The EU migrant crisis has a direct reflection on migrant employment rates. The gap in labor market participation at EU level between EU citizens and migrants has increased in 2014 (Eurostat–Migrant Integration Statistics-Employment). During the last eight years, the activity rate (% of active persons in comparison to the total population) of the EU-28 population of non-EU countries has recorded systematically lower activity rates than EU citizens. Since 2009, this gap has increased noticeably (3 % points). Also the unemployment rate per sex and educational background is higher for migrant women with low educational background (Eurostat). Cultural, social barriers, low skills and media illiteracy discourage these women from actively seeking for jobs. As a result the pressure is enormous on the welfare systems and society itself of the EU-28 countries.Emkit2 Objectives:EMKIT2 empowered low skilled migrant women by developing 42 digital tools for trainers for implementing innovative workshops to develop the social, civic, cultural and media literacy (SCM) competences to achieve active citizenship according to the Active Citizenship Scale (AC Scale).EMKIT2 was aimed to:1. Develop 3 Qualification Frameworks for the Social & Civic (S), Cultural Awareness & Expression(C) and Media Competence(M) (SCM competences) tailored for the specific target group in a specific context (see innovation elements)2. Based on the Learning Outcomes of the QFs developed enrich activities offered at each stage by designing 42 new workshops for the development of the SCM competences. The activities developed in EMKIT did not tackle the social and cultural capacity of the migrant women which is vital for the succession from one stage to the next on the AC ladder. Also, EMKIT did not deal with the media literacy, a skill that is becoming increasingly important as a result of digital media expanding into the realm of human communication. The ability to use media well is crucial to a person’s participation in the society and active citizenship.3. Develop 42 digital tools for the newly developed workshops for trainers for the development of the SCM competences and incorporate then in the existing EMKIT online tool.4. Introduce & develop a digital assessment tool and incorporate it on the existing EMKIT toolkit. EMKIT was developed for women who live in isolation and need to progress through all stages to reach active citizenship. Through the use the EMKIT (for 6 years now) it has been evident that a) a systematized method is needed for an impartial assessment of the stage a woman is in and to avoid unnecessary activities that are tailored for women who are at a lower stage of the scale b) validate the results of the empowerment process. Therefore this project suggested the development of an assessment tool in order to identify the stage of the woman and validate the Learning Outcomes of the activities implemented at each stage.The direct target group was trainers/mentors who work with migrant women (i.e. trainers in Adult Education Providers imple-menting projects funded by Integration Funds/Daphne & Justice Projects and volunteers/mentors working at NGOs and associ-ations providing guidance and training services to migrants). Trainers have benefited by a more complete EMKIT tool that also developed 3 important context specific competences.The elaborated deliverables were:IO1: A Context Specific Qualifications Framework for the Social and Civic Competence Linked to the Active Citizenship ladder IO2: A Context Specific Qualifications Framework for the Cultural Awareness and Expression Competence Linked to the Active Citizenship ladder IO3: A Context Specific Qualifications Framework for the Media Literacy Competence Linked to the Active Citizenship Ladder IO4: 42 Experiential & Innovative Workshops for the SCM Competences IO5: A Digital Assessment Tool and Guide for trainers on implementation of digital workshops IO6: EMKIT2: 42 Digital Tools in 5 Languages incorporated in a new EMKIT2 toolkit About 20 participants took part in the focus group, which allowed the partners to develop IO1, IO2 and IO3. About 21 low-skilled migrant women attended the pilot training which allowed the partners to develop and finalize IO4, IO5, IO6.

