In 2008, Macedonia's Decade Watch team set out to learn what ordinary Roma thought of the Decade of Roma Inclusion. Recently, Aleksandra Bojadjieva of Decade Watch spoke with Bernard Rorke about the team's report, which was released at a national conference in late February.
Aleksandra Bojadjieva of Decade Watch recently spoke with Bernard Rorke, Director of Roma Initiatives at the Open Society Institute, about Decade Watch Macedonia’s latest report, MK Decade Watch 2008. The report, launched at a national conference in Skopje at the end of February, is available at right in English and in Macedonian.
Bernard Rorke: Tell us about what’s different about this report from Decade Watch Macedonia?
Aleksandra Bojadjieva: Decade Watch Macedonia (DWMK) is part of Decade Watch, a region-wide civic initiative that monitors the progress of the Decade of Roma Inclusion 2005–2015. In 2008, the Macedonian team decided to go further than monitoring government inputs. DWMK decided to reach out and ask ordinary Roma people what they thought of the Decade, what changes, if any they perceived in the Decade priority areas of health, housing, education and employment, and the cross-cutting themes of anti-discrimination and gender equity.
So this DWMK survey gives a voice to Roma. It provides a detailed breakdown of Roma opinion disaggregated by municipality, gender, age, and social status. The report also includes action points from the community in the key priority areas.
How did you set about conducting this research?
The survey was coordinated by the Initiative for Social Change (InSoC) led by a working group of four people including myself. The data was collected by a 10-strong team of local monitors; young Roma drawn from every corner of Macedonia. These monitors participated in every stage of the initiative: from assisting in the design of the methodology at the outset, to dissemination and advocacy following the launch of the report. They covered a sample of 540 Roma from 17 municipalities.
Our dynamic and participatory approach has resulted in a report that provides an excellent departure point for policy development and action as we reach the mid-point of the Decade. Policy-makers should use this report to make the Decade effective and efficient. If they follow the recommendations, the Decade could actually work for Roma.
So what do Roma think about the Decade? How is it understood, or misunderstood, by Roma across the municipalities?
One striking finding is that three out of four Roma interviewed had heard of the "Roma Decade." By contrast, only 1 in 4 had heard of the National Strategy for Roma, or other government activities targeting Roma. Only about one-fifth of those sampled were aware of initiatives implemented by the municipality.
This seemed to bolster the claim that "almost everybody knows about the Decade." But questions about the content or meaning of the Decade paint a different picture.
- One fifth of those interviewed have no idea what it is.
- Just under 40% correctly defined the Decade as a "plan of activities to solve the problems of Roma' and the 'state's statement of commitment to solve the problems of Roma."
- The same percentage thinks of the Decade as a "pot of money for Roma projects."
- About 25% of those interviewed perceive the Decade as 'a Roma NGO program' or a 'way to employ/engage the Roma in state or municipal institutions.
- Just over 10% of think of the Decade as "something similar to the Ohrid Framework Agreement, but for Roma" (The Ohrid Framework Agreement is a peace agreement that ended the armed conflict in Macedonia in 2001).
What was interesting and useful to note was that the main sources of information about the Decade were the media (62%) and civil society organizations (41%). Less than 10% of respondents found out about the Decade from the institutions, political parties, internet, written documents, or the Roma Information Centers. This is particularly problematic when it comes to the Roma Information Centers, for their precise function is to communicate about the Decade, and to maintain the flow of information between the institutions and the Roma community. DWMK has not called for the closure of these centers, as has been suggested in recent debates with politicians. Rather we have argued that they be better resourced to improve their performance.
Most of those interviewed (58-76% depending on priority area) agreed that the priority areas of education, employment, housing and health identified by the Decade were correct. There is also a high expectation (40%) that the Decade will tackle poverty reduction.
Other areas deemed important by interviewees were: non-discrimination (29%); inclusion of Roma in decision making (23%); expansion of the activities of Roma NGOs (22%); improvement of the relations between Roma and non-Roma (21%); use of EU funds for Roma issues (18%); overcoming stereotypes and prejudices towards Roma (17%); cooperation with other states on Roma issues (17%); use of donors' funds for Roma issues (16%); collecting and using information and data on Roma (11%); position of the Roma political parties (10%) and equality between men and women (10%).
That only 10% consider the Decade’s cross-cutting theme of gender equity important is both a disappointment and a challenge. On the one hand, it might seem that the Decade puts efforts to something deemed not very relevant by Roma. But on the other, it could indicate that the level of awareness on gender equality is insufficient. If further research was to confirm this, then awareness-raising on gender issues should become a Decade priority between now and 2015, a priority particularly relevant for the work of NGOs.
Five years into the Decade, do Roma feel things are getting better in their daily lives? Do they see any concrete change? Or do they feel things are getting worse?
An extraordinarily high percentage (80%) thinks that the state is making efforts to improve education. And of those interviewed, 57% feel there has been real improvements since the beginning of the Decade. This is quite encouraging, but of course no-one should forget that most of the positive efforts have been funded by the Roma Education Fund and successful implementation owes much to a very active civil society. To sustain this positive perception among its citizens, and improve the standard of education for all, the government of Macedonia needs to mainstream these Decade innovations into policy and fund them from the state budget. Much more effort is needed to improve interaction between Roma and non-Rom pupils, to deal with segregation into special schools, and to increase employment of Roma teaching staff.
