全球智库信息集成服务系统

The evaluation found that there was a more robust and professional network of organisations, working to achieve a common goal of improving the lives of migrants in Ireland in 2014 than in 2004.

• This is evidence of the success of the 'field-building approach' taken by Atlantic, with a diverse range of actors pursuing a common goal over an extended period of time and combining a set of strategies targeting a variety of dimensions of the problem.

There had been a shift in grantee organisations from service delivery to policy advocacy and a more strategic approach to addressing the challenges faced by migrants.

• The organisations that were funded all existed prior to the Migration Programme but at the end of 2014 they were more focused on advocacy than service delivery and case work.

While evidencing the impacts of advocacy is challenging, Atlantic grantees described numerous contributions to changes in practice, policy and law in Ireland that directly impacted the lives of migrants and asylum-seekers.

• Some of these impacts — namely those that changed law — are clearly sustainable and long-term. Others — which changed policy — are not guaranteed to persist (since policy can be amended by future governments and administrations), but have directly improved the experience of migrants. Other impacts might yet be realized, as the effects of changes in law and policy take time to translate into day-to-day practice.

The Atlantic Philanthropies is a grantmaking foundation whose mission is to bring about lasting changes in the lives of disadvantaged and vulnerable people. This is the final report of an independent evaluation of Atlantic's Migration Programme that ran from 2004 until 2014. The Programme issued grants to organisations helping migrants to gain access to justice and services. The report presents findings about the impacts the Programme had on law, policy and practice in Ireland.

The evaluation found that the Migration Programme successfully implemented a field-building approach, as a result of which there was a more robust and professional network of organisations, working to achieve a common goal of improving the lives of migrants in Ireland in 2014 than in 2004. Atlantic grantees described numerous contributions to changes in practice, policy and law in Ireland which directly impacted the lives of migrants and asylum seekers.

The civil society organisations supported by Atlantic operated more strategically, collaborated and cooperated more — including with European organisations — and evidenced improved leadership, strategic planning, and internal governance and management.

The evaluation identified a number of promising practices for civil society organisations advocating for policy and practice change, as well as for funders supporting such organisations. A set of case studies showcase these promising practices, focusing on using legal and community-based advocacy, developing and harnessing information to inform policy and practice, building links to Brussels to influence national and European migration policy and communicating advocacy messages about migration.

• Skip to page content

Objective Analysis. Effective Solutions.