Description
The Roma are disadvantaged in terms of access to housing, healthcare, social services, employment and education.The project will attempt to address some of the challenges in Romania in general, and in Iasi and Ploiesti in particular, in regards to unemployment, social inclusion, school attendance and poverty alleviation.The project will seek to remove barriers in connection to school attendance and to the job market by several targeted approaches.The outcomes are: delivery of social services enhanced in Iasi and Ploiesti; increased employment in Iasi and Ploiesti. The outputs are: improved school performance of children from vulnerable groups facilitated, health services improved, job skills enhanced through project training activities, job skills training targeted at young people enhanced. The target groups are: young families and families with children in school, young adults unemployed. The Salvation Army Norway is the donor partner. The partnership agreement is already signed between parties.
Summary of project results
The project goal is to remove barriers in connection to school attendance and to the job market by increase attendance rates of Roma children in primary and secondary school, introduce after school activities, focusing on health, diet, schoolwork, socialization skills and create new opportunities for unemployed and unskilled people to learn new skills. The project activities were organized in 3 major interventions as follow: Set up communities’ centers in Iasi and Ploiesti; Set up social business unit, SALVATEX; Set up Health Mobile Unit. Social workers in Iasi identified more than 150 families in need, and 88 families, which received various services. In Ploiesti, more than 200 families were identified as being in need. More than 150 children participated to center activities. The centers activities include: a day center (after-school activities and social laundry) that provide services three days per week, classes for children (Mathematics, Romanian, English and computer skills), a small medical clinic that provides basic services and community assistance activities (social and vocational counselling). Salvation Army has created a social economy enterprise called SALVATtex, a labor market mediation project called SalvaJob and ReDesign workshops. It is a social store network of retail ‘vintage’ clothing and products. SALVATtex is a platform that provides employment training either at the workplace or with SalvaJob. Six SALVATtex stores were opened and one sorting and reconditioning clothes warehouse has been functioning since May 2015. A total of 67 employees signed a work contract with SALVATtex during this period and two ReDesign workshops were opened (Iasi and Ploiesti). Health Mobile Unit provides social and medical services for homeless people and families. The team has one volunteer doctor, one nurse/driver, one social mediator and one coordinator. The program commenced on December 2015. The target group within the project was 500 homeless people or families living ‘on the street’ (including Roma children and families); people living on the street who have been evacuated from former ‘nationalized’ housing, and people who do not have access to social housing. During the project, 751 individuals (20% of the homeless population in Bucharest) were identified and the project promotor created a standardized database. A total of 909 social services were provided, consisting of 407 social counselling opportunities, 490 information and guidance services and 12 social interventions that involved support for employment.
Summary of bilateral results
There has been strong bilateral cooperation between Salvation Army Norway and Salvation Army Romania with exchange of human resources and knowledge. This partnership is the start of a continuous investment in Romania for TSA Norway that is linked to the situation of disadvantaged Romanian citizens on the streets of Oslo. This contributes to the Norway Grants objectives of long-term bilateral cooperation with key stakeholders from Norway and with strategic international partners to the Norway Grants