GOVERNMENT OF ROMANIA
NATIONAL AGENCY FOR THE ROMA
14 Viitorului St. Tel: 40 – 21 – 211.30.37 Bucharest 2 Fax: 40 – 21 – 211.05.95
PROGRESS REPORT
ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE
GOVERNMENT STRATEGY FOR IMPROVING
THE CONDITION OF THE ROMA
APRIL 2003 - JUNE 2005
-- Bucharest, September 2005 --
1
Table of contents:
TABLE OF CONTENTS:...... 2
THE ROMANIAN GOVERNMENT’S POLICY OF IMPROVING THE CONDITION OF THE ROMA...... 3
EVALUATING THE ACHIEVEMENT OF THE OBJECTIVES STATED IN THE NATIONAL STRATEGY FOR IMPROVING THE CONDITION OF THE ROMA ...... 7
INSTITUTIONAL STRUCTURES ...... 7 EU FUNDS FOR THE NATIONAL STRATEGY FOR IMPROVING THE CONDITION OF THE ROMA ...... 13 IMMEDIATE GOVERNMENTAL RESPONSIBILITY : CENTRAL AND LOCAL AUTHORITIES ...... 16 1. Local Public Administration and Community Development ...... 16 2. Housing ...... 17 3. Social Security...... 18 4. Health...... 19 5. Economic Issues ...... 20 6. Justice and Public Order...... 22 7. Child Protection ...... 23 8. Education ...... 24 10. The Activity of County Offices for the Roma ...... 26 THE NON -GOVERNMENTAL DIMENSION : PARTNERSHIPS BETWEEN THE AUTHORITIES AND NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL NGO S27 FINANCIAL RESOURCES FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE NATIONAL STRATEGY FOR IMPROVING THE CONDITION OF THE ROMA ...... 30 RECOMMENDATIONS ...... 31
2 The Romanian Government’s policy of improving the condition of the Roma
The Romanian Constitutions of 1991 and 2003 1 enshrined the principle of the equality of all citizens before the law; several laws and regulations in force 2 also specify the concrete ways of enforcing this constitutional provision. Romania has also signed and ratified the main international documents concerning the defence of human rights and minority rights, including the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities, the UN Convention on the elimination of all forms of racial discrimination, the European Convention on human rights (and all subsequent protocols), as well as the UN Covenant on civil and political rights 3. It is the Romanian Government’s enduring belief that the Roma issue is a political priority whose achievement requires coherent measures for promoting social, civic, economic and political inclusion, as well as active measures for the prevention of and fight against discrimination 4. Therefore, the government has repeatedly emphasised the need for a genuine and direct involvement of all Romanian citizens, Roma ethnics included, in the democratic developments of Romania; naturally, this requires free, non-discriminatory access to the entire range of social services, to employment in accordance with individual skills and professional training, and to a decent standard of living. Furthermore, in order to enhance Roma involvement in nation-wide decision-making processes, one objective was to facilitate the organisation and mobilisation of the Roma (as well as of other national minorities living in
1 The 2003 Romanian Constitution is strictly a republication of the 1991 Romanian Constitution with updated names and changes in article numbers and headings, revised under Law 429/2003, approved through the National Referendum of 18- 19 October 2003. The Referendum was validated by Decision 3 issued of the Constitutional Court, issued on 22 October 2003. See articles 4, 16, 20 etc. concerning the equality of all Romanian citizens. 2 See the Penal Code, Law 68/1992, Law 48/2002 and many other instruments. 3 Article 20 para. (2) of the Constitution: “If there is any discrepancy between domestic legislation and the international conventions and treaties on human rights to which Romania is part, international regulations shall prevail, except for the case in which the Constitution or other domestic legislation contains more favourable provisions”. 4 For a comprehensive account of this field, see Legislatie in domeniul nediscriminarii (Anti-Discrimination Legislation) , National Council for Fighting Discrimination, ALL Beck Publishing House, Bucharest 2003 (488 pages). Governmental Decision HG 430/2001 is included in the volume. 3 Romania) with a view to establishing non-governmental structures allowing for their direct involvement in political processes and structures 5 via affirmative action. In essence, the Romanian Government’s political commitment in this regard could be summarised as follows: it is an imperative necessity that a significant (therefore, perceptible – possibly quantifiable) improvement should take place in the condition of Roma in Romania, in a reasonably short period of time. The government programme of the party formerly in office (PSD, the Social Democrat Party) included a special chapter dedicated to public policies meant to improve the condition of the Roma. As far as the political coalition currently in office is concerned, its Government Programme 6 for 2005 – 2008 deals with Roma issues in chapter 25 (on national minorities in general); the improvement of Roma condition is also dealt with in chapter 7 (on social policy) of the same programme. The National Strategy for Improving the Condition of the Roma was prepared over a period of several years by a partnership made up of central and local authorities, on the one hand, and civil society, represented mainly by Roma non-governmental organisations, on the other hand; European experts on the protection of human rights and of national minorities also had a direct contribution to the drafting of the Strategy. The contribution of international experts ensured the consistency of the Strategy
5 According to article 4 of Law 68 / 15 July 1992 on the election of the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate: “(1) Legally established civic organisations belonging to national minorities which failed to obtain an MP or senator mandate in elections are entitled, according to art. 59 para. (2) of the Constitution, to a joint MP mandate, if the organisation obtained at least 5% of the national average number of valid votes required for the election of an MP. (2) For electoral purposes, the organisations of citizens belonging to national minorities are the legal equivalent of political parties. (3) The organisations of citizens belonging to national minorities who participated in elections on the joint list shall fall under the scope of para. (1); in this case, if no candidate from the joint list was elected, one MP mandate shall be granted to all the organisations proposing the list, in compliance with the provisions of para. (1). (4) The provisions of para. (3) are not applicable to organisations of citizens belonging to national minorities which run in the elections on a joint list together with another party or political group or both on joint lists, according to para. (3), and exclusively on its own lists. (5) The MP mandate granted according to para. (1) or (3) shall be counted apart from the total number of MPs resulting from representation quotas.” The provisions of art. 4 of Law 68/1992 are unique in Europe as far as affirmative actions for national minorities are concerned. According to these provisions, after the elections of November 2000 the Chamber of Deputies included 18 representatives of non-governmental organisations of Romanian citizens belonging to national minorities, including an MP from the Romanian Social Democratic Roma Party. There are other MPs with various ethnic backgrounds, Roma included, but they were elected after running for political parties proper, belonging to the entire parliamentary range (e.g., Madalin Voicu, Radu F. Alexandru, Hildegard Puwak, Iuliu Furo, Theodor Magyar, Hermann Fabini etc.). In the general elections of November 2004, persons belonging to various national minorities ran for Parliament on lists belonging to various political parties (e.g.: Varujan Vosganian, President of the Armenian Union, ran for the National Liberal Party; Nati Meir, who has double citizenship, Romanian and Israeli, ran for the « Greater Romania » Party and is currently independent etc. 6 See www.gov.ro . 