NAGYKÁLLÓ ROMA-NET ROMA

INTEGRATION LOCAL ACTION

PLAN

PREPARED BY: Nagykálló Local Support Group

CLOSED: December 3., 2012

1

Table of Contents

1 BACKGROUND ...... 3

1.1 INTRODUCTION ...... 3 1.2 METHODOLOGY USED ...... 3 1.3 COMPOSITION OF THE LOCAL SUPPORT GROUP ...... 4 2 STATUS AND KEY CHALLENGES ...... 5

2.1 NAGYKÁLLÓ – KEY FACTS AT A GLANCE ...... 5 2.2 LOCATION AND ACCESS ...... 5 2.3 DEMOGRAPHY ...... 6 2.4 SOCIAL SITUATION AND SERVICES ...... 6 2.5 ECONOMY ...... 7 2.6 HUMAN RESOURCES, EMPLOYMENT...... 7 2.7 MICROREGIONAL ROLE ...... 8 3 THE SITUATION OF THE ROMA POPULATION...... 9

3.1 ROMA POPULATION IN - KEY PROBLEMS ...... 9 3.2 ROMA POPULATION IN NAGYKÁLLÓ ...... 9 3.3 EDDIGI LÉPÉSEK A ROMÁK HELYZETÉNEK JAVÍTÁSA ÉRDEKÉBEN...... 11 4 LOCAL ACTION PLAN...... 12

4.1 OBJECTIVES ...... 12 4.1.1 Overall objective ...... 12 4.1.2 Specific objectives ...... 12 4.2 KEY ELEMENTS OF THE PROPOSED STRATEGY ...... 12 4.2.1 Stages ...... 12 4.2.2 Pillars ...... 13 4.2.3 Gradual approach ...... 13 4.3 PROPOSED INTERVENTIONS ...... 14 4.3.1 Housing ...... 14 4.3.2 Employment ...... 15 4.3.3 Families ...... 15 4.3.4 Supporting integration ...... 16 4.4 FINANCING ...... 16

2

1 Background

1.1 Introduction

This document is the draft Local Action Plan drawn up by the Local Support Group of Nagykálló to address the depressing problems of the Roma population living in the town and support their gradual integration in the local community. It has been prepared as part of a Roma-Net URBACT II. project, coordinated by , Hungary as the lead partner and involving partners (in addition to Nagykálló) from Bologna and Udine, Italy, Kosice, , Karvina, Czech Republic, Almería and Torrent, Spain and Bobigny, France. The focus of the Roma-Net project is the integration of the Roma population. The common challenge of the partnership is how to overcome negative attitudes, how to improve consultation and engagement with the Roma community.

1.2 Methodology used

The Local Action Plan of Nagykálló is a living document - open to changes and amendments - this approach ensures that the LAP is flexible enough to respond to new challenges or major changes in the programme's environment. The plan was prepared as a result of an extensive consultation process, centred around the Local Support Group. In drawing up the plan, ideas, best practices and innovative approaches deriving from the various international workshops, partner meetings have also been widely applied. In fact, the support and experience of the international partners have constantly provided useful guidelines and orientation for our LAP development process. The following table summarises the methodology applied to develop the Local Action Plan. The headings present the main steps in the process, while below each heading the key inputs used are listed.

3

1.3 Composition of the Local Support Group

Name and Oganisation / stakeholder Key added value to the work of the LSG position represented Dr. Jenei Terézia Romology expert deep knowledge of the target group

knowledge of best practices Bogdán Zoltán Roma Minority Self- interface with the Roma people in Nagykálló Government Deák Gabriella Nagykálló Municipality experience in working with Roma children Haklik Marianna Nagykálló Municipality practical experience in implementing labour market training programmes for Roma people Tömöri László "Emisszió" environmental experience with sustainable living projects protection association Török László Nagykálló Municipality representation of the management of the (notary) municipality as project sponsor Véghseő Sándor Urbs Novum urban project management experience, interface with development company urban development strategy and other development projects currently implemented in the town Diósi Marianna Nagykálló Municipality project management and administration Trefán Jánosné Member of the Local representation of the local government, Government, Vice Mayor of experience in working with young Roma children Nagykálló Tóth Zoltán Member of the Local representation of the local government Government Balogh József HÍD Community Centre knowledge of the target group and the specific problems of the roma people living in Nagykálló Csoba Judit University of , Knowledge of roma problems, extensive Sociology and Social Policy experience in implementing of social change and Faculty integration programmes, expertise in the field of social enterprises. Novák Ágnes Technical University of experience in designing and implementing Budapest sustainable housing solutions for low status people, Balogh Zoltán North Great Plain Regional Practical experience in project design and Development Agency European funding possibilities. Kézy Béla Megakom Development project management experience, experience in Consultants implementing transnational projects, knowledge of EU funding possibilities

