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Description
Discrimination, exclusion and increased risk of poverty are the main concerns addressed by "Integrated Services for Roma persons from vulnerable communities". The project aims to increase the inclusion and empowerment of the Roma living in 4 rural marginalized communities (villages of Izvoare, Ciprian Porumbescu, Checea and Breasta) located in Neamt, Suceava, Timis and Dolj counties.
The activities include: providing support to 1,310 vulnerable persons (of which 1,275 Roma) to access to the existent sectoral and integrated services (in the fields of education, employment, health, housing); educational programs for 780 children (Summer Kindergarten, School after school, extracurricular activities, remedial activities and additional training) in order to reduce the risk of dropout; parental education programs for 370 persons; obtaining identity documents for at least 24 people; improved skills for 32 professionals working with Roma; two awareness campaigns – one addressed to Roma people and one to the majority population; developing one anti-discrimination instrument.
Save the Children Romania will provide the services in all 4 communities, train specialists, do empowerment and awareness. E-Romnja Association will ensure empowerment activities, training, community facilitation and awareness. The local authorities from Bahna will manage the activities related to improvement of living conditions and will support all actions in its community.
Summary of project results
The project aimed to develop an integrated and innovative system of accessible and quality services to ensure increased inclusion and empowerment of Roma people in 4 localities from 4 development regions, through increasing access to sectoral and integrated services for 1,310 Roma individuals.
The Roma population is the second-largest minority in Romania, and eventhough it is difficult to determine the exact percentage, estimates show that its proportion is around 6%. Discrimination, social exclusion, and the high risk of poverty are among the most common problems faced by Roma communities. According to official documents, on average, 70% of Roma in Romania continue to live below the poverty risk threshold, while the national poverty rate in 2018 was 32.5%.
The project was carried out in 4 highly marginalized communities in Romania, where the needs assessment identified the following issues:
- Lack of identity documents;
- A significant percentage of children who do not go to school regularly;
- A significant percentage of individuals engaged in poorly paid work;
- A high number of people without health insurance;
- Poor living conditions;
- A large number of people who felt discriminated against because of their ethnic origin.
The project generated a multidisciplinary community intervention model, in which Roma experts working at the grassroots level in vulnerable communities were also involved. The social services component targeted both adults and children, focusing on employment, housing, and health services. Children were provided with health services as well as educational services aimed at significantly reducing the school dropout rate. An important activity of the project was the summer kindergartens, where quality educational services were offered during the summer school vacations.
An important component was improving living conditions—40 families benefited from basic housing upgrades, including stoves for heating, essential household appliances, and more. The involvement of local authorities served as a best practice model, as they contributed to connecting the homes to the electricity grid.
The empowerment component focused on recovering Roma ethno-cultural identity through innovative artistic means, as well as anti-discrimination campaigns within Roma communities.
The main result of the project was the creation of high-quality and sustainable multidisciplinary services at the level of the 4 intervention communities. During the implementation period, successful grassroots intervention models were tested, particularly focusing on the participation of Roma individuals in community life. The empowerment activities made participants more aware of their ethno-cultural identity and the need to preserve it. Last but not least, in the targeted communities, there was a significant increase in the acceptance of Roma individuals.