Katarina Mathernova 23 May 2011

 The right thing to do!  Political opportunity – greater awareness; political momentum at the EU level – April 5 th Communication  Makes economic sense – World Bank study on Benefits of Roma Inclusion

Economic argument for Roma inclusion

 4 country study: Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Romania and Serbia  Majority populations in these countries are aging. Roma share of new labor market entrants is high and growing  Large employment gap  Biggest driver is the large educational gap

Main Finding: Integration is Smart Economics ◦ Closing labor market gap can increase national incomes by up to Euro 5.5 billion and tax revenues by Euro 1.5 billion in these 4 countries annually ◦ Cost of inaction will rise over time because of demographic trends ◦ Necessary investments in education and labor market opportunities a fraction of economic gains

 Accurate and representative data lacking  Estimates (e.g. UNDP, 2006) indicate Roma employment levels are even lower in Slovakia than in these 4 countries  Every reason to believe that the economic benefits of labor market integration are similarly large and growing in Slovakia (see also Marcinčin and Marcinčinová, 2009)

Priority Areas Ensuring equal education opportunities, starting with Early Childhood Education Employment activation policies Addressing housing inequities Closing health disparities

9/20/2015 Slovakia: urban: Martin and Banska Bystrica rural: Abranovce and Zborov Romania: urban: Craiova- Mofleni neighbourhood; rural: Telechiu village Macedonia : urban: Šuto Orizari, Vinica, rural: Trabotivište, Crnik Hungary: urban: Nyiregyhaza, rural: Mateszalka micro region

 Program by Roma Education Fund (REF)  € from EU Parliament and DG Regional Policy  Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Macedonia  Implemented by local partner organizations ◦ Slovakia: Abranovce, Zborov, Martin, Banska Bystrica ◦ KARI, Equal Chances, Cult. Assoc. of Roma  Supported by international partners: ◦ Slovak Governance Institute, International Step by Step Association (ISSA) ◦ World Bank and UNDP

 Roma parents strongly believe in the importance of early childhood education  Cost is key issue to non-enrolment of project families, as is unemployed parents being at home and not having good communication with teachers  Feasible to implement a good monitoring and evaluation framework

 East Asia: Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Laos, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam  South Asia: Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka  Latin America: Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Dominica, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru  Africa: Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Cote d’Ivoire, Gabon, Gambia, Guinea, Ghana, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia,  North Africa: Morocco, Tunesia, Egypt, Yemen, Jordan  Eastern Europe and FSU: Albania, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan

Source: “EU legislation on the 2011 Population and Housing Censuses” (Eurostat 2011, ISSN ) In summary:  Household survey like EU-SILC have breadth of indicators, but sample sizes too small to be representative for local area units  Population censuses do allow small areas calculations but frequently lack breadth of indicators necessary to calculate main poverty indicators

Common Household Background Characteristics EU-SILC or other detailed survey Common Household Background Characteristics National Population Census Background characteristics unique to EU- SILC Household Welfare Indicator(s) such as at-risk-of-poverty in EU-SILC Step 0 Step 1 Household Welfare Indicator(s) such as at-risk-of-poverty not in census Step 2 POVERTY MAP(S)

LAU 1 level (‘nuts 4’) – 262 municipalities (2005)

 Poverty maps can be very useful tool to target poorest areas with inclusion programs  Poverty maps have been implemented around the world. If data are available, production of poverty maps takes several months  Policy relevance and adoption of poverty maps enhanced through considerable outreach and capacity building  Population censuses being implemented throughout the EU in 2011 and availability of annual EU-SILC survey data are promising