The complex Roma intergration program of Pápa town

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Georgia Sharp
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1 The complex Roma intergration program of Pápa town Project New Challenges for Local Governments - Role of Umbrella Organizations in the Development Cooperation". The project is supported by the International Visegrad Fund. V4EaP Extended Standard Grant No The characteristics of the environment 1.1. The situation of the town Pápa town is situated in the North-West of Hungary, at the transaction of Kisalföld and Bakony hill, 45 kilometers of the south-west of Győr. It may be easily reached from Vienna, Bratislava and Budapest likewise, through Győr using the 83 road that is connected to M1 highway. The airport in Pápa is an army logistic center established by the 12 NATO states, the Boeing Globemaster II (C-17) airplanes operated by Heavy Airlift Wing transport supplies among others to Afganistan and Irak. Thanks to the international army base, several foreign families live in Pápa, similarly to Bratislava the educational services are provided here by the American school maintained by QSI Demography The population of the town is people (2014). The number of people over 65 years exceeds (5556 people) the number of people under 14 years (4554 people), thus an ageing population is characteristic of Pápa. The number of registered seekers of employment in 2014 was 808 people (it most probably decreased since then), compared to the inhabitants capable of working, this produced a 3,83 unemployment rate Local economy The determining actors of the local economy are the automotive supplier companies. Presently, they provide 2500 workplaces, following the developments in place they will provide approximately 3000 workplaces for the employees. In the job market, there is a continuous vacancy, one of the most important barriers of the development of local economy (similarly to the other Western-Hungarian regions) is the lack of motivated manpower The situation of the Roma population Project supported by the International Visegrád Fund 1

2 The proportion of the Roma population within the whole population is significant. We, of course do not know the exact numbers, but those that professed themselves Roma during the national census were much less than the real data; based on the calculation of those working in the social sector their number is around , which is equal to 6,5-7,7% proportion within the local community. We are more likely to meet a lower education level, higher unemployment rate, bad living conditions in Roma families, the health conditions of those belonging to the Roma minority are worse and the average life expectancy is lower than that of the average population. A large part of the Roma families live in segregated areas, these are areas where most of the inhabitants have a maximum of primary education and half or more than half of the active population is unemployed. The social, health care and housing situation of the Roma minority is very similar in Western and Eastern Hungary, there is one significant difference though, while in Eastern-Hungary the biggest problem is the unemployment, in Western- Hungary the job market offers many possibilities for the seekers of employment. In order to handle the identified problems, the local government of the town initiated several programs in partnership with various governmental and non-governmental organizations: some of the EU financed projects set educational-training aims; a complex site program aimed at the termination or the improvement of disadvantages through social, communal development, education, health-care, training and educational elements. 2. Training programs The aim of the improvement of key competence and household training programs was the development of skills based on which the participants could also take part in professional trainings. The members of the target group had lower education level than 8 years of primary school and in practice, many of them were functional analphabets. (During the fourmonth-training the participants received a living allowance.) The number of participants in the program was 75, out of which 50 people completed the course successfully. Professional trainings: trained herbal plant collector and producer (out of 20 participants 17 completed the course successfully), assistant agronomist (12 participants, 6 completed the course), communal service provider (20 participants, 20 completed the course), paving specialist (7 participants 3 completed successfully). These trainings directly aimed at providing participants with competences that make it possible for them to fill in positions provided at the job market. 3. A complex site program Project supported by the International Visegrád Fund 2

3 3.1 The aim of the complex site program The aim of the complex site program is to support and help the social integration and cohesion of disadvantaged people living in deep poverty, in segregated environment. Those living in segregated areas have such disadvantages (of social, communal, educational, health, educational and employment nature), deepened over generations that cannot be solved anymore by those effected and the municipality on its own without outside help. In order to attain set goals, a complex interventional tool system, consisting of various elements and based on individual characteristics and needs, should be provided by the actors of the project (consortium partners and cooperating organizations). The main target group of the program consists of Roma and non-roma families living in segregated living sites, having social and financial problems, complex disadvantages, lowlevel of education. But the program also provides services for the whole of the municipality as it helps the integration of disadvantaged people into the municipality. In order to prevent the disadvantageous situation to deepen over generations, it is important to include people from families through whom with the help of different programs, the whole family situation may be improved. The venues of the projects are segregated areas or communities where there are segregated areas Partial goals of the complex site program: The partial goals of the complex site program were: To improve the accessibility to services of those living segregated areas (including communal, health-care, educational, working-place services), Improve the educational level of those involved, To increase the number of those who join educational, training and employment programs, aiming at increasing social cohesion and integration, To increase the number of employed people, Increase the number of children from the segregated areas going to kindergarten, Improve the school results, development chances, opportunities outside of school of children, young people of school age involved in the program Creation of a communal space in the segregated area. The Cserháj Project supported by the International Visegrád Fund 3

