In 2021 Pairity completed its first major pilot in four cities in The Netherlands through the Samen Hier (Together Here) program. We matched over 300 refugee newcomers and volunteers.

The pilot was designed as a randomized control trial, where treatment was considered being matched with a group of volunteers. The mid-term evaluation showed significant improvement along integration and social cohesion metrics. While the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic meant a high rate of control group attrition, leading to statistically inconclusive findings, the program nonetheless meant increased opportunties for both refugees and receiving communities, and offered the opportunity to refine our survey and matching tools.

Our pilot was profiled by the BBC World Service podcast People Fixing the World.

You can learn more about how Pairity can help with new initiatives for refugee resettlement in The Conversation – “How a Tool Called Pairity is Using Data to Gauge Community Support for Refugees”.