Project background
Commissioned and financed by Sida in June 2003, ECMI conducted the first global assessment of the needs of Macedonia’s Romani population from September to November 2003. Following on extensive background research and consultations with local stakeholders, the assessment was divided into four core areas: education, health, civil rights, and employment. For each core area, attention was given not only to the situation of the Romani population in general, but also to the position of Romani women in particular. A narrative report on the evaluation was completed in early December 2003, and ECMI is currently developing similar needs assessments for some of Macedonia’s neighbouring countries.
Aims
Building on the findings of the needs assessment, this project seeks to increase Roms’ level of integration into the society of Macedonia as a whole by equipping them with the resources needed for playing an effective role in a democratic society based on the rule of law as well as for participating successfully in a competitive labour market. To this end, the project will establish all-Romani Expert Groups in the four core areas. These Expert Groups will design and conduct research which they deem important as a foundation for concrete policy measures to remedy Roms’ comparative disadvantage in the core areas.
Activities in the first year
In first the half of the first project year, Expert Group rosters were finalized through an intensive screening process, and each of the four Expert Groups held 24 regular meetings each, for a total of 96 regular meetings not including the approximately twenty additional meetings held on the initiative of the Expert Groups as they carried out their research projects. Shortly after their formation, the Expert Groups delivered an extensive set of recommendations to government on revisions to the Draft Strategy for Roma in the Republic of Macedonia. Following on an interactive assessment of the Expert Groups’ training needs, four basic training sessions were organized for all Expert Groups.
Results achieved in the first year
The first project year culminated with the public presentation of the volume containing the six research reports generated by the Expert Groups from the projects which they designed and implemented with ECMI facilitation. Taken in combination with the frequency with which members of the Expert Groups are consulted on contemporary developments affecting Roms, the project’s role to date in improving coordination among relevant internationally funded initiatives, bettering relations between the Macedonian government and Romani NGOs, and increasing the level of competence of relevant government and non-government actors suggest that the Expert Groups are well on their way to becoming free-standing points of reference for organizations and individuals seeking consultation on the Romani population of Macedonia.
Project continuation
In the first year of the project the Expert Groups held 24 meetings where, inter alia, they reviewed the government Strategy and made a major contribution to the finalization of this importan document. The Expert Groups took part in several training sessions, which were primarily directed towards strengthening of the capacities of the members of the groups. In the second half of the first project year, the Expert Groups implemented six research projects in the four core areas. Two studies each were conducted by the Expert Groups on Education and Civil Rights, while the Expert Groups on Health and Employment conducted one study each. For the first time, Roms were involved not only in the field work, but also in the analysis of the results and the writing of the report. The studies will serve as an important source of information for the Government and all stakeholders whose target group include Roms, primarily in the creation of policies to improve the situation of the Romani community in the given areas. At the end of the project year the Expert Groups’ research were presented before representatives of various ministries and international organizations, as well as Romani and non-Romani organizations.
During the second project year, the Expert Groups for integration will continue with the trainings which will be devoted to strengthening the individual capacities of the Expert Group members, as well as to strengthening the team work within and among the Expert Groups, in order to enable the Groups to work independently in the future. This year, the priority will be given to further research, with the Expert Groups conducting a total of seven studies of their own design on topics which will benefit the Government of the Republic of Macedonia, international organizations, non-governmental organizations, and other stakeholders with an interest in the Romani community of the Republic of Macedonia.
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