<< Background >>Many EU member states experience high unemployment and underemployment, yet many surveys still find that more than one in three employers have problems filling vacancies.The latest European company survey (CEDEFOP, 2019) found that about 40% of firms across the EU had difficulties finding staff with the right skills. A Eurobarometer survey found some 33% of employers identifying a shortage of applicants with the right skills as their main challenge in filling vacancies.One of the sectors that distinctively have trouble meeting the need of workforce is the construction sector. It is estimated that, by 2030, the employment in the EU construction sector will increase by 4.3% and according to the European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training (CEDEFOP), about 1 million new and replacement workers will be needed by 2051. Only in Sweden, the Construction Federation estimates that the need of additional labour amount to more than 10.000 persons. The situation is similar in the Netherlands, France, Italy, and Greece. The result has been an import of construction workers from outside European Union.At the same time, many EU member states are facing a growing problem with long term unemployment, especially among immigrants/refugees. In 2015, 1 321 560 refugees claimed asylum in the EU, out of which 292 540 applications were approved (Eurostat). At the same time, migrant unemployment and social exclusion remains one of the main socio economic challenges for most European countries. Even though this group is heterogeneous with a big variation in employment patterns between the member states as well as due to indicators as educational background, prior experience, social status and personal situation, immigrant tend to run a higher risk of unemployment or underemployment (part-time and temporary employment) according to EUROSTAT. Most refugees live in the EU member state of asylum, struggling to prove themselves in economies which are unable to absorb and make full use of their labour market potential. As a result, their skills often remain unused and become obsolete over time. Key challenges for Europe are to promote integration of immigrants into the labour market at the same time addressing existing and future skill gaps and labour market needs.One of the main challenges to pave the way for labour market integration of immigrants and matching them with economic sectors that can provide them with employment is a lack of well defined vocational and labour market guidance for these target groups. In Italy, France, Sweden, and Greece an immigrant/refugee is provided an amount of hours for learning the host country language followed by Work Based Learning (WBL). This “one size approach for all” in the best scenario has led to unqualified jobs or grey economic activities. By this approach, the group is the first one to become long term unemployed during difficult economic times, as now during COVID. This group is not given any guidance about the labour market, sectors in need of labour force and vocational guidance to enter those sectors.Many previous studies have proven that immigrants’ smooth integration into new labour markets is very dependent on both the actual and the perceived extent of mismatch between their skills and competencies and those required in the new setting (Alla-Mensah et al., 2019). Thus, this was tackled by many organizations (including partner organisations of this project) through the initiation of projects creating a fast tracks for immigrants towards the European labour market in specific sectors. For instance, in Sweden, there has been an initiative of fast tracks within the healthcare sector. The purpose was make the best use of valuable skills possessed by NAIs in shortage occupations so that they can be matched more quickly with the needs of industries and enteprises (Swedish government, 2016).However, the “Adapted VET guidance for NAI” project has a more general approach to tackle this problem.<< Objectives >>The project aims at facilitating and fostering early and effective integration of newly arrived migrants into the labour market through adapted vocational/labour market guidance, which targets to enhance host country language, as networking with employers who will actively be engaged in project activities. It addresses the need to “promote swift integration of newly arrived migrants into the labour market through strengthened cooperation and mobilisation of employers and social and economic partners”.On one hand, being one of the most vulnerable categories in a society, NAIs need to have a resilient strategy/ approach to support their integration into labour markets, especially in crisis contexts (for instance, the current COVID 19 crisis). They are not given any guidance about the labour market, sectors in need of labour force and vocational guidance to enter those sectors. On the other hand, many European countries face the challenge of labour needs and skills shortage in several sectors. This is a result of a labour market mismatch problem.Thus, this project is designed to simultaneously address both challenges; the NAIs inclusion and solving the labour market mismatch problem. This will be done through the development of training materials as well as guidance for stakeholders in order guarantee a smooth and efficient integration of NAIs in European labour markets. The project is not only based on the target group needs in terms of skills, it also accounts for several labour market requirements keeping away the “ one size fits all” approach.