and identified good practices at the level of planning, call set-up, project implementation and complementarity between funds (programmes). 

In the 2014-2020 programming period, there were 762 intervention and systemic projects supporting the integration of foreigners: 43 from AMIF and 719 from ESF, with a total value of CZK 1.8 billion (EUR 70.1 million). ESF integration projects account for 2.61% of the number of all ESF non-investment projects and 0.97% of all expenditure on ESF non-investment projects.

Main evaluation findings

1. The projects have been beneficial in supporting migrants and professionals. Systemic integration support was mainly financed by AMIF, while the systemic potential of ESF was little used;
2. Integration projects are difficult to identify and monitor. There is no single indicator of support for migrants. This also makes it difficult to evaluate the outcomes and impact of projects;
3. ESF projects are mostly one-offs and do not build on each other or on systemic measures. The lack of follow-up to quality interventions is a waste of staff and institutional potential;
4. The ministries did not use EU funds to finance the policy of integration of foreigners in a systematic way, and the ESF operational programme was not linked to the Concept of Integration of Foreigners. AMIF was used; ESF was used rather selectively.
5. The challenge for the future period is the coordination of integration funding between AMIF and ESF funds, and between other specific programmes.

Read (in Czech) the initiative's final evaluation report, executive summary, and summary leaflet.