4

2 Status and key challenges

2.1 Nagykálló – key facts at a glance

 Population: 10.151;  Area: 69 km2  Located in the immediate neighbourhood of the county capital, Nyíregyháza (nearly 120.000 inhabitants, economic and administrative centre);  The proportion of low status people is high, improving their situation is an important priority:  There is a large supply of quality workforce in the town and in surrounding settlements;  Economy is dominated by agriculture, food processing and light industry;  The quality of public services is high, public infrastructure is well-developed;  The town has gone through dynamic development in recent years: over 40 development projects have been carried out, with a total value exceeding EUR 15 Million;  There is an industrial park with excellent location and full infrastructure.

2.2 Location and access

5

Nagykálló is located in the North-Eastern corner of Hungary, in -Szatmár-Bereg county, in the immediate neighbourhood of the county capital, Nyíregyháza. The distance of the Hungarian- Romanian border is 47 km, while that of the Ukrainian-Hungarian border is 70 km.

The most important road connection of Nagykálló is motorway M3, linking the settlement with Budapest and also with other major European transport routes. Further sections of the motorway are currently being built, planned to reach the Hungarian-Ukrainian border by 2015. In the outskirts of Nagykálló road 403 - passing by Nyíregyháza and establishing the linkage with the main road No.3 - reaches the motorway. This road conveys major transport traffic mainly towards Ukraine. 2.3 Demography

The number of inhabitants in Nagykálló is slightly above 10.000, out of which 6951 people are of working age. While there are negative demographic tendencies (selective migration, aging), the town has successfully avoided population decline until recently. There are also clear signs that once the labour market offers attractive possibilities, the negative tendencies can be easily counterbalanced, also in the long run. As a result of the relatively high rate of those under 14 (15,6 %) and those over 60 (16,1%) the proportion of dependents is high, placing increased burden on active employees. 2.4 Social situation and services

The social situation of inhabitants is indirectly indicates the income status; based on personal income tax data, the average income is low even in comparison with the average of the cities in Szabolcs- Szatmár-Bereg county.1

Nagykálló Average of the cities in Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg County

Taxpayer/1000 inhabitants 426 427

Gross income serving as basis of 1399 1647 the personal income tax per permanent population (1000 Ft)

Personal income tax per 168 248 permanent population (1000 Ft)

Similarly to the national situation, the rate of people in need of social care has gradually increased in recent decades. In response to this situation, an advanced social care system has been developed in Nagykálló, which, in addition to providing quality social services, places major emphasis on social integration and reintegration. Social services are provided by the South-Nyírség Social and Child- welfare Centre in another 6 settlements in the proximity of Nagykálló. Its major tasks are as follows:

1 Source: KSH (2012): Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg megye statisztikai évkönyve 2010 6

 Child welfare service,  Provision of temporary home for families;  Family support services;  Daytime shelter for homeless;  Health education;  Warning system based home assistance;  Social catering;  Support service;  Services for addicted people; In addition to the services to low status people, the municipality provides a wide range of financial and in-kind subsidies, transfers; in fact, for many families these are the only sources of income. The rate of those receiving social subsidies on a regular basis (4,2 / 1000 inhabitants) is significantly higher than the average of cities in Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg county (3,5 / 1000 inhabitants). 2.5 Economy

In the local economy, agriculture plays a crucial role, the main agricultural products include maize, wheat and sunflower, but apple growing is also important. There are a number of companies involved in the agribusiness, processing local and microregional agricultural products or involved in related trade. In recent years, the cold store capacities have also increased in Nagykálló. Most of the companies are micro-, small- and medium sized enterprises. Retail is also important part of the local economy: most of the retail units sell foodstuff; shops of a number of retail chains are present in Nagykálló with a wide selection. There is no large shopping centre in the town, but a wide range of shopping centres and specialised large retail units offer their services in the nearby city of Nyíregyháza. As a result of the developments of recent years, and thanks to its favourable geographic position Nagykálló can become an important regional logistical, trade and service hub already in the immediate future. 2.6 Human resources, employment

