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Description
The project aims to improve living and educational conditions in disadvantaged communities with a high percentage of Roma population in Gornești commune, Mureș county by:
- provision of legal assistance to clarify the situation and housing rights for a number of 160 households in the villages of Gornești, Petrilaca de Mureș, and Periș (approximately 630 Roma);
- providing support in obtaining identity documents for 30 Roma persons;
- providing support for 56 Roma children from the village of Petrilaca de Mureș (eg., cultural and sports activities etc.) to encourage school enrollment/re-enrollment and school participation and preventing school dropout;
- developing Roma empowerment actions for 20 Roma women and young people from the village of Petrilaca de Mureș;
- small-scale investments in the renovation and improvement of the conditions in the spaces where the educational activities are carried out (the school from Petrilaca de Mureș village where over 93% of children are Roma).
Both the investment in school infrastructure, as well as education actions and actions in the legal field/identity and property documents will bring concrete benefits for the Roma community, contributing to the process of social inclusion of the Roma in this community.
Summary of project results
About 19% of the population in the Gornesti commune, Mures county is represented by Roma ethnics. Considering the low level of education of the Roma, but also the low offer of jobs in the area, access to the labour market is limited. Only 5% of Roma youth and adults able to work have employment contracts; the rest rely on day labour in subsistence agriculture, which generates inconsistent and inadequate income. Roma lives in poor conditions in households in various degrees of degradation, most of which are without a clear legal situation.
Children from Roma families have poor and very poor academic results, and a high school dropout rates. The school from Petrilaca de Mures, where out of a total of 60 children enrolled, 56 children are Roma, there are poor educational facilities which does not create an appropriate school climate.
The project aimed to improve living and educational conditions for Roma population living in Gornesti commune, Mures county through small-scale investments in the renovation of the school from Petrilaca de Mures, clarification of the situation and housing rights for a number of 160 Roma households, obtaining valid identity documents for 30 people Roma, empowering Roma, particularly women.
The School from Petrilaca de Mures has been the rehabilitated, 53 students benefiting from better studying conditions. In collaboration with the school, children at risk of dropping out of school were identified and measures were taken to reduce school absenteeism, including by working with their parents. To empower 20 Roma women and young people, information sessions were organized on various topics (women''s rights, Roma women''s access to the labour market, domestic violence, the benefits they can obtain to support children and the family, managing the family budget, etc.).
However, despite the promoter''s best efforts to accomplish all the desired outcomes, the project''s goals were only partially met. The legal assistance to clarify the situation and housing rights could not be completed during the project with the registration of any files with the Land Fund Commission (the first step that had to be taken after the establishment of the files with the cadastral documentation) as a result of the difficulties created by the legal framework (e.g., people with debts to the state budget, the legal framework changing during project implementation) and the lack of seriousness of the cadastral service provider. On the other hand, despite the attempts to advertise the services in the community, no beneficiary (out of 20 estimated) has taken advantage of the promoter''s assistance in getting the identity documents. Considering that there were no expenses related to these activities for which no tangible result was obtained, the project was concluded at this stage.
The 53 children, mostly Roma, benefited from better physical conditions for their school classes after the school was rehabilitated. 20 Roma women and young people increased the level of knowledge and skills for life, knowing better their rights.