Overcoming Exclusion: The Roma Decade

On 2 February 2005 the Governments of eight Central and South-East European countries officially launched the Decade for Roma Inclusion. The Decade is a ten-year initiative to overcome deep-rooted problems of exclusion of Europe’s largest and most disadvantaged minority, through coordinated efforts by Governments and international organisations in partnership with Roma. (See Decade of Roma Inclusion website.)

While it is still early to talk about the actual impact of the Decade, eumap.org invited authors to assess experiences to date and the lessons that can be learned. While a lot of hope is placed in this much-needed and long-overdue initiative, sceptical voices have been raised as well, criticising the development of a "Roma industry" that will have limited – or even no – real impact on the intended beneficiaries or, conversely, faulting the sponsors and organisers of initiatives like the Decade for insufficiently utilising the potential of Roma activists and organisations. On a national level, the earlier adoption of national programmes or strategies to improve the situation of Roma already raised questions about the lack of systemic or thorough monitoring and evaluation. Gender is identified as a cross-cutting theme in the Decade's priorities, but do the adopted Decade's National Action Plans really include policy responses that sufficiently address the doubly disadvantaged position of Romani women and girls?

EUMAP is pleased to publish two rounds of papers that analyse the merits and flaws of the progress so far of the Roma Decade. A total of seven papers by independent contributors include both comparative analyses and presentations of national case studies.

In Part I, Learning from the Past: A Critical Look at Policy Experience and the Prospects for the Roma Decade, Valeriu Nicolae of the European Roma Information Office (ERIO) critically dissects flaws and glitches that can be identified in the Decade's overall development. Eben Friedman of the European Centre for Minority Issues (ECMI) and Martina Kubánová of the Slovak Governance Institute meanwhile both contribute a case study on Slovakia, evaluating Roma policy making in the country in order to identify lessons that should be implemented in the Roma Decade on an international level.

In Part II: Reflecting on Social Impact: Employment and Gender, four further contributions focus on the impact the Decade could effect on those specific areas. Jennifer Tanaka of the Pakiv European Roma Fund evaluates the impact the various overlapping development measures actually have on the Roma's economic perspectives 'on the ground'. Florin Nasture of the Cultural Centre O Del Amenca in Romania compares the Strategy of the Government of Romania for the Improvement of the Condition of Roma with the Decade's National Action Plan for Roma Inclusion 2005 -2015 in the area of employment. Tatjana Peric of the Ecumenical Humanitarian Organization in Novi Sad and Ana Bogdanić of the Croatian Romani women NGO "Better life", meanwhile, provide critical analyses of the potential and possible problems in the impact the Decade's programmes will have on Romani women.

Part I: Learning from the Past: A Critical Look at Policy Experience and the Prospects for the Roma Decade

Publication date: 3 August 2005

The Decade of Roma Inclusion – Between Hopes, Glitches and Failures
Valeriu Nicolae, Deputy Director, European Roma Information Office (ERIO)
"The Decade of Roma Inclusion has an enormous potential for becoming a turning point in the situation of Roma in Europe. But for that it needs to move from words to deeds. Five months into the first year of the Decade, very few accomplishments are visible. More or less unknown to Roma communities, struggling with its structures and strategy, the Decade needs, more than anything, some immediate results and publicity."

The Slovak Government Plenipotentiary for Romani Communities: From Form to Substance?
Eben Friedman, Regional Representative, European Centre for Minority Issues/Macedonia
"Promoting genuine Romani participation in programme development is integral to the success of the Decade of Roma Inclusion. Specialised state institutions on the situation of Roma can play an essential role. To outline what is needed for that and what pitfalls should be avoided, this paper examines the evolution of the Office of the Government Plenipotentiary in Slovakia, from its creation in 1995 through the present."

The Missing Link: Monitoring and Evaluation of Roma-related Policies in Slovakia
Martina Kubánová, Coordinator, Slovak Governance Institute (SGI)
"Policy initiatives and instruments aimed at Roma in Slovakia are rarely subject to adequate formal or informal monitoring or evaluation by policy-making institutions. Consequently, past experience is not used sufficiently to adjust and improve new policies. Identifying why helps increasing the effectiveness and efficiency of future initiatives."

Part II: Reflecting on Social Impact: Employment and Gender

Publication date: 29 August 2005

Economic Development Perspectives of Roma – Looking Critically at the Social Impact of Development Measures
Jennifer Tanaka, Assistant Director, Pakiv European Roma Fund
"We have seen some fifteen years of programmes and plans on how to improve the situation of Roma. But the reality is that the majority of Roma say their situation is getting worse. We need to start undertaking critical analyses of our work systematically. In terms of the Roma Decade Action Plans, we may begin by further specifying assessment indicators. In order to gain a better understanding of the social impact of programmes, we need to assess the impact within Romani households."

Analysing and Assessing the Implementation of Existing Strategies: Lessons for the Future
Florin Nasture, President, Cultural Centre O Del Amenca
"There is an urgent need to take a step back and analyse the implementation to date of existing strategies, especially their impact on employment. The Romanian Strategy for Improving the Situation of the Roma is a good case study because it seemed to provide a coherent framework for intervention. However, almost all elements failed in the implementation. A number of weaknesses call for serious attention when analysing and comparing the Strategy with the new National Action Plan for the Roma Decade."

Addressing Gender Inequality in the Decade of Roma Inclusion: The Case of Serbia
Tatjana Peric, Development Coordinator, Ecumenical Humanitarian Organization
"In addition to the discrimination and dearth of opportunities all Roma are confronted with, Romani women grapple with the subjection to patriarchal conventions within Romani society. Serbia is the only country that created a separate NAP on the discrimination of Romani women. Despite deficiencies, it provides a strong basis for addressing their multiple discrimination. However, the government has not formally approved this plan, and its mainstreaming into adopted NAPs has not been clarified."

The Croatian National Programme for the Roma Minority: An Example of Gender Inequality?
Ana Bogdanić, Activist, Association of Roma Women "Better Life"
"This paper argues there is a conflict between the interest of minority issues and that of gender equality in Central and South–East European countries. I will address some crucial gender problems that are engendered by the minority protection procedures and policies of the Croatian government, by analysing draft and final versions of its National Programme for the Roma. The Programme endorses multiculturalism, but in so doing ends up multiplying gender prejudices and inequalities."

SEE also:

• This related Open Society Institute publication, a special issue of Open Society News: The Decade of Roma Inclusion: Challenging Centuries of Discrimination.
• The Minority Rights Group publication, Roma Poverty and the Roma National Strategies: The Cases of Albania, Greece and Serbia; download the report as PDF or first read the MRG media release: Destined to fail? Roma poverty alleviation initiatives replicate societal ills
• The European Commission’s website on the Roma: The EU and Roma