4 provisions with the provisions of EU legislation. The Strategy is designed to cover a 10-year period (2001 – 2010) and includes a Master Plan of Measures (MPM) covering a 4-year period (April 2001 – December 2004). The Strategy for Improving the Condition of the Roma (Governmental Decision HG 430/2001) represents the Romanian Government’s political commitment to a complex series of public policies with a high social impact, addressing not only Roma ethnics, but also the majority (as well as other national minorities); the Strategy has a series of clearly defined objectives, such as preventing and fighting discrimination, ensuring equal opportunities to reach a decent standard of living, enhancing Roma involvement in the economic, social, cultural, educational and political life of Romanian society as a whole, and preserving Roma cultural identity. The Strategy for Improving the Condition of the Roma covers 10 major areas: public administration, social security, health, economy, justice and public order, child protection, education, culture, communication and civic involvement. All of these constitute priority areas for social intervention for the next 10 years; the detailed plan of measures for 2001-2004 deals with the strategic “emergency areas” for public policies targeting the Roma in Romania. The Strategy also identifies specific tasks and responsible factors within an institutional apparatus meant to ensure the central and local implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the objectives laid down in the Strategy and the Plan of Measures. Since December 2004, the Strategy has no longer had a Master Plan of Measures 7; this raises a major difficulty in assessing the way in which the Strategy was (or was not) implemented between January and June 2005. This major difficulty is precisely the lack of a Master Plan of Measures which should have been approved by the Joint Committee in due time. In the summer of 2003 the National Statistics Institute started publishing the results of the March 2002 census; some of the data collected during the census continued to be published in 2004, and their processing is to continue for the next
7 The elaboration and approval of the Master Plan of Measures is the task of the JCommittee; no meeting of the JCommittee took place between June 2004 and April 2005; the annex to HG 430/2001 covered the period between April 2001 and December 2004. 5 years. The Roma population of Romania amounts to 2.5% of the overall population, which is an increase by 0.7 percentage points compared to the 1992 census. In March 2002, a number of 535 140 Romanian citizens identified themselves as Roma ethnics (“Roma / Gypsy”, according to the census forms), which represents a significant increase (more than 125 000 persons) compared to the previous census (in 1992, only 409700 persons had identified themselves as “Roma / Gypsy”). Apart from the official data mentioned above, there are also some estimates in this respect, the most reliable of which are made by international organisations and institutions (e.g., Minority Rights Group – 1.8-2.5 million, or the Council of Europe GT-ROMS 2003 – 1.2-2.2 million); according to these estimates, the percentage of Roma is somewhere between 5.5% and 11.5% of the population of Romania. Some international organisations, such as the Budapest-based European Roma Rights Center, design their regional strategy not according to such estimates, however realistic or reliable they might be, but according to the official data obtained by national censuses. Certain Roma NGOs which are active in Romania estimate that generally the number of Roma ethnics is much higher, exceeding even international estimates; thus, some Roma leaders and/or activists speak of 3, 4, or even 5 million Roma in Romania, without backing their assertions with any statistic or sociologic arguments. A possible debate on the accuracy of the data collected in the 2002 census is beyond the scope of this report, but it is important to mention that the official data are based on the respondents’ self-identification, not on hetero-identification. It is highly likely that in the very near future the Joint Committee will have to carry out an analysis of the official data of the 2002 census and compare them to the 1991 census, since some of these data reveal some very important trends and realities characteristic of the Roma minority of Romania 8. An account of these realities and their dynamics can contribute to making the Strategy more adequate to Romanian reality at the beginning of the 21 st century. The census data will have to be
8 See in particular tables 40, 47 (ethnic affiliation), 42 (ethnic affiliation and gender, regional breakdown), 43 (ethnicity, gender and age), 44 (ethnicity and mother tongue, regional breakdown), 51 (ethnicity and religion), 54 (ethnicity and
6 corroborated with other official data (e.g., the number of votes given to Roma organisations in the local and general elections of 2004 etc.). The Office for Roma Issues and then the National Agency for the Roma organised and co-ordinated in the autumn of 2004 and the spring of 2005, respectively, field research throughout the country in order to determine as clearly as possible (a) the number of Roma living in each locality and region, and (b) the specific issues arising in each local community that has a significant number of Roma members. The data gathered in this research, which was carried out with the financial support of the World Bank and the logistic support of the University of Bucharest, are to be made public in the near future.
Evaluating the achievement of the objectives stated in the National Strategy for Improving the Condition of the Roma
Institutional structures
At present, all the structures envisaged by HG 430/2001 are established and more or less completely operational; however, there are barriers at every level – obstacles, difficulties, dysfunctions, formalism, bureaucracy etc. – which sometimes pose considerable difficulty in the implementation of the Strategy. This is why the reduction and elimination of such barriers constitute an operational priority for the next period. The Joint Committee for the Implementation and Monitoring of the Strategy (henceforth the JCommittee) met only twice in 2003 (in October and December), which could not fail to have a negative effect on the real dynamics of the implementation; the chair was changed in the same year (MP Mădălin Voicu, honorific president of the Roma Social Democrat Party and advisor on Roma issues to the Prime Minister, was replaced in December 2003 by Mr. Cristian Jura, Secretary of State, head of the Department for Inter-ethnic Relations and co-ordinator of the Office for Roma Issues). Since his appointment, the new chair summoned the JCommittee several times educational level), 59 (ethnicity and illiteracy) and probably the most important, table 67 (ethnicity in every Romanian 7 for plenary or sectoral sessions; new regulations concerning the organisation and operation of the JCommittee were approved. Throughout the reporting period, one of the main barriers preventing the proper operation of the JCommittee (and sometimes preventing the JCommittee from operating at all) was the fact that the committee members failed to take part directly in the few meetings summoned by the chair of the JCommittee. According to HG 430/2001, the JCommittee is made up of secretaries of state of the ministries (and other central administration units) in charge of enforcing the Strategy; whenever secretaries of state delegated somebody else to represent them on the JCommittee, there were different substitutes every time, which could not contribute to any satisfactory progress in the implementation and monitoring of the Strategy for Improving the Condition of the Roma. In 2004 there were five meetings of the JCommittee, both plenary and sectoral, particularly in the first part of the year; in 2005 the JCommittee met twice. A very sensitive issue related to the JCommittee was the attendance of Roma leaders and activists. According to HG 430/2001, the JCommittee includes among its members an unspecified number of “Roma leaders”. At first (that is, between 1999 and 2001, before the Strategy was adopted), there were various successive umbrella- organisations of Roma associations, which worked together with the representatives of central and local administration to elaborate sectoral strategies for the Roma and to draft the Strategy (i.e., HG 430/2001). However, there used to be quite a widespread perception among Roma organisations, according to which the work of the Office for Roma Issues was completely subordinated to the aims of the Social Democrat Roma Party; this accusation was even mentioned in the European Commission’s Regular Report on Romania’s Progress towards Accession made public on November 5, 2003 9: “The Government’s reliance on the Roma Party to implement and monitor the Strategy is a matter of concern, as it has led to the effective exclusion of other Roma organisations” (p. 34). The report made public at the end of 2002 by the Open Society