<< Implementation >>The following activities are classified by workpackage and will be implemented in order to ensure an efficient impact for the project. Workpackge 1: Mapping needs of stakeholder for providing vocational/labour market guidance This workpackage focuses on mapping the needs of knowledge, skill, and attitude relevance of counselling services in an educational setting.This will be done through the following activities: 1. Development of methodology for needs assessment, complementary questionnaires and interview questions.2. Implementation of questionnaires and the interviews for individuals from involved organisations (employment services).3. Production of national reports on questionnaire and interviews’ results.4. Organisation of focus groups meeting for feedback.5. Development of joint reports on needs of professionals for provision of vocational/labour market guidance.Workpackge 2: Development of vocational/labour market guidance toolkit The toolkit will result in an effective vocational and labour market counselling of NAI.This will be done through the following activities:1. Development of methodology for the structure and content of the digital toolkit.2. Development of the information module covering vocational and labour market information based on desk research and focus groups workshops (the content will take into consideration local/regional conditions).3. Development of guidance module covering methods, organisational structure, and resources.4. Organisation of feedback workshops with focus groups on developed modules.5. Finalisation of the toolkit.Workpackage 3: Training curriculum (handbook) for guidance staffThe training curriculum will be developed in the form of a distance course through an open source. The structure of the course will be modular with 6 modules.This will be done through the following activities:1. Performing a Training Needs Assessment.2. Developing Training Materials Learning Objectives.3. Implementing the training. 4. Evaluating the training.5. Finalising the training materials.Workpackage 4: Validating the toolkit and training materialsThe validation is supposed to be through a piloting phase.This will be through the following activities:a) Developing the pilot test and reviewing questionnaires.b) Informing the selected participants about the piloting phase.c) Defining a timetable for each selected stakeholder for testing and reviewing.d) Implementing the pilot test as well as collecting and documenting feedback.e) Analysing feedback.f) Updating and finalising of the toolkit and training materials.<< Results >>The project will produce a number of results. First of all, it will produce a report on stakeholders' needs for providing vocational/labour market guidance. Secondly, it will develop a guidance toolkit for the vocational/labour market to be used by professionals in various organizations. Based on that, a training curriculum for guidance staff will be produced and piloted in order to achieve the last result of this project. The last results will be the final version of the toolkit and training material. Below is a classification of the expected results by workpackage. Workpackge 1: Mapping needs of stakeholder for providing vocational/labour market guidance This workpackage focuses on mapping the needs of knowledge, skill, and attitude relevance of counselling services in an educational setting.This will result in the production of: 1. Needs assessment methodology and interviews’ questionnaires.2. Conducted interviews for individuals from involved organisations (employment services).3. National reports on questionnaire and interviews’ results.4. Focus groups meeting for feedback.5. Joint reports on needs of professionals for provision of vocational/labour market guidance.Workpackge 2: Development of vocational/labour market guidance toolkit The toolkit is supposed to result in an effective vocational and labour market counselling of NAI.This will result in the production of:1. Methodology for the structure and content of the digital toolkit.2. Information module covering vocational and labour market information, based on desk research and focus groups workshops (the content will take into consideration local/regional conditions).3. Guidance module covering methods, organisational structure, and resources.4. Feedback workshops with focus groups on developed modules.5. Finalised toolkit.Workpackage 3: Training curriculum (handbook) for guidance staffThe training curriculum will be developed in the form of a distance course through an open source. The structure of the course will be modular with 6 modules.This will result in the production of:1. Training Needs Assessment.2. Training Materials Learning Objectives.3. Implemented training. 4. Evaluated training.5. Finalised training materials.Workpackage 4: Validating the toolkit and training materialsThe validation will be done through a piloting phase.This will result in the production of:a) Developed pilot test and reviewed questionnaires.b) Timetable for each selected stakeholder for testing and reviewing.c) Implemented pilot test.d) collected and documented feedback.e) Analysed feedback.f) Updated and finalised toolkit and training materials.

Annual Growth Survey (AGS) from 2014 shows that the unemployment among young adults within the age 18 – 30 years is one of the main socioeconomic problems in the European Union since economic regression 2009. It reached 23.4 %-more than twice as high as the adult rate, with some 5.7 million young people affected. Young people that have only completed lower secondary education bear the highest risk of unemployment. In 2012, the EU average youth unemployment rate was 22.8 %, but reached 30.3 % for low-skilled youth.In Communication “Moving Youth to Employment” 2012, the Commission states that the main problem regarding youth employment is a weak school-to-work transition. This depends on 2 reasons: a)employers are not willing to invest in future workforce and are usually focusing on current needs of the company; b)there is a lack of cooperation/coordination between different stakeholders in the region working with education, counselling and employment of young adults. The above makes career counselling services ineffective and job placements are not adapted to individual education and capacity as well as to regional employment needs. In daily services there are many organisations involved in the process of education, counselling and employment for young people: Adult Education, VET, municipalities, PES, NGOs, etc. All these organisations use their own methods for career counselling and job placements. Since there is no coordination