Employability measures for Roma population

The Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and the President of the National Roma Self-Government, Flórián Farkas, signed a statement of intent in May, aimed at integrating 100,000 unemployed Roma into the Hungarian labour market by 2015. The agreement covers reforms of the education system and health screening tests to ensure better possibilities and equal opportunities for Roma people, both in the education system and on the labour market. Implementation of the agreement will require close cooperation.

Background

There are around 750,000 Roma in Hungary today, according to the most recent study conducted by the National Family and Social Policy Institute (NCSSZI). Most of the Roma population live in the Northern and the South-Danubian regions of the country. The employment rate among this group is extremely low, with even qualified Roma people often being unemployed.

In the study, 27% of the Roma population aged between 16 and 64 reported being employed, while almost 30% identified themselves as unemployed or non-working. Some 55% of Roma households do not have a single employed member while one third of Roma households have only one income, although only 10% of households consist of only one person.

Attempts to increase employment

Several public and private projects have aimed to increase employment in disadvantaged regions where most of the Roma live. A large number of those projects were designed specifically for them.

One of the initiatives was ‘social agriculture’, the provision of grain and land by number of local governments so that families could produce at least basic foodstuffs to fulfil their needs. Social workers have also initiated a series of assistance programmes, which have proven to be more successful in some regions and villages than in others.

The statement of intent signed by the Prime Minister and the President of the National Roma Self-Government is designed to bring about structural changes in employment and in the employability of the Roma population in Hungary.

Education is key to integration

The parties to the agreement now want to introduce comprehensive educational changes that will enable 20,000 Roma youths to acquire a marketable profession via 50 vocational schools. The plan also sets a target of at least 10,000 Roma students graduating from high school and at least 5,000 talented youths continuing their studies through higher education.

The partners also want to organise vocational training and education for around 50,000 Roma adults, most of whom currently have only trade school qualifications.

In addition, 80,000 Roma adults with only primary education would be taken into skills development programmes to give them additional skills such as reading, writing, counting and basic IT.

Other employability measures

The statement of intent also identifies work needed in other areas such as health and law and order.

• stresses the importance of health screenings for 150,000 Roma people. Their life expectancy at birth is around 10–15 years less than that of the non-Roma population in Hungary. (http://www.romacentrum.hu/eu/temak/egeszsegugy/mo_egeszsegugy0403)

• work programmes will include preparing people for the primary labour market through learning and skills development and the education of children. Families involved in public work programmes will renovate their own homes and make them habitable, whether owned or rented. This has been identified as a key point for improving their current disadvantaged situation.

• must be maintained and the President of the National Roma Self-government, Flórián Farkas, says the Roma people should also take responsibility for this. Public safety and security has been questioned by the wider public in Hungaria over the past year and there have been conflicts in some areas caused by paramilitary groups behaving threateningly towards the Roma population.

Mr Farkas also wants to improve preservation of the Roma culture and art at the European level by establishing a cultural centre in Hungary in cooperation with the government.

Commentary

The statement of intent has not yet been supported by a detailed work programme. No decision has been made about how to achieve the aims of the plan or how to fund it. As these measures will affect around 150,000 people, it will be necessary in the near future to define the conditions for those who will participate in the programme. However, the intent itself should be seen as an initial and very necessary step towards improving the living and working conditions of a large minority within Hungarian society.

Zsuzsa Rindt, Ildikó Krén, Solution4.org Bt