The employment rate in the town fluctuates around 40 %, which is low, even in comparison to the national average. Most of the people (around 60%) are employed in the tertiary sector, although the weight of agricultural employment is also relatively high. At the end of 2011 the unemployment rate was above 18%, but this figure shows significant seasonal fluctuation. The number of registered unemployed (1282 at the end of 2011) shows an increasing tendency; fortunately, the proportion of long-term unemployed is relatively low (22,9 %). This is important, because the reintegration of short-term unemployed people to the labour market can take place rapidly. Nagykálló is an important school town within the microregion. The Nagykálló Grammar and Vocational School provides specialised training in economics, English-IT and logistics; also, it offers bilingual (Hungarian-German) general education.

7

The other important educational institution is the Kállay Rudolf Vocational School provides education in a wide range of vocations, and is ready to flexibly adapt its training structure to the labour market needs - or even to the needs of individual businesses. Finally, the School of Business Nagykálló offers special courses in a variety of professions, including IT system administrator, financial administrator, marketing administrator. 2.7 Microregional role

In addition to serving its own citizens, Nagykálló also functions as a microregional centre, coordinating development activities with its neighbouring settlements. The public administration structure is being massively redesigned in Hungary to make it more cost efficient and user-friendly. As part of this process, district centres will be established to act as the first level of state administration, closest to the citizens. As a result, the public administration functions of many small settlements will be significantly reduced, while the importance of settlements that are to become district administration centres will increase. These settlements will provide high quality public / state administration services also beyond their boundaries, on microregional level. Nagykálló will be the district centre of a microregion consisting of 7 neighbouring settlements (Balkány, Biri, Bököny, Érpatak, Geszteréd, Kállósemjén, Szakoly), which will give an important impetus to its development.

8

3 The situation of the roma population

3.1 Roma population in Hungary - key problems2

During the 2001 Hungarian national census, 190 thousand people claimed themselves to be gipsies; according to scientific estimates, however, the total number of gipsies in Hungary may well be as high as 650-750 thousand in 2010. Looking at the composition of the roma reveals a significantly younger population than the non-roma people in Hungary: the rate of 0-14 year old people among the roma population is 36,8%; the same rate for the non-roma population is merely 15,4%. Geographically, the Roma people are spread unevenly across Hungary: their absolute number and rate are the highest in Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén, Heves, Baranya és Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg counties. More than 60% of the roma population lives in the countryside, in rural areas, partly in segregated locations with poor housing conditions. Approximately 100 villages in Hungary has already become poor "roma settlements", while further 200 are expected to follow suite in the near future. There are clear signs of regional and local ghettoisation processes and irreversible segregation. The activity rate of the roma population is hardly 20 % (the same figure for women is even less, only 10%). The general health of roma people is poor (their average life expectancy is 10 year less than that of the non-roma population), further exacerbated by low level of education (a mere 20% of young roma graduate), as well as by the low quality, slum-like housing conditions. In these areas, crime and ethnic conflicts are also present. Extreme poverty of the roma people is reproduced and inherited from generation to generation.

3.2 Roma population in Nagykálló

Approximately 13-15% of the total population of Nagykálló are Roma, or between 1300 and 1500 people. Their general quality of life is well below of the town average According to the segregation indicators from the 2001. census four segregated areas can be identified in Nagykálló, though significant territorial concentration of people with disadvantageous situation is not present. The availability of and access to physical infrastructural in the segregated areas is no different from the rest of the city.

2 Source: Ministry of Public Administration and Justice, State Secretariat for Social Inclusion (2011): National Strategy for Social Inclusion - deep poverty, child poverty, roma (2011-2020) 9

The table below provides an overview of the segregation indicators of the four segregated areas in Nagykálló:

Segregated Segregated Segregated Segregated area 1. area 2. area 3. area "Kiskálló"

57,6 54,6 55,3 51,7

It is important to note, however, that roma people live in various parts of the city other than the segregated areas. Furthermore, nut jost roma people live in the segregated areas, either.  The key challenges with regard to the Roma population are as follows:  Poor living conditions  Segregated dwellings  Low level of education  Very high level of unemployment - well above the town average  Their main sources of income are social transfers and occasional work on the black labour market  As the income from work is comparable with the income from social transfers and occasional work (working in some cases may even lead to losing some of the transfers), there is very limited intention to work.  Even if some of the Roma people would want to work, they: o lack the necessary knowledge, skills and work experience; o have a work culture and ethic different from the rest of the local population o face major discrimination from the part of the potential employers  The low level of education is reproduced in the consecutive generations, and the children are not grown up in working families; Using the segregation indicators based on data from the 2001 national census, 4 segregated areas can be identified in Nagykálló, though strong concentration of low status population is not typical.