locality). Table 67 alone spans 52 A3 pages. 9 See www.gov.ro for the official translation into Romanian of this significant document, which has been fully acknowledged and assumed by the Romanian Government. 8 Institute – EU Accession Monitoring Program (OSI-EUMAP) also mentions the sensitive issue of the relation between the Government and Roma organisations 10 . A draft report prepared by an independent evaluator contracted by the EU Delegation to Romania was made public in May 2005; the same criticisms against the implementation mechanisms of the Strategy were present in essence in the draft report. 11 The final version of the report was issued at the end of August 2005. In order to enhance the effectiveness of inter-ministerial activity and to improve the co-ordination of inter-sectoral governmental policies, HG 430/2001 proposed a new approach to these issues, based on the existence of a ministerial board in charge of each major area. Consequently, 11 standing inter-ministerial boards were established, whose activity focused on finding solutions to problems pertaining to major areas of inter- ministry co-operation. According to Governmental Decision H.G. 750 of 14 July 2005 on the establishment of standing inter-ministerial boards, the Joint Committee for the implementation and monitoring of the organisation and proper achievement of the Master Plan of Measures of the Strategy for Improving the Condition of the Roma is part of the Interministerial Board for Social Affairs, Health, and Consumer Protection . According to HG 430/2001, the Office for Roma Issues (ORI) was the technical (or executive) secretariat of the JCommittee. In July 2003 the ORI was transferred from
10 See OSI-EUMAP, Monitoring the EU Accession Process Minority Protection, volume I, An Assessment of Selected Policies in Candidate States, Budapest, 2002, 634 pages. The report on Minority Protection in Romania. An Assessment of the Strategy of the Government of Romania for Improving the Condition of Roma, written by Florin Moisa, executive president of the Cluj-based Resource Center for Roma Communities (RCRC), can be found on pages 475-526. Below are some excerpts from this report concerning the involvement of Roma civil society in the enforcement and monitoring of the Strategy: “Roma involvement in both the development and implementation of the Government Strategy has been extensive, but has become politicised and even counter-productive in some cases. Since the Strategy’s adoption, NGO representatives have registered their dissatisfaction over delays in implementation, especially regarding anti- discrimination provisions. NGOs have also expressed concerns about the objectivity of the Joint Committee, and the allegedly political criteria used to select personnel for Roma-related projects. Many complaints have related to the appointment of Roma experts within the local governments. Some representatives of Roma NGOs have stated that the Government has a different vision regarding the implementation of the Strategy than their own, and have called for more effective collaboration with civil society in its implementation” – p. 491. “… the Government’s main partner, the Roma Social Democrat Party (RSDP), has been unable to mobilise existing Roma resources at the local level. In an effort to improve the effectiveness of Strategy implementation, the RSDP formed a new body,
9 the (former) Ministry of Public Information (MPI) to the General Secretariat of the Government (GSG). Before July 2003, the official name of the governmental department in charge of Roma issues was the National Office for the Roma; between 1997 and 2000, NOR was part of the (no longer extant) Department for the Protection of National Minorities (DPNM, operating within GSG); in January 2001 the NOR became part of the (no longer extant) MPI, and in July 2003 it was transferred back to the GSG, under the name of the Office for Roma Issues. In February 2004, the ORI became a sub-department of the Department for Inter-ethnic Relations, subordinated to the minister for the co-ordination of the GSG 12 . In November 2003, Mr. Gheorghe Ivan, executive president of the Social Democrat Roma Party, Subsecretary of State and since January 2001 head of the NOR/ORI, was replaced by Mr. Ilie Dincă, then secretary general of the Social Democrat Roma Party. Also in November 2003 a secretary of state was appointed in charge of the DIR, for the first time since the establishment of the DIR in January 2001; Mr. Cristian Jura, formerly head of the National Council for Combating Discrimination, became the head of the DIR and co- ordinator of the activities of the ORI. There were two relatively distinct operational entities working within the ORI: (a) the actual secretariat of the Subsecretary of State, (b) the Phare Project Implementation Unit (PIU). In October 2004, before the general elections, the Government passed an emergency ordinance establishing a new body, the National Agency for the Roma (NAR), headed by a president whose hierarchical status is that of a secretary of state. The National Agency for the Roma is a specialised body of the central public administration; it is a legal person subordinated to the Government and it took over the powers and tasks of the Office for Roma Issues, including those of the Phare Project Implementation Unit working on Phare programme RO/2002/000-586.01.02 - "Support for the National Strategy for Improving Roma Condition” (according to HG 1703/2004, passed as Law 7/2005). Since November 2004, following a decision of the
12 During the government reorganisation of September 2003, Mr. Serban Mihailescu was replaced by Mr. Eugen Bejinariu as Minister for the Co-ordination of the GSG. After the general elections of the autumn of 2004, Mr. Mihai Alexandru Voicu (PNL) was appointed Delegated Minister for the coordination of the GSG. 10 Prime Minister, the president of NAR was Mr. Ilie Dincă, vice-president of the National Democrat Roma Party; on July 15, 2005, Ms. Mariea Ionescu, formerly head of the Phare Project Implementation Unit within the Agency, was appointed president of the NAR by prime-ministerial decision. The PIU was taken over by the GSG in July 2005. All these successive transfers, reorganisations, and changes at top level (Ministry of Public Information / General Secretariat of the Government / Department for Inter- ethnic Relations / National Office for the Roma / Office for Roma Issues / National Agency for the Roma etc.) would be of no relevance for this report if it weren’t for the fact that all of them, in part and collectively, influenced to a greater or a lesser extent the proper development of NOR/OIR/NAR activities in its capacity as a governmental body specialised on Roma issues and technical secretariat to the JCommittee. The Office for Roma Issues was one of the few governmental structures not characterised by both an administrative and a political leadership; the Office only had political leadership, ensured by a Subsecretary of State (subsequently a Secretary of State) appointed on exclusively political criteria, but not considered a public dignitary. The (Sub)Secretary of State co-ordinated the activity of office workers having executive functions only. In October-November 2004, when the National Agency for the Roma was established, an organisation scheme was annexed to HG 1703/2004 but could not be put into practice (i.e., no hiring of new staff, no competition for top management positions such as secretary general, director general, heads of various services etc.), since the budget earmarked for NAR (as tertiary authority for expenditure (credit accountant)) was insufficient, at least before the budget readjustment operated at the end of June 2005 by an emergency government ordinance. The Ministerial Committees for the Roma (MCR ) were subordinated to the JCommittee and were in charge of the organisation, co-ordination and scheduling of the activities included in the Master Plan of Measures of the Strategy, according to the area of responsibility of each ministry or national agency. MCRs were established
11 through orders issued by the minister / head of the national agency in question; each MCR included among its members experts from specialised directorates, experts delegated by Roma organisations, independent experts etc., working in order to prepare, implement and monitor the sectoral plans of the Strategy. The activity of certain ministerial committees was considered by some independent evaluators as being purely formal; other ministries (such as the Ministry of Education and Research and the Ministry of Health) did not organise any formal meetings of their respective ministerial committee, but were nevertheless the most active ministries working for the implementation of Strategy provisions.