between them, the same guidance services are provided to one person several times or good services are offered at wrong moments. Moreover, in most of EU countries there is lack of professional standard and training for the professionals in the area of career counselling.The accessibility of young adults to employment through engagement of the whole regional stakeholder networks (including employers) into guidance process in order to offer reality-based tailored learning/career opportunities to young adults is a prerequisite for the solution of the above challenges. The partnership of igma3 project has a long experience of working with integration of young adults to the labour market though education/career counselling. In 2011 five partners of this project started igma project (www.integrationagent.eu) for development of methodology for integration of immigrant into labour market through effective cooperation of regional stakeholder networks. In igma2 project the curriculum for training of regional networks was developed. The innovative character of igma3 project was that the igma methodology was further-developed and integrated into policy levels in the partner countries through:*Adaptation of methodology to the needs of young adults and resources of the stakeholder networks working with this target group. *Enrichment of the methodology with successful job placements strategies and know-how for changing the attitudes of the employers.*Development of distance training course for stakeholder networks through Moodle system. *Professionalization of adult education staff working with career counselling and job placement of young adults.The impact of introduction of igma3 methodology in the regional stakeholder networks contributed to better opportunities for job placements of young adults based on their needs and capacities. Moreover, the cooperated efforts of stakeholder networks resulted in transparency and efficiency on the system level in regards to career counselling and employment of young adults. The partnership was a mix of adult education providers with private companies, representing employers, regional Youth Union and European network for inclusion from 7 countries. This ensured relevance of developed material to the regional needs and to the needs of young adults. Moreover, they ensured effective dissemination and exploitation of project and its results at local/regional/national levels.

Mastering the host country’s language and equality are key steps of the integration process for all migrants. Yet migrants parents especially mothers who often take on family may have difficulties with this process. At the same time, immigrant fathers tend to get involved more in a career. This creates inequality both on individual and societal levels and further difficulties with integration and active citizenship. Research confirms that among immigrants most often, it is the women who stay home with the children while the man goes to study or work in the new country. This issue is not addressed properly in EU, since the current programs for language training and social orientation in partner countries are limited and not tailored to this issue. So there is a need for adapted social orientation programs which would include issues of parenting and health, and gender equality to promote empowerment.OBJECTIVESThe aim of the project is empowerment and social inclusion of refugee and migrant parents and promoting equality by creating a training program in health and parenting for refugees and immigrants. The objectives of the project are:a. develop methodology to include health and parenting aspects to continuous life-long learning of immigrants with stakeholders involvementb. elaborate training material in language and social orientation for immigrantsc. testing and mingling activities with localsd. online version of training material DESCRIPTION OF ACTIVITIESIO1 development of methodology IO2 elaboration of training materials will be done together by researchers from partner organisations and reference groups experts (2-5 from each partner country).IO3 testing of the materials will include workshops with 20-25 immigrants in each partner country, with evaluation of the materials by both immigrants and trainers, each training will be finished by 2-3 sessions of mingling activities with locals (3-5 locals from each partner country, preferably families or couples), which increases inclusion, gives practical examples and shows how gender equality can work practically in local family (where both father and mother share equal responsibilities).IO4 online interacting learning platform will be elaborated after the finalization based on feedback from testing. The online platform will be set up including all the materials available for free use. It will include elements of language learning and social orientation, so it could be easily transferred potentially to SFI or other classes.Dissemination: website and learning platform set up, leaflets, 5 newsletters, 5 articles production, connecting to stakeholders, face-to-face meetings, discussions, 5 local workshops with 20 people and 1 final conference with 50 participants.PM activities: 5 TPM, PM and QA production, agreements, timeline, coordinationMETHODOLOGY for the project implementation will imply coordination of the overall project by lead partner, leading each IO separately by specific partners. Overall monitoring of the project by project coordinator.PARTICIPANTSPartners: 2-3 people per partner involved (experts in area of inclusion, integration of immigrants, adult education, experiences in Erasmus projects)Activities: 20-25 immigrants in each partner country + 2-5 locals for mingling from each partner country + 2-5 experts for reference groups from each partner country Events: 50 people + 100 people for multiplier events (integration experts, immigrants, stakeholders)Stakeholders will be reached through dissemination activities and eventsTotally we expect to reach over 10000 peopleRESULTS1. Methodology of continuous learning in parenting and health for immigrants with the involvement of stakeholders2. Training materials in parenting and health for immigrants3. 