About Decade Watch

Decade Watch is the first assessment of government action on implementing the commitments expressed under the Decade of Roma Inclusion 2005–2015. Since the Decade aims at giving Roma a voice in the process of inclusion, this assessment has been conducted by coalitions of Roma NGOs and activists from all countries participating in the Decade. Decade Watch is a contribution by Roma activists toward making the Decade a success. 

Decade Watch is supported by the Open Society Institute and the World Bank. This support has included training and mentoring the research teams, as well as developing the methodology, and providing editorial and production support. 
 

The first Decade Watch report, released in June 2007, reviewed the period from the launch of the Decade in early 2005 until the end of 2006.  The information presented in this reports is based on research conducted between autumn 2006 and early 2007. The research involved the review of documents—policies, legislation, and independent reports and surveys—as well as interviews with officials and representatives of civil society. While the focus was on developments in 2005 and 2006, the analysis also often covered measures and policies that had been introduced before the launch of the Decade and remain in place. The members of the Decade Watch team also reflected their own experience, often spanning many years, in reviewing policies for Roma in their countries.

The initial Decade Watch report assessed government action, not the changed situation for Roma on the ground. Given the absence of consistent and systematic outcome indicators and data, the first exercise focused only on inputs: What have governments done since the launch of the Decade? Decade Watch summarizes a range of indicators measuring the existence and quality of Decade Action Plans including the availability of data to report on progress, the institutional arrangements for Decade implementation, and whether measures have been put in place across the four Decade priority areas. This first round of Decade Watch did not measure impacts and changes in outcomes for Roma. Systematic outcome monitoring, in particular comparable across countries, is currently impossible because of significant data gaps. Moreover, the Decade had only had two years of implementation, and it may have been premature to assess outcomes.

In identifying government action across all countries, Decade Watch country reports aimed to identify good experience and highlight achievements that countries can learn from. 

The Decade Watch team will work—together with governments and partner agencies and institutions of the Decade—to further develop the methodology and make a contribution to establishing mechanisms to measure the Decade’s success. The Decade of Roma Inclusion, an unprecedented initiative to promote inclusion of Roma, deserves an effective monitoring mechanism.