ministry of european funds tackling roma needs in the 2014-2020 structural funds programming period

Ministry of European Funds

Tackling Roma NeedsIn the 2014-2020 Structural Funds

Programming Period


Roma Community is facing a set of challenges in various areas, challenges whose settlements are being revealed in some of the Romania’s Europe 2020 targets.

Roma people have a lower education level compared to the majority population, which limits their access to the labour market, given that, the demand for skilled labour force is increasing.

•1/3 of the Roma population has primary education•1/2 of Roma population has second level education•1/4 of Roma population do not know how to read and write.


Employment

Only one in ten Roma has had a stable job in the past 2 years

Only 27% of Roma women are being employed and the employment rate for both Roma men & women is 36% ( 2011).

Roma employees don’t have a formal qualification or they have unskilled jobs such as cleaning personnel, dustmen or green space worker.

Only 10-15 % of Roma workers are salaried workers.


Reduced participation and access restricted to unstable and marginal positions on the labour market, affecting Roma people, is to be mentioned on the list of causes of poverty.

At least 2/3 of Roma people are poor and at risk of social exclusion thus Romania need to continue the implementation of the National Roma Integration Strategy in more efficient way.


Given the Roma community needs, integrated intervention is required to improve the situation. Thus the interventions, amongst other measures, should be focused on CLLD ( Community Led Local Development) approach, on supporting the members of the groups to get out of the poverty zone.


Romania’s National Approach to improve Roma’s community situation in the next European Structural and Investment Funds programming

period 2014-2020


Policies in employment will focus on developing social capital and providing incentives, so that Romanian economy will make good use of the young unemployed work force provided by the Roma.

At the same time increasing the educational capital will continue to be a priority.


Among the steps that are to be taken, few are predefined requirements for a further proper and efficient use of ESI Founds 2014-2020 in the field of social inclusion of Roma.

1.Better coordination among various stakeholders with institutional and administrative responsibilities in addressing social inclusion of Roma. 2.Improved complementarity between administrative layers.3.Correlation between local action plans for Roma inclusion and specificities underlined in National Roma Inclusion Strategy.4.A more consistent and efficiently allocated financial resource by local authorities through local/communities budgets. 5.An improved and more strategically approached cooperation with Roma civil society at local level.


The intervention for Roma inclusion is a necessity in Romania both at central and local level and is addressed right now by designing concrete policies for improving Roma’s welfare and labour market opportunities in ALL FOUR KEY AREAS:

1.EDUCATION2.HOUSING3.EMPLOYABILITY4.HEALTH


Different European Founds, as ESF ( European Social Founds), ERDF ( European Regional Development Found), FEAD (Fund for European Aid to most Deprived) or EAFRD ( European Agricultural Found for Rural Development) have a very adequate role to play to support and develop Roma policies.

The Operational Programmes are still under progress and negotiations but the Partnership Agreement between European Commission and Romania already established the areas where different funds will intervene in order to target Roma needs.


Roma challenges Actions Fund

Low participation in preschool education

- flagship program to consolidate the universal completion of kindergarten education and the rapid expansion of the provision of ECEC for the youngest (0-3 years) with the actively involvement of the local authorities

- Counting in properly the children with special needs, those with different ethnic origins into Romanian classroom today

- Improving the curricula in the sense of moving away from a childcare based approach to an educational approach

ESF (HCOP)

Early school leaving

- “After School” programmes – activities to consolidate knowledge, to consolidate acquired knowledge or to speed up learning individually as well in groups, by getting the parents involved in the programmes, counselling services, school meditators and training for teaching staff

- “Second chance” education programme for primary and secondary education with a homogeneous geographical coverage and to live up the current demand

ESF (HCOP)

Low levels of education - Develop vocational education and training (VET), secondary ( technological

VET route) and the post-secondary education- Providing a high quality technical skills and generic skills by supporting VET- Reintegrate students into mainstream education, recognise and validate

prior learning, including competence achieved in non-formal and informal education

ESF ( HCOP)

Difficult access in tertiary education for Roma Students

from rural areas

- Develop the institutional strategies such as gradually reducing the merit-based subsidies in favour of increased need-based tuition subsidies so as to increase the access, participation and attainment in tertiary education for Roma students from rural areas

- More transparent information on educational opportunities and outcomes and tailored guidance on study choices

ESF



Unmatched Vocational Education Training with

Labour market Needs

- Subsidies for stimulating the employment in non-agricultural activities- Specific Continued Vocational Training for non-agricultural activities- Specific CVT in the fisheries and aquaculture activities, sea exploitation, costal

and sea tourism

ESF

Poor access to labour market - Personalized employment counselling, mentoring and career advice addressing specific needs of Roma people