100-120 immigrant parents and 10 language teachers, educators trained in health, parenting 4. life-long learning platform for immigrants families on parenting, health and integration, reached to 1000 migrants5. 10-20 organisations&services per country involved to the process of life-long learning and inclusion of immigrants6. adapted training programs for immigrants in language and social orientationIMPACT- increased inclusion of immigrant parents- promoting gender equality- better integration- tools for life-long learning and integration of immigrants adapted to their needs (study health and parenting)- more possibilities for immigrant parents to learn about health, parenting and language- positive effect for children of immigrants, who will grow in family which is more integrated and gender equal Long term impact is contribution to equality among immigrants, support refugee/migrant parents in their social inclusion. This will overally make huge step towards achieving gender equality and empowerment among immigrant parents. In long perspective, it will increase employment, integration and thus bring economical and social benefits to the hosting society and EU at larger s

In 2015, 1 321 560 refugees claimed asylum in EU, out of which 292 540 applications were approved (Eurostat). The number of women refugees has increased rapidly, as of 15 January 2016, just over 55 per cent of those arriving are women and children, as compared to only 27 percent in June 2015 (UNHCR). At the same time, migrant female unemployment and social exclusion remain one of the main socioeconomic challenges for most European countries. Despite the fact that this group is heterogenic with a big variation in employment patterns between the member states as well as due to indicators as educational background, prior experience, social status, personal situation, immigrant women tend to run a higher risk of unemployment or underemployment (part-time and temporary employment) according to Rand Corporation report “Migrant Women in the European Labour Force”. In average, there is 24 % difference between male and female employment rate when it comes to non-EU citizens in EU-28 (Eurostat 2014). One of the main reasons for the above challenge is inadequate mapping of prior knowledge and lack of individualised support according to the analysis of the School Inspectorate in Sweden. This depends on a lack of cooperation and coordination between different organisations dealing with training, validation of prior knowledge/experience and employment of migrants/refugees. Each stakeholder (Adult Education Providers, VET providers, municipality, Public Employment Services, NGOs, etc.) develop their own methods for facilitating the participation of migrants in education/labour market. This leads to repetitive standard measures where the holistic approach and individual path development are missing. Moreover, there is no consistent strategy in the area of career counseling and in most of EU countries there is lack of professional standard and training for the professionals in this area. Finally, all Member States tend to lack gender-sensitive education and employment services, turning a blind eye to women needs, which leads to intersectional discrimination based on characteristics including gender and minority ethnicity (European Parliament, 20150000INI). Three actions to improve access of migrant/refugee women to labour market through education were identified for Igma Femina: 1) Sufficient career counselling through training of professionals; 2) Efficient gender-sensitive strategy for cooperation within local stakeholder networks, dealing with validation/training/job placement to provide services based on individual needs and barriers of every woman; 3) Active involvement of employers in the local stakeholder networks as a key to education to work transition. The partnership consisted of 7 organisations from 5 countries, a mix of adult education providers with private companies, representing employers, regional NGOs working with refugees, migrants and women and European network for inclusion. This ensured relevance of developed material to the regional needs and to the needs of migrant and refugee women. Moreover, it ensured effective dissemination and exploitation of project and its results at local/regional/national levels. The methodology of igma was adapted to include a gender-sensitive approach. Igma method had been proven effective in all partner countries for effective guidance of low-skilled immigrants into adult education/labour market through a centralised approach and coordinated integration measures on the stakeholder level. Main activities included further-development of the methodology and training curricula namely:Development of igma-Femina methodology with gender-sensitive approachesDevelopment of igma-Femina training curricula for local and regional stakeholder networks Development of EU-wide guidelines for inclusion of gender-sensitive perspective as a part of migration/integration policy based of the desk and focus group research Development of promotion material for employers and regional/local stakeholder networks Training activities in all partner countries to finalise igma-Femina methodology and training curriculaThe trainings and seminar has led to higher level of expertise (personal and career development) of staff working with counseling of migrant and refugee women through:• Improving the quality of services for immigrant and refugee women by the stakeholder networks in the support in labor market integration• Implementation of gender-sensitive approach in the consultation regarding work placement, career advising in everyday practiceThe impact of introduction of igma-Femina methodology in the regional stakeholder networks has therefore led to better opportunities for job placements of migrant and refugee women based on their needs and capacities. Moreover, the cooperated efforts of stakeholder networks have resulted in transparency and efficiency on the system level in regards to career counseling.