4 Near the segregated area, with the opening together and complete renovation of two local government owned apartments for rent, the Csillagház-Cserhaj Service House was created, in which permanent settlement social work is secured. The Csillag Service Point in the house secures the basic hygienic conditions for the families and the possibility of helping experts Training programs From the educational interventional programs, all the trainings were successfully completed. Using project synergies, we included more than 200 people into our trainings, out of which the complex site program may be presented in numbers, as follows: Production line assembler: participants at the beginning: 9 people, successful exam: 6 people Park maintainer: participants at the beginning: 13 people, successful exam: 10 people Chainsaw operator: participants at the beginning: 32 people, successful exam: 18 people Municipal maintainer: participants at the beginning: 22 people, successful exam: 17 people. Rug-maker: participants at the beginning 18 people, successful exam: 18 people Assistant agronomist, animal maintenance and plant production. Participants at the beginning: 23 people, successful exam: 22 people Waste collector and transporter: participants at the beginning: 14 people, successful exam: 9 The trainings in construction and agriculture made it possible to continue with the worklearning type of education system during the program. The renovation tasks of the Csillag Service-House and its environment, became part of these trainings, provided practice for the trainings themselves. The participants in the trainings, learned to use the acquired knowledge during active work based on instructions from trainers with large practical knowledge and adequate methodological background. They also required a training that is well-sought at the job market Communal events One of the basic objectives of the program is the extension of the communal centered approach in a wide circle in order to move towards social integration and solidarity. Project supported by the International Visegrád Fund 4

5 The family days organized on several occasions also provided the participants with real values, gave opportunities for them to spend their free time in a useful manner, it also strengthened the relationship of those living in segregated areas with the rest of the population. Several hundred people participated in the one-day events. In spring, 16 groups grabbed a spoon during a family day to cook together under the egis of integration. Employees in the educational centers and nurseries where several children go from the segregated sites also participated in this event. This cooking event also provided a chance for a dialogue between the educators and the parents, and the families also got to know each other better. The family and child support service as well as the Vajda Péter Foundation for the children of the area also provided a group of competitors. Apart from the family days, we also held communal events connected to holidays and their preparation. Children could improve their creativity, use their imagination and prepare happily for the holidays. The venue of the joint Christmas event was the Catholic Anna church. Apart from the adults and children living in the segregated area, teachers and casemanagers also participated in the festive event. The children and the adults welcomed the holiday with poems and songs. The Local Government of Pápa organized a festive running competition in the afternoon of the New Year s Eve. Hot tea awaited those crossing the finishing line. At the event organized in the skating-ring of the main square, 67 children with disadvantaged background participated. We provided those children without a skate or money for the entrance with the rental fee and entrance fee from grants. We also rented tools for the children to help safe skating. 4. Summary of results and experiences There was an extensive participation in the 9 events supporting community building and social integration in the town, several hundred participants were present. The grant program made it possible to train 117 people in 7 professional areas, which provided the participants with the opportunity of a new life style and a certain type of regularity. Out of them, 36 already have regular, registered working place. From those receiving individual trainings, 28 has registered working places. The numbers and the contracts speak for themselves. The development of environmentally conscious thinking also brought about considerable improvement in the living conditions and the solution of the situation of illegal wastetreatment. The innovatory nature of the 4 different types of health-care controls, the results of the preventions and treatments in these target groups cannot be questioned. We held health preservation (physical and spiritual) information events for 55 times, apart from the very useful information-transfer from doctors, nurses with degrees and psychologists, these Project supported by the International Visegrád Fund 5

6 events also contribute to the improvement of patient-doctor relationships and the early diagnosis of illnesses. The Csillag Service Center fills a gap, as it provides settlement type of social work and also occasions to undertake basic domestic tasks as well as it caters for the basic hygienic functions. The visible results of development directions provided by the projects, competence developments, professional trainings, interventions supporting integration may be multiplied and become valuable, only if the work started, continues. Only through continuity may we decrease the few decades of lagging behind, that may be perceived in the whole spectrum of life. Project New Challenges for Local Governments - Role of Umbrella Organizations in the Development Cooperation". The project is supported by the International Visegrad Fund. V4EaP Extended Standard Grant No Author: Tamás, Áldozó dr. Hungarian National Association of Local Authorities 2016 Project supported by the International Visegrád Fund 6

Total number of co-funded projects: Project name: Social EXPO

Total number of co-funded projects: 26 1. Project name: Social EXPO Target audience: experts/general public Geographic focus: national capital city (Budapest) This exhibition of NGOs and governmental bodies