Civil Society Monitoring on the Implementation of the National Roma Integration Strategy and Decade Action Plan in CROATIA in 2012 and 2013 DECADE OF ROMA INCLUSION 2005-2015 Civil Society Monitoring on the Implementation of the National Roma Integration Strategy and Decade Action Plan in CROATIA in 2012 and 2013 Prepared by a civil society coalition comprising the following organizations Institute of the Association for Transitional Researches and National Education – STINA (lead organisation) Roma National Council n Centre for Peace, Legal Advice and Psychosocial Assistance Written by Ljubomir Mikić n Milena Babić Coordinated by the Decade of Roma Inclusion Secretariat Foundation in cooperation with the Making the Most of EU Funds for Roma Program of the Open Society Foundations DECADE OF ROMA INCLUSION 2005-2015 www.romadecade.org DECADE OF ROMA INCLUSION 2005-2015 2 Published by Decade of Roma Inclusion Secretariat Foundation Teréz körút 46. 1066 Budapest, Hungary www.romadecade.org Design and layout: www.foszer-design.com Proofreading: Christopher Ryan ©2014 by Decade of Roma Inclusion Secretariat Foundation All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any forms or by any means without the permission of the Publisher. ISSN: 2064-8413 All civil society monitoring reports are available at www.romadecade.org/civilsocietymonitoring Civil SocietyCivil Monitoring This report was prepared by a civil society coalition comprising the following organisations: Institute of the 3 Association for Transitional Researches and National Education – STINA Institute (lead organization), Roma National Council, and Centre for Peace, Legal Advice and Psychosocial Assistance. The lead researcher of croatia the coalition is Ljubomir Mikić (Centre for Peace, Legal Advice and Psychosocial Assistance) and the project manager is Stojan Obradović (STINA Institute). The authors of the report are: Ljubomir Mikić and Milena Babić (Centre for Peace, Legal Advice and Psy- chosocial Assistance) in consultation with Bibijana Papo and David D. Orlović (Roma National Council). The following researchers have been involved in the project: Agron Tahiri, Siniša Senad Musić, Čedo Todorović, Samanta Malkoč Hendeković and Branislav Tekić. The following organizations have been involved in advising on the report: the Decade of Roma Inclusion Secretariat Foundation, the Central European University’s Department of Public Policy, the European Roma Rights Centre, Habitat for Humanity, the Roma Education Fund, and from the Open Society Foundations: Making the Most of EU Funds for Roma program and the Roma Health Project. In 2013–2014, the Decade Secretariat has supported reports from civil society coalitions in eight countries: Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, France, Germany, Italy, Montenegro, Serbia, and the United Kingdom. In the pilot year of 2012, reports from the following countries were supported: Albania, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Macedonia, Romania, Slovakia, and Spain. In the reports, civil society coalitions supplement or present alternative information to Decade Progress Reports submitted by Participating Governments in the Decade of Roma Inclusion and to any reports submitted by State parties to the European Commission on implementation of their NRIS. These reports are not meant to substitute for quantitative monitoring and evaluation by State authorities but to channel local knowledge into national and European policy processes and reflect on the real social impact of gov- ernment measures. The civil society reports provide additional data to official ones, proxy data where there is not official data, or alternative interpretation of published data. The project is coordinated by the Decade of Roma Inclusion Secretariat Foundation in cooperation with Open Society Foundation’s Making the Most of EU Funds for Roma program. Funding for the project comes from the OSF Roma Initiatives Office. TABLE OF CONTENTS 5 Executive Summary 7 croatia Recommendations 15 List of Abbreviations 19 Introduction 21 1. Structural Requirements 23 2. Anti-Discrimination 35 3. Education 47 4. Employment 57 5. Health Care 63 6. Housing 69 Bibliography 75 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 7 This report is developed by a coalition of three Croatian civil society organizations, as an alternative con- croatia tribution to the monitoring and evaluation of the achievements of national strategies for integration of Roma in Croatia. It does not aim to be a comprehensive source of information on the situation of persons belonging to the Roma community in Croatia over the past decade or to substitute relevant state reports on this issue. Following a detailed monitoring template prepared by the Decade of Roma