County Offices for the Roma (CORs) are subordinated to the Ministry of Administration and Internal Affairs (MAIA) and operate within each of the 42 Prefectures of Romania. The main tasks and responsibilities of the CORs are the following: • Evaluating the condition of the Roma population in their area of responsibility (i.e., their county). • Identifying solutions for the needs of Roma members of various local communities. • Mobilising the Roma (leaders, activists, NGOs etc.) in order to accomplish the objectives of the Strategy for Improving Roma Condition. • Ensuring permanent liaison with the representatives of local public administration. • Flagging the main problems that can be solved through the involvement of local public authorities. • Facilitating partnerships between the Roma and the local authorities, with a view to designing and implementing projects and programs aimed at the Roma. • Collaboration with the decentralised institutions of central public administration in fields such as education, health, respect for law and public order, non- discriminatory access to employment and social services etc. 12 • Mediating possible tensions and conflicts within the community or between communities, including inter- and/or intra-ethnic conflicts. • Active involvement in the proper organisation and operation of the Joint Working Groups established in each county. • Drawing up and submitting regular reports to the Ministry of Administration and Internal Affairs and the JCommittee.
Local experts (councillors) for the Roma work within town halls and mayor’s offices. Local experts (councillors) are responsible for the local development (in communes, towns etc.) of actions aimed at improving the condition of the Roma; the local councillors are subordinated both the CORs and to the mayor’s office. According to the Strategy, local experts are the main interface mediating between local authorities and the Roma in various local communities. According to the Master Plan of Measures of the Strategy (HG 430/2001), local experts or councillors are appointed in those mayor’s offices where Roma organisations require their appointment, and their main task is to draft the local action plan for the Roma in their local community. The Ministry of Administration and Internal Affairs mentions that local experts on Roma issues were hired in those localities where Roma organisations required their appointment. The main problem faced by the local Roma expert as an institution was the reluctance of certain mayors to accept new employees for these positions or to assign the tasks of the local Roma expert to existing town hall employees; however, according to NAR records, there are no known cases in which a mayor or a local council denied, either officially or unofficially, any requests made by a Roma organisation for the appointment of a local Roma expert.
EU Funds for the National Strategy for Improving the Condition of the Roma
The Romanian Government paid special attention to earmarking funds from the state budget for the National Strategy for Improving the Condition of the Roma. In 2003, under Law 632/2002 on the state budget, an amount of 56 651 200 000 ROL was 13 allocated and managed as a governmental program called “Partnership for Roma Support 2003”. The program consisted of projects developed and promoted by public authorities in order to improve the condition of the Roma. About 80% of the amount foreseen for the 2003 state budget was distributed to projects in the following fields: housing rehabilitation for 4327 beneficiaries (24% of the total amount); small infrastructure (connection to public utilities, rehabilitation of roads) for 5222 beneficiaries (33% of the total amount); the purchase of arable land, land tilling, and other income-generating activities (workshops and training courses on dressmaking, carpentry, brick-making, public sanitation services) for 701 beneficiaries (18% of the total amount); campaign for changing the image of the Roma and fulfilling priority 9 of Romania’s Accession Partnership (5%). Law 507/2003 on the state budget for 2004 was passed in November 2003; Annex 3 to the aforementioned law stated that an amount of 64 billion ROL would be earmarked for implementing the National Strategy for Improving Roma Condition. Governmental Decision HG 1514/2004 on approving the Memorandum of Understanding on the cofinancing and management of the Program of “Implementation and Monitoring of the Strategy for Improving the Condition of the Roma – 2004” was adopted on 11 October 2004. This program, which was an initiative of the Office for Roma Issues within the Department for Inter-ethnic Relations (now the National Agency for the Roma), implemented in partnership with the United Nations’ Development Program, continues the Romanian Government’s work towards improving the condition of the Roma minority. The program aims to improve Roma condition by providing grants for the development of specific activities in the field of housing, small infrastructure, income-generating activities, the purchase of agricultural land. A number of 220 projects were submitted by local authorities in partnership with Roma NGOs or Roma initiative groups. Pursuant to the evaluation, 17 projects received financing as follows: 4 income-generating projects, 9 small infrastructure projects, 3 projects for the rehabilitation of schools located in Roma communities, one
14 project for the establishment of a medical centre and of a kindergarten. The projects were completed in April 2005. Throughout this period the Project Implementation Unit within the Office for Roma Issues implemented the Phare programme 2002/000-586.01.02, “Support for the National Strategy for Improving the Condition of the Roma”, amounting to 6 MEuro. The program had two components: a 1.2 MEuro component for strengthening the institutional capacity of the implementation structure of the Strategy, as well as strengthening the capacity of the other partners involved in working for the achievement of the objectives stated in H.G 430/2001; a 4.8 MEuro investment component aiming to establish active partnerships between the representatives of Roma communities and state institutions, which are a requirement for the joint elaboration and implementation of measures in the field of housing and small infrastructure, vocational training and income-generating activities, access to healthcare. The Romanian Government contributed 1.6 MEuro as cofinancing (the equivalent of 56 651 200 000 ROL, the amount provided for the called “Partnership for Roma Support” programme implemented in 2003). Against the background of attracting funds for the financial support of the Strategy for Improving Roma Condition, the National Agency for the Roma, through the Phare Program Implementation Unit, has participated since June 2003 in the Phare Multiannual Programming Exercises 2004-2006. In November 2004 the NAR PIU and the PIU of the Ministry of Education and Research completed the Sectoral Fiche for the 2004-2006 Multiannual Phare Programme on minorities. The programme includes specific measures in the following fields of the National Strategy for Improving the Condition of the Roma: administration and community development, housing, health, economic, education, communication and civic involvement. The 2004-2006 multiannual Phare programme is to be implemented since the end of 2005 and its completion is due by the end of 2009. The sectoral fiche includes a total allocation of 43.93 MEuro (out of which 8.93 MEuro represents cofinancing by the Romanian Government).
15 Under Law 198 of 23 June 2005 (published in the Official Gazette of Romania, part I, issue no. 550/28 June 2005), art. 12, the General Secretariat of the Government took over the powers, tasks, positions and funds pertaining to the activity of the Project Implementation Unit in charge of PHARE programme RO/2002/000-586.01.02 “Support for the National Strategy for Improving the Condition of the Roma”, which had so far been organised within the Office for Roma Issues / National Agency for the Roma.
Immediate governmental responsibility: central and local authorities
1. Local Public Administration and Community Development
The Government restructuring of the summer of 2003 brought about the establishment of the new Ministry of Administration and Internal Affairs (MAIA), resulting from the conflation of two former ministries, the Ministry of Public Administration and the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA). After the MIA’s long history of being severely criticised for the attitude of its workers (police officers, gendarmes etc.) towards certain Roma ethnics, MAIA is currently developing several projects and programmes aiming to constantly improve the relation between the various structures of this ministry, on the one hand, and the Roma, on the other hand. MAIA supported a new approach based on the concept of ‘aligning’ the Roma minority to the mainstream. The sectoral strategy of the ministry includes a set of principles based on respect for human rights and liberties, nondiscrimination, transparency, and coherent and unitary regulations for career development. Concerning partnerships with the main institutions responsible for the implementation of the Strategy, MAIA mentions that they are still operational and that civil society representatives have been co-opted within joint working groups.