10

Infrastructure facilities in the segregated areas are similar to the rest of the city, there are no slum- like areas.

3.3 Steps related to improving of Roma peoples’ situation

The Municipality of Nagykálló has long been experimenting with providing innovative and integrated solutions to social challenges in the city:  The Municipality has implemented various measures to improve the quality of life and chances of people with disadvantageous situation (e.g. integrated education, providing complex services on microregional level, providing support beyond the obligatory social transfers, debt management support).  The city has an „Antisegregation Plan” which identifies comprehensive solutions for helping people with disadvantegous situation and interventions to address the problems in segregated areas. The objectives of this plan include the increase of employment of disadvantaged people, improving their housing environment, fostering their stronger integration in the local society.  The Municipality has already successfully implemented a social urban rehabilitation programme co-financed by the European Union (total budget: HUF 894 Million). A community centre, a social incubator and social hosusing facilities were completed as part of the project, together with numerous complementary soft interventions.

11

4 Local Action Plan

4.1 Objectives

4.1.1 Overall objective

Roma population gradually integrated in the Nagykálló local community.

4.1.2 Specific objectives  Proper housing conditions ensured for every Nagykálló citizens.  Increased activity rate of roma people through gradual reintegration into the labour market.  Improved conditions, quality of life of roma women.  Equal opportunities for roma children through support programmes.  Active involvement of the entire community in the integration process.

4.2 Key elements of the proposed strategy

In order to meet the objectives listed above, our strategy relies upon four main pillars, split into two main stages and takes a gradual approach. 4.2.1 Stages It is aimed at establishing a long-term, sustainable solution, rather than setting up a one-off project while trying to tackle a complex issue. Having said that, we believe that in order to make real change happen, the establishment of long-term interventions - or rather, mechanisms - in itself is not sufficient; in order to keep the motivation and commitment of the various stakeholders strong, short-term actions bringing about quick results - quick wins - are also needed. That is where our two- stage approach comes in: while stage two focuses on launching long-term, sustainable processes, stage one involves the implementation of quick win actions, delivering specific results early on in the implementation process.

12

4.2.2 Pillars The four pillars of our proposed strategy are as follows:

All four pillars are equally important in ensuring sustainable integration of roma people in the local community:  Housing: all people - including members of the roma community - has the right to proper housing conditions - affordable and decent quality dwellings;  Employment: without appropriate income, earned as a result of work, successful and sustainable integration is not possible;  Families - and specifically women and children - have to be involved and need support in a variety of areas in order to embrace and even promote the change process;  Integration: a multitude of accompanying measures (cultural, educational, communication) is necessary to facilitate smooth integration - and many of these measures have to target the majority population to avoid conflicts or refusal, and promote inclusion.

4.2.3 Gradual approach Bitter experiences from earlier integration projects have taught in the hard way in Hungary that initiatives forcing too big of an "integration leap" (e.g. moving roma families from ghettos to quality block of flats) are necessarily doomed to fail. Therefore, instead of pushing roma people to make the leap all at once, we intend to implement a gradual integration process, with active, individual support and communication along the road.

13

4.3 Proposed interventions

4.3.1 Housing In order to provide proper housing, a sustainable model needs to be in place. The following figure presents the model foreseen:

Low quality Social housing Own apartments / housing integrated location

In the model above, there is a gradual elimination of low quality housing. Instead of forcing rapid integration, the majority of families move to social housing facility, and after some time, only when they a) are prepared, b) can afford, move to decent quality own houses / apartments in an integrated location. Certainly, some families may be ready to skip the social housing phase and move to their own apartments right away. In either cases, families receive individual mentoring and different forms of assistance during the process. In order to put such a model in place in Nagykálló, the following interventions are needed:  Increase the social housing stock of the municipality, build new social houses;  Design and disseminate a model of low investment / low maintenance housing development; build a pilot house using this methodology;  Establish the conditions necessary to provide individual mentoring in financing, debt management, change management;  Establish a small-scale local microcredit scheme, to be used for housing development or improvement;