When it comes to health while only 16% feel there has been any improvement since the beginning of the Decade, some 43% of interviewees think that health provision for Roma has improved at state level. We could assume that the positive assessment was due to measures and reforms initiated during the period of the research. These include provision for all citizens to obtain health insurance, free-of-charge health examinations in Roma neighbourhoods, vaccination drives targeting all Roma children. Further research is needed to assess the actual impact of these reforms.
In the sphere of employment less than 1 in 5 sense any improvement. More than half of those interviewed consider the state to be passive. One third asserted that government actually worsens the situation. The Roma recommended formal vocational and on-job training as measures for job qualification; increased employment of Roma in the public sector, subsidies for hiring Roma; a drive to attract foreign investors to site their operations close to Roma communities; and effective sanctions for employers who discriminate against Roma.
The situation in housing is pretty bleak. Only 5% of Roma interviewed think that the state is doing anything to improve the situation. Almost 50% consider the state to be doing little with regards to housing, while the opinion of 25% is that the state is making things worse.
When it comes to poverty, the reactions were similar to housing, with the exception that over 40% think the state is contributing to a worsening of the situation. Despite targeted initiatives towards Roma and mainstream poverty reduction polices, the Roma population is getting poorer! An effective drive to reduce poverty needs to be cross-sectoral, comprehensive and a priority for the Decade.
Do Roma feel more or less excluded from society? How much inclusion anti-Roma sentiment has increased or decreased in the last few years?
In general, only about 5% of the interviewed Roma think that the Decade contributed to overcoming stereotypes and prejudices towards Roma and to the improvement of the relations between Roma and non-Roma. According to 60% the state has made little or no effort in this regard, while 20% think that it contributes to a worsening of the situation.
One very encouraging signal is that less than 10% think that interaction between Roma and non-Roma students in all levels of education has worsened. Nearly half of those interviewed consider that the situation has improved. More than one-third was of the opinion that treatment Roma receive from public sector employees in education has improved. In the other Decade priority areas, the majority of respondents felt that attitudes of non-Roma towards Roma have neither improved nor worsened, but remained the same. However in employment and health, over a third of those interviewed felt attitudes have worsened. This is worrying and requires immediate attention within the Decade.
Were there any remarkable differences between men and women in their responses?
There are significant differences between men and women regarding employment. The responses indicated that for women there were more opportunities for low-paid jobs, and a decrease in opportunities for well-paid employment compared to men. More female respondents called for penalties for discrimination by employers. There was a higher level of fear among when it came to the question of having nowhere to live. Romani women reported more positive experiences than men with regards to the attitudes of non-Roma towards their Roma neighbours. With regards to discrimination in health women felt more strongly that the situation had deteriorated. When it came to preschool education, 20% more women called for supplementary social support measures. These examples clearly indicate that the needs of Romani women need to be taken into account when designing policy.
Do you feel there is sufficient political will at municipal level to promote Roma inclusion?
Across all four priorities, the assessment was that the municipalities lag behind national government when it comes to engagement. This lack of engagement by local institutions and public service providers is critical when it comes to implementation and how the Decade affects real life situation of Roma. What is needed is a two-pronged approach to push municipalities to take action. Measures to encourage and stimulate engagement need to be accompanies by effective sanctions when municipalities fail to meet their obligations.
What kind of impact has Decade Watch? Do you think governments and EU institutions pay attention to DW reports?
Of course Decade Watch has an impact. One example is the increased attention paid to the key role of the municipalities. In Macedonia we believe that budget increases over the last few years for Decade implementation is a result of advocacy by DW and other partners. The revision of the Action Plans and the creation of the monitoring and evaluation system is an outcome of our recommendations and advocacy. We have seen more active mainstreaming of Roma issues across all relevant sectoral ministries in response to our monitoring and advocacy.
Government pays close attention to the reports. The 2007 Decade Watch update features on the Macedonian Ministry of Labor and Social Policy web-site. The performance table comparing the progress of Decade countries has generated competition between states and attracted international attention. More importantly it prompted in-country discussions in Macedonia about how to improve performance and improve its ranking among other states in the Decade.
The annual progress reports from the European Commission cite Decade Watch and Commission officials have regularly consulted Decade Watch teams. They rely on the Decade Watch reporting as one of the reliable sources of information on Roma issues. Some of the Decade Watch teams established fruitful cooperation with the Commission, and have been consulted on a range of issues on EU accession, IPA planning, anti-discrimination, and various EU-funded projects.
Based on your experience monitoring Decade progress, what do you think needs to be done for the next 5 years?
Combating poverty needs to be a Decade priority. Measures in health, housing, and education can only have limited effects if poverty is not tackled. You cannot expect hungry people looking for a place to sleep every night to go to school or to work. At a minimum, states need to prevent the further growth of poverty. We would encourage them to do much more and devise policies to eradicate poverty in general and address poverty among Roma within the framework of the Decade.
It has become obvious that the Decade cannot match the high expectations—that by 2015 the unacceptable gaps in living conditions and life opportunities between Roma and non-Roma would be eliminated. From the very outset of Decade Watch it was apparent to us that the timeframe was too short, there was insufficient political will and understanding to devise and implement systemic and sustainable policies for Roma inclusion.
Nevertheless, the Decade has generated significant momentum and we need to build on it. For the next five years all Decade stakeholders need to build on achievements and accelerate efforts to achieve the sort of concrete change that makes a difference to the lives of ordinary Roma.
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