- Assessing and recognition of the professional competences obtained through informal systems

- Continuing professional training for Roma people on the labour market in order to gain competences in accordance with the labour market needs

- Participation to lifelong learning and apprenticeship programs

ESF

Excluded young people Not in education, employment or

training (NEETS)

- Apprenticeship, traineeship for the young people, including for the higher education graduates

- Personalized employment counselling and career guidance, mentoring- Professional training, including developing of key competences

ESF

Low access to employment in rural areas

- Development of agricultural and non-agricultural activities in rural areas EAFRD

Lack of education resources and infrastructure in rural

areas

- Measures to improve the quality of the training in farm practices, farm management, vocational training

EAFRD

Poverty - Quick Measures to combat poverty - providing food help

- Subsides for vulnerable persons and families which are in risk of poverty or social exclusion to encourage and support their transition to the labour market

- Information campaigns to raise public awareness, including among social beneficiaries and social assistance personnel

FEAD ( Fund for European Aid to most Deprived)

ESF



Low access to social and health care services

- Development and implementation of national health programmes- Improving the quality of social services- Pilot projects to identify persons with special needs- Piloting of new types community centres- Assessing the needs of the Roma people- Improve the skills of professionals and practitioners in the social

assistance field

ESF

Undeveloped social assistance system

- Develop a national network to support the implementation of integrated community services

- Implement prevention programs to reduce the poverty and social exclusion risk

- Develop and improve the standards in the social services field- Increase de capacity for data collection, analysis, prognosis, strategic

planning, monitoring and evaluation of measures, action plans, strategies and policies in the field of social assistance, social care and social inclusion through:

Developing beneficiaries consulting mechanisms and policies' s impact evaluation

Development of the social services providers electronic Registry Procuring studies, research, prognosis in the field of social

assistance and social inclusion Evaluating the quality of social services offered to the

beneficiaries Fundamenting and developing poverty reduction and social

inclusion policies, strategies and action plans at the local and national level

ESF



Discrimination and social exclusion

- Provide services in an integrated system of employment, housing, health, education and social services of general interest for vulnerable person ( 10% ERDF – type expenditures)

- Implement measures for combating stereotypes and discrimination - Subsidies (transport, awards e.g.) for the vulnerable persons in poverty risk - Improve the access to public services, especially to employment, social, educational,

housing and health care services through one stop services, information activities- Developing innovative projects to correlate social protection interventions with the

requirements identified on the labour market and the needs identified at business environment

ESF

Obsolete institutionalization

process

- Developing social care services to support transition from the institutional care models to community based centres

- Use of community’s material and human resources in order to provide support for the Roma community members in need

- Organising at city halls level information campaigns regarding the social assistance services and benefits available in the community

ESF

Poor infrastructure of social services

- Construction/rehabilitation/modernization of social services infrastructure - Equipments for the social service infrastructure

constructed/rehabilitated/modernized- Construction/modernization of infrastructure to support the transition from

institutional care to a community based-care ( family homes, family-style apartments, social housing, day-care centres, domiciliary care units, residential centres, etc.)

- Establish a network of integrated community centres

ERDF

Need for infrastructure in the medical area

related to Roma communities

Investments in hospitals and other public health infrastructure :-Construction/rehabilitation/modernization of the healthcare infrastructure ( outpatient departments, centres for integrated intervention) specific equipment for the healthcare infrastructure

ERDF



Poor infrastructure in education system

- Rehabilitation / modernization / equipping of ECEC ( nursery)- Construction / rehabilitation / modernization / equipping of ECEC ( pre-school

infrastructure – kindergarten) - Construction / rehabilitation / modernisation / equipping of the primary and

secondary education ( school I – VIII) - Rehabilitation / modernization / educational infrastructure ( classrooms, libraries,

workshops, etc.) in rehabilitation centres and prisons

ERDF

Need for infrastructure in the social housing area

CLLD – Integrated actions including: -construction/rehabilitation/modernization of social housing-Investment in health infrastructure and social services – construction /rehabilitation centres providing integrated health and social services-Encouraging employment through social economy activities, community development activities for a better integration

ERDF


Thank you

Ministry of European FundsGeneral Directorate of Analysis, Programming

and Evaluation Bucharest, First District

15-17 Ion Mihalache Blvd, Tower Centre, third floor, tel: 0372838500


ministry of european funds tackling roma needs in the 2014-2020 structural funds programming period

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