14

4.3.2 Employment Regarding employment, a similar approach needs to be applied, where roma people / other low status unemployed people are gradually (re)introduced to the labour market. Figure 2 presents the essence of the model:

market Open labour Local social cooperative or enterprise

Unemployment

Self-sustaining agricultural

production

The model has the following elements:  Families with garden are provided support (tools, seeds, training, mentoring) etc. necessary to self-sustaining agricultural production; they are helped in producing foodstuff around the house for their own households; they are also trained in traditional home-processing methods. This way the costs of food can be reduced, while the quality can be improved and people start to work, but without the pressure and obligations of a normal workplace.  A local social cooperative or social enterprise is established. Unemployed people are involved and can work in a protected environment, receiving support, mentoring. Once ready, at least parts of them can move on to the open labour market. Activities of this organisation would be: o Agricultural production on the lands of the municipality; o Primary processing, production of foodstuff to be used in local public institutions - schools, kindergartens - and in social catering, as well as selling under the brand established by the municipality; o Construction work using inexpensive local materials

4.3.3 Families In order to tackle the problem in an integrated manner, in addition to housing and employment measures special interventions are implemented aimed at the families involved in the process, more specifically the women (mothers) and the children. The following interventions are envisaged:

15

 Mentoring programme for roma children to improve their school performance;  Cultural / leisure activities for roma children organized by / in the community centre;  Talent management programme for roma / low status children;  Special programme for the women: child-care, household management and small-scale agricultural production, special personal development training to improve their self-esteem  MESÉD project: special project aimed at reintroducing roma families into the world of joint tale / story reading / telling. 4.3.4 Supporting integration In addition to addressing housing, employment, family and education issues, it is crucial to tackle the less tangible elements of integration as well. In order to do that, interventions need to focus on the following areas:  Strengthening the inclusive attitude of the local community. Openness of the local community towards roma inclusion, addressing any hostile feelings are key conditions of successful roma integration. In order to promote a more inclusive attitude, carefully designed communication and awareness-raising activities targetted at various groups of the local community (schoolchildren, staffers of the municipality and its institutions, employers, etc.) to support the integration process need to be in place.  Preparing professionals working with roma people. In addition to the proper attitude of the local community, highly motivated, properly trained and experienced professionals also need to be in place, who are ready and able to support the integration process, provide continuous help to families and even roma individuals. The lack of such professionals can jeopardize the success of the entire process. Part of these professionals are full-time roma mentors – there is a need for a mentor network in the city. Additionally, they are professionals at the mayor’s office and at various municipal institutions (schools, nurseries, community centre and social cooperative) who deal with roma people on a regular basis. Continuous educational and advisory support need to be provided to these professionals. 4.4 Financing

Without proper financing, such a complex programme simply cannot be implemented. With regard to financing, the municipality faces the following key challenges:  The city does not have sufficient own resources to finance the implementation of the measures outlined above;  Though European Union funds are potentially available to co-finance certain elements of the planned programme, such a programme can only produce the expected positive impacts if it is implemented in its entirety.  Oma integration is NOT a project; rather, it is a long process. In the current funding structure, however, financial support is only available on a project-by-project basis, which – even if applications are prepared one after the other, on a continuous basis – can jeopardize the sustainability of results. In response to these challenges and in order to ensure proper financing for the programme, the municipality foresees to implement the following actions:

16

 Developing an integrated pilot social urban development project, based on the principles and actions oulined above. Such a project could launch the process and create the essential conditions of roma integration in the city. It could also serve as a good basis for obtaining additional funds. The discussion with regard to such a programme has already started and is under way.  Active lobbying targetted at the Hungarian Government in order to establish national funding mechanisms that can replace the exclusivey subsidy-oriented approach and fragmented support system, and offer an integrated solution to address the problems of extreme poverty and disavantaged people locally.  Lobbying targetted at the European Commission in order to ensure that in the 2014-2020 programming period EU funding is available for European cities (large cities and smaller towns alike) for roma integration purposes, and that these funds support long-term, multiannual integrated programmes instead of one-off projects.

17