16 2. Housing
MAIA has prepared several fiches describing the housing facilities and utilities in local communities with a significant Roma population. The data pooled in these fiches were received from mayor’s offices and prefectures and were taken into account in drafting the National Housing and Environment Rehabilitation Plan elaborated by MAIA in collaboration with the Ministry of Transport, Construction and Tourism (MTCT). The programme is to be developed over the next 10 years and it includes a 4- year emergency measure plan for the rehabilitation of houses and areas inhabited by a significant number of Roma. MTCT has also prepared another programme of governmental and/or partnership funding for state-owned and/or private companies and NGOs that develop projects for the improvement of utilities (power, drinkable water, sewage, gas supply, public sanitation etc.) in communities with a large number of Roma members. Below is a brief description of the measures taken by MCTC and its achievements in compliance with the provisions of the Master Plan of Measures related to its area of responsibility: the governmental program for water supply in rural areas, approved under Governmental Decision HG 577/1997 (42 villages took delivery of water supply systems during the reporting period); the governmental program for water supply and social housing in rural areas approved under Governmental Decision HG 687/1997 and HG 1036/2004; the programme for rehabilitating (cobbling) village roads, approved under Governmental Decision HG 577/1997 and HG 226/ 2003; the programme of social housing (new buildings and rehabilitation) according to the Housing Act 114/1996 with subsequent amendments and to Governmental Decision HG 687/1997, with 1880 housing units delivered during the reporting period; the rent-based youth housing programme (10017 housing units delivered during the reporting period). MAIA also states that about 95 620 Roma families who do not own agricultural land have been identified in rural areas.
17 3. Social Security
At the central level, the main responsibility related to this important chapter of the Strategy is incumbent upon the Ministry of Labour, Social Solidarity and Family (MLSSF), whose task it is to enforce the legislation on preventing and fighting social marginalisation, on unemployment benefit and the state support system, on enhancing employment, on the guaranteed minimum income, on the national welfare system, on supporting lone parent families, on foster child allowance and child allowance, on emergency relief contributions etc. Romanian legislation provides for a comprehensive framework for the partnership between the central level, the local level and civil society within the national welfare system. Since 2002, each County Welfare Directorate has appointed / employed a person whose task is to collaborate with town halls and prefectures in order to identify the main problems faced by the Roma at the local level. Via MLSSF and its Directorates for Labour and Social Solidarity in each county and in Bucharest, Romanian citizens of Roma ethnic affiliation can benefit from legal state support such as: the child allowance, the supplementary allowance for families with children, the maintenance allowance for fostered children, social support (according to the law on the guaranteed minimum income), heating allowance, the allowance for newly born babies, emergency relief, financial support (under the legal provisions regulating the National Solidarity Fund), subsidies for associations and foundations that establish and manage welfare units and facilities etc. In compliance with the Strategy, MAIA territorial structures have been issuing identity papers and election cards for Romanian citizens of Roma ethnic affiliation. At the end of March 2005 the situation was as follows: Having civil status /identity papers
• estimated number of persons with no identity papers before the action 375 6375
• registered since the outset of the action 9197 78370 • status regulated since the outset of the action 9049 80092 • registered persons, status uncertain 523 4653
18 4. Health
The new institution of the health mediator is the outcome of a durable partnership concluded since 1997 between institutions of the central and local administration, on the one hand, and Roma civil society, on the other hand 13 . As of May 2005, 175 health mediators had been employed and more than 104 persons had been trained to work as health mediators in the near future. Their training was provided by the Roma Center for Social Intervention and Studies (Romani CRISS) in partnership with County Public Health Directorates. Training for health mediators is also provided through Phare projects in course of development in 2005. The health mediator’s task is to liaise between the Roma in local communities and the healthcare system; particular attention is paid to the registration of disadvantaged persons, Roma included, with a GP. Several partnership and collaboration agreements have been signed between the Ministry of Health and County Directorates for Public Health, on the one hand, and Roma organisations (e.g., Social Democrat Roma Party, Romani CRISS etc.) on the other hand. The measures specified in the Strategy for Improving the Condition of the Roma are implemented via National Health Programs; out of all these measures, it is only the objective of employing health mediators in Roma communities that has a separate budget line. An amount of 5.2 billion ROL was allocated in 2003 for the employment expenses of health mediators. An amount of 14.5 billion ROL was allocated in 2004 for the same objective. The Ministry of Health maintains that it is difficult to calculate the forecast for the other measures listed in the Strategy, because the efficiency indicators of National Health Programs are not broken down according to ethnic criteria.
13 According to the Ministry of Health, as a result of the work of health mediators, more than 25 000 persons were registered with GPs in 2003. MH estimates that so far more than 100 000 Roma citizens have had normal access to health care due to the work of health mediators. See the Joint Report of Roma Associations in Romania. Roma in the context of European policies : Action Plan for improving the condition of Roma / Sinti in the OSCE area , prepared by Romani CRISS, Social Democrat Roma Party and OSCE/ODIHR , Bucharest, 12-13 February 2004, p. 4, www.romanicriss.org . 19 A Co-operation Agreement for implementing the health mediator system in Roma communities 2005 – 2008 was signed between the Ministry of Health and Romani CRISS on 18.05.2005 and countersigned by Nicolae Gheorghe, Advisor on Roma and Sinti (OSCE/ODIHR Contact Point for Roma and Sinti Issues). The purpose of the Agreement is “to fulfil the provisions of the 2005 – 2008 government programme concerning the provision of equal opportunities to all citizens and the effective implementation of the OSCE Action Plan for improving the condition of the Roma”.
