Information and awareness raising campaigns on the risks of irregular migration in third countries and within Europe

The projects financed under this priority should contribute to:

• increased awareness among prospective migrants on the risks of irregular migration and migrant smuggling, the relevant legal alternatives of migration and economic opportunities in the country or region of origin; as well as opportunities of voluntary return and reintegration programs from countries of transit;

• empowered credible voices in countering migrant smugglers' narratives on irregular migration and the diasporas' narratives on living irregularly in the EU;

• strengthened multi-stakeholder cooperation between actors such as civil society organisations, researchers, media outlets, local state actors, diaspora and where relevant other stakeholders;

• enhanced sustainability of communication activities and provide a sound evaluation of results of the campaign.

• increasing awareness among prospective migrants on the risks of irregular migration and migrant smuggling, the relevant legal alternatives of migration and economic opportunities in the country or region of origin; as well as opportunities of voluntary return and reintegration programs from countries of transit;

• empowering credible voices in countering migrant smugglers' narratives on irregular migration and the diasporas' narratives on living irregularly in the EU;

• strengthening multi-stakeholder cooperation between actors such as civil society organisations, researchers, media outlets, local state actors, diaspora and where relevant other stakeholders;

• enhancing the sustainability of communication activities and provide a sound evaluation of results of the campaign.

EU support to five and up to 15 projects of information and awareness raising campaigns in the area of migration in third countries of origin and transit along the main migratory routes towards the EU, in particular, the Eastern, Central and Western Mediterranean routes, the Western Balkans route and the Silk route.Third countries of particular interest are Algeria, Bangladesh, Gambia, Iraq, Morocco, Niger, Nigeria, Pakistan, Senegal, Tunisia and Turkey. Regional campaigns targeting more than one third countries along the migratory routes would be welcome. These projects should focus on preventing irregular migration and the risks of migrant smuggling in particular, while the campaigns in third countries may be complemented by components in Europe that focus on engaging the target audiences’ network connections.

The general objective of the call is to contribute to the change of perceptions and behaviour of third country nationals pondering to irregularly migrate to the EU and of key influencers of their decisions (e.g. families, religious or community leaders, teachers, returning migrants, providers of services facilitating migration).

Actions should pursue the following specific objectives:

• to provide trusted, factual, balanced information on the risks of irregular migration – during the journey (dangers of migrating irregularly) and after arrival (hardship of living in the EU irregularly and return), as well as on relevant legal alternatives of migration and on available economic opportunities in the country or region of origin;

• to empower credible voices in countering migrant smugglers' and diasporas’ narratives on irregular migration and narratives on living irregularly in the EU;

• to strengthen multi-stakeholder cooperation between actors, such as civil society organisations, researchers, media outlets, local state actors, diaspora and where relevant other stakeholders;

• to enhance the sustainability of communication activities and results of the campaign.

Proposals which focus on information and awareness raising campaigns targeting only diaspora within EU Member States and do not involve third countries will be rejected.

The projects should lead to the following key deliverables for the corresponding components:

• an inception report, including the results from the targeted preparatory analysis carried out in order to develop the tailored communication strategy;

• a tailored communication strategy document, including definition of the geographical scope (e.g. if target communities established or transiting across several countries), audience segmentation, selection of topics and messages, plan for the use of tailored media, social media and any suitable communication channels, detailed plan for the roll-out of the campaign;

• a monitoring and evaluation methodology document, outlining a theory of change, a results framework and the planned data collection methods;

• the content of the information and awareness raising campaign, including products and services designed, produced and disseminated during the campaign;

• quarterly monitoring reports, including on implementation, contingencies and adjustment measures and progress towards achieving the proposed key performance indicators;

• a mid-term progress report using the standard form that will be available on the Participant Portal;

• a final report including the results, as well as the observations from the monitoring and evaluation of the project.

Project proposals should include the following components:

1. Preparatory analysis in view of developing a tailored communication strategy for the project, in particular to identify the migration context, target audience(s) of the communication activities, its (their) characteristics, motivations, information needs and gaps as well as communication channels and tools, as to design the most effective approach to influence its (their) behaviour. The preparatory work should also rely as much as possible on results and lessons learnt from previous campaigns and communication activities carried out in the same country and should (if possible) use available primary and secondary data and own analysis. Where there is already available data that can be gathered from a thorough desk review, preparatory research should focus on field research on key unknowns, or on re-testing the effectiveness of the approach.

2. A tailored communication strategy based on the outcome of the preparatory analysis, in particular to define:

• a comprehensive concept, including the overarching idea for the campaign structure, the key messages to be used throughout the period of implementation of the activities and the key visual elements;

• a theory of change guiding both the campaign design and evaluation;

• SMART campaign objectives (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and time-bound);

• the target audience and its segmentation (gender, age, education, profession, etc.);

• the geographical scope of the campaign based on the target audience identified (which country/region and which part of that country in particular) and the specific migratory context (country of origin vs transit or destination);

• the communication channels to be used depending on the target audience, ensuring a mix of traditional and social media, including media-buying plan where appropriate, as well as local or community level outreach, taking into account the habits of each segment of the target audience in terms of media access and consumption as well as the identification in the study on best practices of (remote) word-of-mouth messaging as the most effective and trusted communication channel in previous campaigns;

• alternative communication tools where appropriate, such as theatre plays, community-led debates, contests (e.g. photo, song, video) and awards (e.g. for journalists), school visits, testimonials, involvement of celebrities etc., adapting them to the habits and characteristics of each context and segment of the target audience;

• a creative approach allowing for participation and feedback from the target audience, e.g. by fostering use of smartphone apps and text messaging for both multiplication and monitoring/feedback purposes; a detailed plan for the roll-out and management of the campaign;

• key performance indicators (KPIs), both qualitative and quantitative, with baseline and targets to be used to monitor the implementation and to assess the result of the campaign from the outset.

3. The production and implementation of the communication campaign, in particular:

• pre-testing of concepts and content of the campaign on sample/focus groups of identified target audience;

• production of content of the campaign;

• rolling-out of the communication activities

4. Monitoring and evaluation of the results and impact of the campaign should be based on a learning-focused monitoring strategy with frequent testing of campaign elements. In particular it should include:

• a theory of change;

• a results framework;

• planned data collection methods;

• collecting and analysing of the key performance indicators (KPIs) defined in the communication strategy, both qualitative and quantitative, with baseline and targets to be used to monitor the implementation and to assess the result of the project, as well as measure the outputs and results of the project against programme performance indicators included in Annex VIII, Regulation (EU) 2021/1147, in particular as regards the Specific Objectives in Article 3(2)(a), (b) and (c);

• providing for adjustments of the on-going campaign if necessary;

• allowing for lessons learnt and good practices for future campaigns.

5. A strategy for the sustainability of the campaign activities taking into account the potential long-term results