Montenegro

Decreasing Vulnerability of Roma

The plight of Roma has gained more attention in Montenegro in the past few years, primarily because of the country’s EU membership aspirations. European integration is the single most important priority for Montenegro and will remain so for the immediate foreseeable future.  If Montenegro can improve the quality of life for its most impoverished, disadvantaged and vulnerable people, it will have a better chance of becoming a member of the EU.

Although specific data on the status of Roma, refugees and Displaced Persons (DPs) is often overlooked in regular statistical surveys, according to the 2008 Monstat (National Statistics Office) survey there are 10,619 Roma, including refugees from Kosovo, in Montenegro.  It is vitally important to improve statistical data collection and analysis in order to understand the magnitude of the problem, create budgeted programmes to solve the problem and monitor the effectiveness of problem solving measures.
 
A 2003 survey found that approximately 75% percent of Roma are illiterate. Roma DPs are additionally hindered in their efforts to find work by a language barrier. 

A major sub-component of the project in Montenegro is an attempt to acquire personal identification documents (ID) for domicile Roma. The aforementioned 2003 survey estimated that 25 percent of domicile Roma in Montenegro did not possess the ID needed to exercise their human rights to access public services (health, education, social benefits, social services, employment mediation services) they are legally entitled to.

Policies intended to decrease vulnerability during the last 15 years in Southeast Europe have suffered from the absence of a consistent conceptual framework. Policies have focused more on treating symptoms than causes and have often been developed on a case-by-case basis (sometimes in response to humanitarian disasters) without a clear conceptual underpinning. Individual interventions often tend to be group-oriented and can contribute to the fragmentation of local communities. In the Balkan context such interventions are far from sustainable.

This is why the current project is built along some general principles of intervention equally applicable to all national components:

1. Non-discrimination

 

Legal frameworks for nondiscriminatory policies exist in all Southeast European countries, and are likely to undergo further development as these states attempt to meet criteria for EU membership. At present, however, these frameworks are not fully developed and capacity gaps in state institutions (particularly the courts) and civil society limit their implementation. Still, the belief that legal and policy frameworks should ensure fair treatment regardless of ethnicity, in order to encourage equality of opportunity (as opposed to equality of outcomes) seems widely held in Southeast Europe. The belief can be channeled into support for social policy targeting based on vulnerability (as opposed to ethnic) criteria.

2. Recognition of joint interest

 

It is essential for all citizens to understand that improving living conditions for Roma is beneficial not only to Roma but to all of society. This understanding must form the basis of any dialogue, in order to gain broad public support and dispel the notion that development interventions for Roma come at the expense of the rest of the citizenry.

 

3. Reducing dependency

High rates of poverty and unemployment leave Roma households that are accessing social benefits heavily dependent on those benefits. These payments can create a ‘culture of dependency’ and become a disincentive to exploring employment possibilities. Up until the current global financial crisis, Montenegro enjoyed an economic boom, which created a multitude of job opportunities. Because the boom was largely owing to the building of a mostly seasonal tourism industry, many of those jobs were also seasonal. UNDP staff in the field have been told by many Roma that they fear they will lose their social benefits completely if they took seasonal jobs. Although they have been assured that they can re-apply for social benefits when seasonal jobs are terminated, Roma are distrustful of those assurances. Such concerns are being addressed in ongoing efforts to develop welfare to work measures. The project has provided IT equipment to social welfare centres and support to employment bureaus to develop new job programmes, including vocational training, for Roma.

4. Redefinition of existing structures for inclusion

 

Redefinition – not substitution – of existing structures for inclusion, employment promotion and social support is a key to sustainable development that will decrease dependency. This is why the project will contribute to the process of reform and redefinition of existing institutional structures so that they become more responsive to the challenges vulnerable groups, Roma in particular, are facing. However, the project also works within existing institutional structures to empower Roma to help themselves.

5. Including Roma in the process of Roma inclusion

 

“Nothing for Roma without Roma,” has become a slogan for Roma who demand that they play a key role in development efforts aimed at them. UNDP fully supports this position and responded by supporting the building of Roma NGOs across the country. Roma NGOs have formed a national coalition. Roma have been included in strategy discussions with the government, in part because the effort to build capacity in Roma NGOs has upgraded their technical expertise. 

UNDP further supported Roma NGOs in designing and implementing small scale, community based projects (identification documentation (ID) acquisition, capacity building, employment, social services, personal hygiene awareness etc.). The projects resulted in around 1200 IDs being issued to Roma, allowing them access to social, health and employment opportunity services for the first time. Such projects are invaluable in capacity building efforts with Roma NGOs.

6. Gender sensitivity

 

Roma women are disproportionately hit by unemployment and face the additional burden of household care. Roma girls have lower enrolment rates and drop out of school at earlier ages than do others.  Many Roma females marry at an early age – 80 percent get married before they are 16 and 80 percent of the marriages are “arranged”. This fact makes it extremely difficult to afford them opportunities outside traditional roles. The problem is further complicated because Roma females who do attempt to break from traditional roles can and often are stigmatized within their communities. Although not directly challenging the traditional division of roles, this programme employs a set of incentives that promote the inclusion of Roma women beyond the traditional roles in the family, especially in terms of employment. The project supports efforts designed to aid Roma women who want to start their own small businesses.

7. Environmental aspects

 

Environmental concerns are rarely associated with Roma projects. However, they are related to Roma well being in at least in two ways. First, many Roma ghettos are lacking basic sanitation facilities such as sewage and access to safe water. Second, Roma are often involved in re-using and recycling of discarded materials, some of which can be hazardous, from garbage bins and landfills. Development and implementation of ‘green’ infrastructure could lead to job opportunities for Roma.

Employment prospects for Roma are traditionally confined to the lowest paying jobs that require few skills. When Roma apply for jobs they do so understanding that they are handicapped by a centuries old stigma. The programme is attempting to disavow potential employers of the notion that Roma are lazy, untrustworthy etc. etc. That particular effort is not confined to potential employers but also includes social workers who work directly with Roma, political authorities and the public at large.