5. Economic Issues
The National Agency for Employment (NAE) within the Ministry of Labour, Social Solidarity and Family organised job fairs for Roma ethnics in 2003, 2004 and 2005 . The job fair organised on 23 April 2004 had 9845 attendants; the outcome of the job fair was the following: • 11304 jobs were available for the Roma and 268 jobs were available for persons at risk of social marginalisation, according to Law 116/2002. • The job fair was attended by 9845 Roma persons, out of which 4180 were selected for future employment. 2257 Roma persons were employed on the spot following various tests taken during the job fair. In 2005, the job fair for Roma ethnics was organised on 13 May and attended by 8239 persons . • Total number of jobs available: 8779, out of which 7857 jobs for Roma ethnics and 68 jobs for beneficiaries of Law 116/2002. • Total number of persons selected for future employment: 2715, out of which 2243 were Roma. • Total number of positions filled: 1266, out of which 1129 were taken by Roma ethnics. Since 2001, NAE has implemented projects and programmes targeting disadvantaged persons on the labour market; one such group is that of Roma ethnics (other groups being youth, women, the unemployed, the elderly etc.). In March 2004,
20 NAE concluded collaboration agreements with Roma experts working within Prefectures and co-opted Roma NGOs as partners. The agreements were renewed at the beginning of 2005 and the actions stipulated therein are to be monitored on a monthly basis. From a statistic point of view, NAE reported a 60-70% increase in the degree of achievement reached through Roma-targeted programs in 2003 compared to 2001- 2002; this increase is mainly due to the regular organisation of the Roma Job Fair. The Romanian MLSSF works in partnership with its Spanish counterpart, along with Hungary and the Czech Republic, in a project for promoting active policies of social inclusion for the Roma; this project was initially implemented in Spain and specialists are now considering the possibility of replicating best practices in Central and Eastern European countries, including Romania. In compliance with Law 76/2002 on unemployment benefit and employment incentives, NAE directs the measures meant to enhance employment particularly towards persons belonging to disadvantaged groups. For the implementation of these measures, particular attention is paid to the local collaboration of all the stakeholders, so that their correlated actions should achieve maximal efficiency. As of 31 December 2003, 202 Roma ethnics had benefited from professional training courses and 91 trainees had been employed. 282 Roma ethnics were trained in 2004. For 2005, 1500 Roma ethnics had been scheduled for training and by 31 May 381 persons had been included in training courses. Below are the main achievements obtained through the National Action Plan for Roma Employment in 2003, 2004 and 2005: • As a consequence of the active measures taken by the NAE, 8781 Roma ethnics, out of which 2396 women, had been employed as of 31 December 2003. • For 2004, the National Employment Programme forecasts the employment of 6406 Roma ethnics; 9062 persons had been employed by the end of 2004. • For 2005, the forecast is 6845 Roma ethnics; 3252 persons had been employed as of 31 May. 21 In April 2003 - June 2005, the Ministry of Economy and Trade secured and guaranteed equal opportunities for Roma ethnics in its field of activity, with no discrimination whatsoever, in order to enable them to reach a decent standard of living.
6. Justice and Public Order
MAIA structures specialised in law enforcement and public order serve the interests of Romanian citizens by virtue of the principle of equal rights irrespective of ethnicity and paying due attention to relations with the Roma minority and Roma communities. This chapter of the Strategy is focused on the development of awareness programs informing Roma ethnics about cases of discrimination, legal education and crime prevention programs, as well as on the employment of Roma in law enforcement. A recurrent characteristic is the existence of agreements concluded between Roma communities and county police inspectorates. MAIA elaborated the 4-year Partnership Programme for supporting the recruitment and selection of young disadvantaged national minority members with a view to employment in law enforcement . Consequently, representatives of County Offices for the Roma are discussing with police inspectorates the selection of young Roma who will later be referred to police educational facilities. At the same time, actions were taken to: - conclude collaboration agreements between police inspectorates and Roma organisations with a view to reducing crime among the representatives of this ethnic group; - establish joint teams of negotiators prepared for intervention in situations of conflict. The Ministry of Justice informs that steps have been taken towards Romania’s ratification of UN conventions on the status of stateless persons.
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7. Child Protection
The National Authority for Child Protection and Adoption (NACPA) has a specialised committee in charge of the activities targeted at Roma children. Funding for all the projects and programmes targeted at all the children in difficulty was ensured by county councils (and the local councils of Bucharest districts). Two new structures were established on 1 January 2005 in order to co-ordinate child protection activities: the National Authority for the Protection of Children’s Rights (NAPCR) and the Romanian Adoption Office. NAPCR is the specialised central administration body in charge of monitoring the protection and promotion of children’s rights. General Directorates for Child Protection and Welfare (GDCPWs) were established in each county and in Bucharest districts. All the GDCPWs emphasise the non-discrimination of children, as their activity is based on the principle that the children’s interests shall prevail, and on the principles of non-discrimination and equal opportunity. In 2004 the General Directorates for Child Protection (now GDCPWs) collaborated with 53 Roma and non-Roma organisations. Roma social workers, professional foster carers or caretakers are employed by GDCPWs according to the needs of each directorate and in compliance with the legal provisions regulating such employment. NAPCR is the central specialised body within the MLSSF that can provide funding from the state budget for programs of national interest (the so-called NPIs) targeting all children, including Roma children, placed in foster care. NAPCR (formerly NACPA) has recently implemented the following programs whose beneficiaries were, among others, Roma children: • “The social and professional integration of institutionalised youth / children aged 18”: 2002 – 14.5 billion ROL; 2003 – 16 billion ROL; 2004 – 15.4 billion ROL. • “Reintegration and support for underage returnees”: in 2004 – 15.4 billion ROL.
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8. Education
The Ministry of Education and Research has traditionally been the “spearhead” of affirmative action policies targeting the Roma in Romania. Irrespective of the political party in office, this ministry has constantly pursued a sectorial policy for the Roma aimed at all levels and types of education 14 . During the reporting period, the ministry has continued its educational programs for the Roma and initiated new measures: • Maintaining the position of inspectors for Roma education within the structure of county school inspectorates. • Allocating separate places for Roma graduates of the 8 th form in professional and technical institutes of secondary education (for 2005 – 2006). In 2004 – 2005, 2500 Roma students had been admitted. • The provision of distinct places in various faculties and colleges for young Roma high-school graduates, exempted from the payment of tuition fees (the number of places allocated for the academic year 2005 – 2006 was the same as last year – 398). • In 2004-2005, the University of Bucharest, through its Open Distance Learning Department, CREDIS, made available a number of 83 paid tuition places for the training of Roma teachers of Romany (the programme had been initiated by the Ministry of Education and Research in 2000, in partnership with the University of Bucharest and CEDU 2000). Roma students at CREDIS also work as teachers of Romany and/or Roma history and traditions at their local schools. The University of Bucharest will continue this training programme in 2005 – 2006, both for Romany teachers and for teachers of both Romany and Romanian, in the framework of a new partnership concluded between CREDIS and the Faculty of Foreign Languages and Literatures.
14 See the MER report on the Situation and operation of the Ministerial Committee and its results between 1 October 2003 and 1 May 2004, and its appendix on Stategic Directions of the Ministry of Education and Research in the field of education for the Roma between 1998 and 2004 . 24 • Romany language and literature, which could only be studied as a minor at the University of Bucharest, can be taken as a major starting with the academic year 2005 – 2006 (the ministry allocated 10 places and the University of Bucharest allocated 5 places). • In 2004-2005, county school inspectorates funded 402 chairs of Roma language and history, staffed by the young Roma who teach these subject matters. • The study of Romany as a mother tongue was continued and enhanced in 2004 – 2005. A number of 24010 Roma students opted for the additional Roma curriculum (out of the almost 200 000 Roma students who identify themselves as Roma and attend school, 19812 students chose to study Roma language and literature for 3-4 hours per week, while 4198 students opted for Roma history and traditions). • Review and design of Roma language curricula (grades 1 to 4) and Roma history and traditions curricula (grades 6 to 8), by Roma authors. Elaboration and approval of Roma language and literature curricula for grades 9 and 10. • Second editions of two Romany course books were funded by the ministry for the 2005 – 2006 school year. • The ministry provided funding for three new course books on Roma language and literature, for grades 1 to 3, and for a course book on Roma history and traditions for grades 6 and 7. • Romany-only teaching was extended (one more class since September 2004). For the first time in the Romanian educational system, a Romany-only class was established in Timis County. • Starting with the 2004-2005 school year, a bilingual Romany-Romanian curriculum is to be experimented in a Roma kindergarten in Calarasi County (an initiative of S.A.T.R.A – Astra, funded by UNICEF and supported by a partnership between MER and the County School Inspectorate of Calarasi). MER’s Phare programme on access to education for disadvantaged groups, focusing on the Roma, which started in September 2002 in 74 schools and kindergartens with a majority of Roma continued in the initial 10 counties and included 25 12-15 new counties in June 2005, after the tendering and precontracting procedures. Since December 2004, MER continued and enhanced at national level the activities started through its Phare programme by developing a multiannual programme with the same objectives. Attracting Roma youth to a military career is an ongoing preoccupation of the military; however, the number of Roma youth enrolled in the military educational system is still very low.