Inclusion Secre- tariat (in cooperation with the Open Society Foundation’s Roma Initiatives and Make the Most of EU Funds for Roma), the report attempts to provide a brief overview of the relevant Roma integration policies and strategies and to assess their impact in the period 2012–2013. In accordance with the specified reporting framework, the report includes information on structural requirements, anti-discrimination, education, em- ployment, health care and housing, which is presented in separate thematic chapters. Structural Requirements The Government Office for Human Rights and Rights of National Minorities (GOHRRNM) is the national contact point for the implementation of the National Roma Integration Strategies (NRIS). Although un- derstaffed and with limited financial resources provided from the State budget, the efficiency and effec- tiveness of GOHRRNM in performing a wide range of tasks was maintained at a reasonably satisfactory level. Professionally and administratively supported by GOHRRNM, a specialized cross-sectoral Monitoring Commission is designated to oversee operational components of NRIS. This Commission should further improve its work, primarily by strengthening the capacities of its Roma members. Involvement of local and regional authorities in NRIS remained at a low level and can be considered the “weakest link”. By the end of 2013, out of 33 local and regional self-government units (LRSGUs), only four had fulfilled their task to adopt local/regional action plans for implementation of NRIS 2013–2020. Being largely dependent on the adoption of LRSGU action plans, broad involvement of Roma CSOs and local Roma representatives did not happen in 2013. Efficient coordination between the different layers of governance in the implementation and monitor- ing of NRIS and accompanying Decade of Roma Inclusion Action Plans (DRAP) was generally missing. More formal coordination was rather rare. The impression is that institutions at the same or different levels of authority were often not familiar with each other’s implementation of certain Roma integra- tion measures. They usually acted in an uncoordinated manner; independently and on their own ini- tiative. Integrated monitoring and evaluation were lacking. NRIS 2013–2020 notes that the successful implementation of its objectives and measures requires concerted and co-ordinated action by all im- plementing partners and other stakeholders, which implies the establishment of mechanisms to ensure well-tuned vertical and horizontal co-ordination and action. It also reiterates that cross-sector collabora- tion between, inter alia, governmental authorities at all levels should be reinforced, to which effect the practice of cross-sector meetings, introduced in 2010, needs to be continued. However, it is noticeable that the central mechanism for monitoring the overall implementation of all operational components of the Strategy – the National Monitoring Commission – does not formally involve representatives of local and regional authorities. A certain discrepancy between mainstream and Roma-targeted policies can be seen above all in the area of housing, where there is a gap between the measures targeted at improving living conditions in segre- gated settlements and general policy efforts for the social inclusion of Roma in the wider community and the suppression of discrimination against them. DECADE OF ROMA The 2003 NRIS monitoring and evaluation system formally existed, but proved to be ineffective and not INCLUSION 2005-2015 sufficiently systematic or appropriate to provide for the comprehensive review of the implementation of envisaged policy measures in continuum. NRIS 2013–2020 envisages the establishment of a robust new system and mechanisms for monitoring and evaluation but, apart from the formal establishment of the 2013–2020 Monitoring Commission, not much progress was made in this regard in 2013. 8 NRIS 2013–2020 sets general principles for securing financial means for its implementation by 2020. Al- though this refers rather to a mid-term commitment, it can be concluded that the long-term financial commitment to sustainable implementation of NRIS was basically/initially confirmed by the adoption of the NRIS Action Plan 2013–2015. The Plan envisages the provision of around 6 million EUR in the three-year period, or about 2 million EUR annually, from the State budget alone. However, it does not explicitly refer to financing from EU funds. Potential funding from EU sources over the financial period 2014–2020 was diffi- cult to assess bearing in mind that the overall planning process is expected to be completed some time in June/July 2014. Several public events to raise awareness and encourage Roma and non-Roma stakeholders to participate in the process of