J-PAL Europe announces new project funding, expanded research initiative for tackling challenges of social exclusion of migrants

teacher holding book up in front of students
Photo: Aude Guerrucci | J-PAL

The Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab Europe (J-PAL Europe) is pleased to announce a significant expansion in the focus of its European Social Inclusion Initiative (ESII), to support the generation of policy-relevant research on how programs and policies related to housing and health can play a role in reducing the social exclusion of migrants and refugees in Europe. In addition to this expansion in topic, ESII will now benefit from funding support from BNP Paribas, focused on launching a new research project to evaluate the impact of providing immigrant parents in France additional resources to support their involvement in their children’s schooling.

“We recognize that in the wake of the Covid-19 public health crisis, the challenges of economic and social inclusion are likely to grow,” said Luc Behaghel, Associate Professor at the Paris School of Economics and academic co-chair of ESII. “We hope that by expanding the focus of the Initiative, we can generate evidence of solutions in new areas.”

ESII is a multi-year research and policy outreach initiative run with the support of and in collaboration with Community Jameel and Porticus, two global philanthropies, and hosted at the Paris School of Economics. The Initiative aims to identify and widely share promising solutions that can strengthen the social inclusion of migrants and refugees across Europe. To achieve this, the initiative funds randomized evaluations of social programs and policies that help address issues of social exclusion.

For the new collaboration between J-PAL Europe and BNP Paribas, the French bank is supporting a research project implemented in partnership with the French Ministry of National Education and the Ministry of Interior. The project provides immigrant parents in France with free school-based training in order to foster their social inclusion, promote their involvement in their children’s schooling and, as a result, improve their children’s educational success. The training includes French language courses and information on the functioning of the French school system.

Researchers Flore Gubert (IRD), Elise Huillery (Université Paris Dauphine; J-PAL affiliate), and Jean-Noël Senne (Université Paris Saclay) are running a pilot study to test the program’s potential to be implemented at a large scale in France.

“We are excited about the role we can play in supporting new research on a theme of great importance in Europe and beyond. We reaffirm our commitments in favor of refugees and youth inclusion through this program aiming at both the academic success of refugee children and the integration of their parents,” said Antoine Sire, Head of Company Engagement from BNP Paribas.

“This new funding from BNP Paribas is extremely valuable in highlighting the role the private sector can provide in helping generate solutions for the inclusion of migrants and refugees in Europe,” said Ana Tabacaru, ESII manager.

Following a first round of Request for Proposals focused on issues related to education and labor markets, J-PAL Europe announced the opening of the second ESII RFP round in June 2020. For more information on the application process, please visit the ESII page.