9. Culture
The National Roma Culture Centre, whose general director is the Roma musician Doru Tufis, was established in 2003 through a Governmental Decision. The centre premises are being equipped at present. The Ministry of Culture and Religious Affairs developed, in partnership with several Roma NGOs, a series of actions meant to preserve and assert the cultural and artistic traditions of the Roma, such as: “Roma 2001-2004” TOGETHER FOR EUROPE; the national symposium on “Enhancing partnerships between local authorities and Roma associations for the implementation of HG 430/2001”; round table discussions ”DOIE- Dialogue/Otherness/Identity/Equality”; training courses for community mediators; the Roma travelling fair, “Amare phurengo barvalipen”. The ministry has also supported other manifestations, such as the International Roma Day, the Festival of Diversity, the National Minorities’ Fair etc.
10. The Activity of County Offices for the Roma
Steps are being taken in order to modify the ststus of COR experts so as to ensure their greater professionalisation; for instance, employees working in County Offices for the Roma will have to know how to prepare a community development project, how to get access to future EU funds after Romania’s EU accession etc. COR employees will also have to work with the regional representatives of the National 26 Agency for the Roma. Information about the activity of all the CORs can be found at www.anr.org.ro , the website of the National Agency for the Roma.
The non-governmental dimension: partnerships between the authorities and national and international NGOs
The Political agreement on the partnership between the Social Democrat Party and the Social Democrat Roma Party , signed in Bucharest on 24 November 2003 by the leaders of the respective parties, included certain provisions concerning HG 430/2001: “2.(1) The Social Democrat Party and the Social Democrat Roma Party undertake to modify Governmental Decision 430/25.04.2001 on the Strategy for Improving the Condition of the Roma so as to include new proposals for its harmonisation and enforcement at the level of local and central administration. (2) The Social Democrat Party will promote through the Government a draft law on the status of the Roma in Romanian society, taking into account the experience gathered so far and EU standards on this matter. The Social Democrat Party and the Social Democrat Roma Party intend to monitor the new law so that its effective enforcement should have a favourable impact on the daily life of Roma communities”. In 2003 a draft law proposal was put forth by SDRP MP Nicolae Păun, chair of the Committee on Human Rights, National Minorities and Religious Affairs of the Chamber of Deputies; the proposal provided, inter alia, for the abolishment of Governmental Decision HG 430/2001 15 , and was based on the initiator’s belief that his proposal covered all the areas involved in the improvement of Roma condition. However, the Government’s official position was to the contrary. During the 2001 – 2004 term of office, the same MP made several other legislation proposals and Parliament addresses on the topic of Roma issues 16 ; the actual, probable or presumed
15 See the Legislative proposal on the social reinsertion of Romanian citizens of Roma origin , no. 214 of 12 March 2003 (Parliamentary Bureau 238/128/11.03.2003), and the Government Point of View (no. 634/OPSG of 24.02.2004), signed by PM Adrian Năstase, on the Chamber of Deputies website www.cdep.ro . 16 Fields such as: identity papers, incentives for Roma entrepreneurs, the legalisation of common law marriage, the cabinet of the Secretary of State, passport regulations etc.; none of these proposals was adopted as law by the current 27 effect of such proposals is beyond the scope of this report. As far as the National Strategy for the Improvement of Roma Condition is concerned, what matters is the fact that these proposals were (1) commented on by the Government (and acknowledged by PM Adrian Năstase), by the Legislative Council and specialised parliamentary commissions, and (2) rejected (final decision). A new Collaboration Agreement was signed on 24 November 2003 by SDRP and SDP; one of the provisions of this agreement stated that HG 430/2001 would be modified so as to ensure that new/future legislation would include other social fields likely to lead to an improvement in the condition of the Roma. So far, neither NAR employees nor other persons interested in recent developments related to the Strategy know what these new areas are or what new kind of legislation is expected to deal with Roma issues. It is not clear when the expected changes will take place or who will submit them to the attention of the Government and/or Parliament. According to the Strategy (HG 430/2001), central and local authorities cannot take any measures for the improvement of Roma condition unless they have a genuine partnership with the Roma themselves; this partnership involves collaboration at different levels: both direct collaboration in local communities, and mediated collaboration via representative Roma organisations. Since the approval of the Strategy in 2001, the Government has had various partners in the implementation and monitoring of the Strategy; changes in the identity of these partners meant a (natural) divide within the Roma movement. To an uninformed observer, the Roma movement in Romania might seem affected by severe and insurmountable divides; but to the wise observer the diversity of Roma NGOs working in Romania corresponds to the diversity of the Roma themselves. The same diversity is characteristic of Roma leaders (traditionalist or modern-minded, more authoritarian or more democratic, rural or urban, with or without connections abroad, with or without access to certain funds for their projects etc.).
