We have just finalized three policy briefs documenting different aspects of the pathways that we have developed in the context of the EU-Passworld project, in Ireland, Belgium and Italy.
 
A Labour Pathway to Ireland for Displaced Workers describes in detail the design of a pathway within the framework of Ireland’s Critical Skills Employment Permit. The brief also provides an overview of ongoing work to develop a specific pathway for displaced nurses, offers an update on pathway implementation (including employer engagement; candidate sourcing; and pre-departure and post-arrival programming), and formulates preliminary recommendations for stakeholders working to expand refugee labour mobility to Ireland.
 
An Education Pathway to Belgium for Displaced Students analyses the advantages and disadvantages of using refugee or student status to develop an education pathway to Belgium, articulating why refugee status was deemed the most sustainable and scalable legal framework to pilot the pathway, both from the point of view of policy design and programme implementation and from the perspective of individual beneficiaries. The brief includes three annexes with a comparison of different potential status options for displaced students; a step-by-step overview of the selection procedure designed for the 2023 pilot of the education pathway; and an extensive feasibility assessment of student status as potential legal framework for the pathway.
 
Corridoi Lavorativi documents the different elements of a pilot effort led by Caritas Italiana to develop a labour pathway within the framework of an existing Humanitarian Corridor for Afghan Citizens, including eligibility criteria; identification and selection of beneficiaries; pre-departure activities; and post-arrival supports. The brief concludes with policy considerations about the challenges and opportunities of using humanitarian corridors as labour pathways and provides broader lessons learned.
 
EU-Passworld has a strong focus on building a solid evidence base for what works when designing skills-based pathways with a community sponsorship dimension. We hope that these briefs will contribute to that goal, and that the lessons learned they capture are relevant to actors and programmes in other countries.