---
title: "RESTART"
description: "RESTART (GIZ, 2018/19): Reintegration support starts in Germany, with a printed guide and a personal buddy"
url: "https://www.sugar-network.org/en/projects/restart-2018-19/"
lang: "en"
---

# RESTART

**Reintegration support starts in Germany, with a printed guide and a personal buddy**

_Improvement of the reintegration of Ghanaian returnees from Germany_

- **Corporate partner:** [GIZ](https://www.sugar-network.org/en/network/partners/giz/) (https://www.giz.de/de/html/index.html)
- **Cohort:** [2018/19](https://www.sugar-network.org/en/projects/cohort/2018-19/)
- **Theme:** [Education & society](https://www.sugar-network.org/en/projects/themes/education-society/)
- **Type:** Service concept
- **Key fact:** 1 % Of Ghanaian asylum applications accepted in Germany
- **Universities:** [Karlsruhe Institute of Technology](https://www.sugar-network.org/en/network/universities/kit/)

## Challenge

Ghanaian returnees from Germany with lower education lack job prospects at home, which blocks reintegration. Many organisations offer help, but the services are hard to see. GIZ asked how to present need-based support through its existing infrastructure.

## What the team learned

Asylum seekers may not work in Germany until asylum is granted, and many see no prospects in Ghana either. Finding a good job after returning feels like a hill they cannot climb alone.

## What they built

RESTART is a reintegration concept that begins in Germany once someone decides to return. A paper-based RESTART GUIDE offers job inspiration and orientation, and a personal buddy accompanies the returnee throughout, linking existing services at critical points.

## Impact

The concept was meant as a blueprint for GIZ: after a successful launch in Ghana, it would roll out to other countries of origin.

## Full project text

A new, holistic concept to facilitate reintegration of Ghanaian returnees – providing economic opportunities to enable a fresh start after returning from Germany

### Challenge

Ghanaian returnees with lower education face several severe problems after their return from Germany. Besides physical and psychological issues, they especially lack economic perspectives on the Ghanaian job market which hinders them from reintegration successfully into society. Many organizations are approaching that issue from different perspectives. However, the transparency of available service offerings remains the main obstacle. As a consequence, the team tackled the challenge of how to present need-based services (counseling, information, and others) to support the reintegration of potential returnees from Germany to Ghana in a holistic and sustainable way, considering GIZ’s existing infrastructure.

### Solution

To improve the reintegration of Ghanaian returnees with a rather low educational background, a holistic reintegration concept was developed that starts in Germany after making a voluntary decision to return to the country of origin. A physical, paper-based RESTART GUIDE forms the focal point of the concept to provide inspiration, motivation, and orientation on the economic reintegration journey. Through the interplay of all RESTART components, the perspectives for full economic reintegration and, thus, a perspective in life, are improved after being back in the home country.

### Impact

By providing new perspectives and improving reintegration in the country of origin, Ghanaian returnees, on the one hand, receive a smooth, fresh (re-)start. They are emotionally accompanied and receive adequate support when it comes to training and jobs. The sponsor, on the other hand, profits from the increased trust of the target group and fulfills its mission of facilitating the return and reintegration of migrants from Germany to their country of origin.  
Overall, the project was intended to serve as a blueprint and will, after a successful launch for Ghana, be rolled out to other countries of origin across the world.

## Sources

Summarised by the SUGAR editorial team from the team’s project page and SUGAR Expo booklet.

Open the 2018/19 booklet: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1LXAxO2gzyp7wzqCeOPwAfQZG15NYTX0L/view?usp=sharing