legislature (for materials on these legislative proposals and for the Government’s opinion on all the cases mentioned above, see Annex no.… to this Report). 28 A recent report on the progress towards democracy made by South and Eastern European countries mentions the difficult position of the Roma in Romania and their alleged tendency to vote for the Social Democrat Party: “Also, Romania has the largest population of Roma, between 1 million and 1.5 million, which represents another pool of voters for the post-Communists. Descendants of slaves freed in the mid-nineteenth century, the Roma have been victimised by the disappearance of traditional jobs and the need for unskilled labour in the post-Communist period. With no land to gain from restitution, Roma are the primary losers in the transition process and are heavily dependent on state aid” 17 . A similar opinion was delivered by World Bank experts at the 2003 European meeting on Roma issues (Budapest), where the Romanian delegation was led by the then PM Adrian Năstase. At the end of April 2004 a preliminary report was made public by OSI / Resource Center for Roma Communities (RCRC); the report was signed by Florin Moisa and entitled Preliminary Findings: Monitoring of the local implementation of the Government Strategy for the Improvement of the Condition of Roma in Romania . The 11-page report is a joint project of (a) EU Monitoring and Advocacy Program (EUMAP), Roma Participation Program (RPP) Open Society Institute (OSI) Budapest and RCRC Cluj. The gist of the OSI/RCRC report is a critique against the “exclusive collaboration” of the Government with the Social Democrat Roma Party concerning the implementation of the Strategy; the report shares the position of the “group of 9” young activists involved in the drafting of the Budapest position paper in June – July 2003 18 . In January 2001, Tarja Halonen, the President of Finland, put forth the idea of establishing an advisory Roma forum (the European Roma Forum – ERF) working in Strasbourg within the Council of Europe. In February 2004, in Bucharest, the representatives of Roma organisations from Romania discussed various nominations
17 Freedom House, Nations in Transit 2004. Romania, p. 6, available at www.freedomhouse.org . The 2004 Freedom House report on Romania was prepared by a group of experts from the Romanian Academic Society, led by Dr. Alina Mungiu-Pippidi and supervised by US and EU specialists. 18 The “Group of 9” young Roma activists is made up of Costel Bercus, Dezideriu Gergely, Mariana Buceanu (Romani CRISS), Delia Grigore, Lavinia Olmazu (Aven Amentza), Dan Pavel Doghi (CRCR, Cluj), Gruia Bumbu (Roma Democratic Union, Alba Iulia), Cosmina Novacovici (Roma Women’s Association, Timisoara), and Gelu Duminica
29 for possible delegates to the ERF; consultations are still ongoing. It is expected (and desirable) that in the near future the main Roma organisations would constitute an “umbrella” structure enabling them to fully exercise their capacity for immediate involvement in the implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the Strategy. It was proposed that a Roma Secretariat should be established in order to ensure the transmission of information to all the Roma structures concerning the progress of ERF and the delegation of Roma representatives from Romania to the Strasbourg forum. In early May 2004, three organisations (“Impreuna” (“Together”) Agency for Community Development, Romani CRISS and RCRC) established the Roma Civic Alliance, intended as a central structure providing expertise to local Roma NGOs. According to its mission statement, the Roma Civic Alliance is an advisory expert body which supports the fulfilment, implementation and monitoring of measures for the improvement of Roma condition. The new umbrella-organisation intends to militate for Roma rights, both nationally and internationally, without any political involvement; as a civic organisation, the alliance will act as a partner to central and local authorities, on the one hand, and to society on the whole, on the other hand, in order to better mobilise all the human and material resources involved in the improvement of Roma condition. The new umbrella organisation will have the following international commitments: the Decade of Roma Inclusion, the Millennium Development Goals, the Joint Inclusion Memorandum, the European Roma Forum, and the OSCE Action Plan for Roma/Sinti.
Financial resources for the implementation of the National Strategy for Improving the Condition of the Roma
The complexity of the Strategy is matched by a corresponding degree of complexity of the funding mechanisms of various programs and projects; moreover, due to the existence of various social programs targeting all Romanian citizens (e.g.,
(“Impreuna” Agency for Community Development). The material presented by the group at the Budapest international conference is available at www.romanicriss.org .. 30 the guaranteed minimum income, the daily meal provided by schools, the child allowance, welfare etc.), significant funds are allocated to economically disadvantaged Roma but are not registered as being specifically earmarked for Roma beneficiaries. The funds for the implementation of the Strategy can come from the following sources: • Internal resources (the state budget, local budgets, NGO contributions, private funds etc.). Internal resources are generally used to cover local needs, through local and regional community development projects and programs. State budget funds have been allocated to the SDRP 19 in its capacity as representative of the Roma minority in Parliament. • External resources: (1) non-reimbursable grants (PHARE, Sapard, OSI etc.) and (2) reimbursable (World Bank, EBRD etc.). External resources act mainly as “trailblazers” used for the funding of pilot-projects which would later receive internal funding. For the near future, external funds will increase and diversify to a significant extent, as Romania progresses towards EU accession (expected to take place in 2007) and as the programmes forecast for the Decade of Roma Inclusion are actually being implemented. There will be joint funding for the Decade, with contributions from national governments, the World Bank, Open Society Institute etc.). 20
Recommendations
• Regulations for the organisation and operation of the National Agency for the Roma should be elaborated and approved, so as to establish an administrative structure which is distinct from the current political leadership structure (Secretary of State, Subsecretaries of State). The primary aim of this recommendation is to exclude
19 The amounts allocated to the Social Democrat Roma Party from the state budget between 2001 and 2004 increased annually (from 12.50 billion ROL in 2001 to 17.5 billion ROL in 2002, 24 billion ROL in 2003 and 35.85 billion ROL in 2004). In 2005 SDRP is to receive an amount of 35 billion ROL from the state budget. 20 For a review of these projects, see Viorel Anastasoaie and Daniela Tarnovschi (eds.), Proiecte pentru romii din Romania (Projects for the Roma in Romania), 1990-2000, the Resource Center for Ethno-Cultural Diversity (CRDE), Cluj, 2001, 324 pages. The volume includes a list of the main projects developed in Romania throughout the reporting
31 the political from Roma issues and more generally from the issue of national minorities. The head of the Agency will have his/her own cabinet, according to the legislation in force. • All materials of public interest, including documents related to the activity of the JCommittee, should be made public on the NAR website. This website should be the main instrument for achieving transparency in the implementation and monitoring of the Strategy for Improving Roma Condition and for publicising the availability of external funds for projects and programmes (PHARE, World Bank etc.). The site www.rroma.ro (adminstered by the National Office for the Roma) ceased to operate in 2002, when the first Phare programme for the Roma in Romania was completed; the absence of the site has had a negative impact on the transparency of decision-making and operation in the development of activities targeting the Roma. • Enhancing the administrative and managerial capacity of the National Agency for the Roma in its capacity as technical secretariat to the JCommittee, by increasing the number of specialised employees (economists, lawyers, project development and management experts, translators from/into English etc.); strengthening of NAR capacity by providing training courses on conflict management, professional communication, IT skills, English etc. both to temporary NAR employees and to civil servants. • A more appropriate use of European integration advisors currently working within NAR. Instead of being asked to do clerical jobs, the integration advisors will have to be given more definite tasks related to NAR national and international activities, given the multiple implications of Roma issues in the context of Romania’s accession process. • Continuing and expanding partnerships with the civil society, particularly with Roma NGOs working in Romania; co-opting Roma NGOs in the monitoring and evaluation of programs and projects developed under the Master Plan of Measures of
period, as well as several sectoral analyses of the types of projects targeting the Roma (culture, health, education, social services, social and economic development, fighting discrimination, religion, tourism etc.). 32 the Strategy. Compliance with the recommendations formulated in the European Commission’s Report on Romania’s Progress towards Accession (2004) and the independent evaluation report (May 2005). • Maintaining and improving liaison between the JCommittee, NAR and Romanian MPs, including the representatives of national minorities and the Democratic Union of Hungarians in Romania. Activating and improving liaison with the Presidency. • Enhancing the capacity of absorption of funds for the implementation of projects and programs targeting the Roma; special attention will have to be paid to improving the capacity of central and especially local public administration of managing and controlling the funds made available both from the state budget and from (non)reimbursable external sources.
Bucharest, 10 September 2005
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