Treci la versiunea in RomanaSector 1 of Bucharest Municipality implements the Project "Facilitating access to integrated education, health, employment and empowerment services for vulnerable people in Sector 1", Project Code PN1044, based on the Financing Contract no. 28 from 29.04.2022 signed with The Romanian Social Development Fund.
With a total budget of 1.897.907,40 lei, of which 1.897.907,40 lei is non-reimbursable funding, the project runs for a period of 24 months – 01 May 2022 - 30 April 2024 – and is funded by European Economic Area (EEA) Grants.
The general objective of the project is the development of an integrated and innovative system of quality services to ensure increased inclusion and empowerment of Roma people in identified Roma communities in Sector 1 of Bucharest.
Specific objectives of the project:
Specific objective 1: Increase access to sectoral and integrated services for 600 people in vulnerable situations, of which at least 400 (2/3) Roma, in 3 neighborhoods of Sector 1, within 24 months.
Specific objective 2: Empowerment of 30 Roma people, with a focus on young Roma women, from Sector 1 in 13 months.
Specific objective 3: Upgrading the skills of 11 specialists and volunteers involved in working with Roma people in Sector 1 to increase the quality of services provided and the level of inclusiveness of public authorities and institutions in Sector 1, in 20 months.
Expected project results:
600 vulnerable people, including at least 400 Roma, will have access to education, health, employment and social services:
● 8 people will have new identity documents;
● 200 children will benefit from educational services to prevent early school leaving;
● 150 Roma people (plus 150 majority people) will benefit from employment services;
● 11 specialists and volunteers who work with Roma people will improve their skills;
● 30 Roma people will benefit from empowerment measures;
● 2 Roma experts and leaders will be trained;
● two campaigns will be organized to raise awareness of the Roma population on education and parenting topics (100 beneficiaries);
● 100 Roma people will participate in awareness campaigns.
What will we do with this project
Through this project, the local administration of Sector 1 aims to develop an integrated and innovative system of quality services to ensure increased inclusion and empowerment of Roma people in identified Roma communities in Sector 1, increasing access to sectoral and integrated services for 600 people in vulnerable situations, including at least 400 Roma, in three neighborhoods of Sector 1: Giulești Sârbi, Chitila/Chitila Triaj and Străulești.
An important component of this project is the educational one by identifying and reducing the risk of dropping out of pre-school children who live in Sector 1 and are in a vulnerable situation, by creating a mechanism to prevent and combat absenteeism and dropping out of school.
Several partners are involved in this project: The Life and Light Foundation, The E-Romnja Association and The General Directorate of Social Assistance and Child Protection (DGASPC) Sector 1. Representatives of these entities have formed a mobile team that visits Roma communities to conduct social surveys, identify the needs of each family member and draw up a personalized intervention plan. The project includes 200 children, of which 150 Roma children and 50 Romanian children. They will benefit from school mediation, vocational counselling, school counselling, psychological counselling, mentoring, material support (food packages, transport to school, clothing and shoes for children enrolled in the education system).
Also, the parents of these children will be counseled in order to support the student's educational path. The family-school-DGASPC Sector 1 relationship will be mediated in order to strengthen collaboration in the process of preventing school dropout. Students who will continue their education will enter a mentoring program provided by volunteers of The Life and Light Foundation.
Results recorded so far
● Collaboration agreements were concluded with the following educational units:
● Collaboration agreements have been made with the following institutions:
● The mobile team went to the field in order to identify the beneficiaries in the communities targeted in the project: 340 social surveys were carried out (140 adults and 200 children - 150 Roma children, the rest being the majority) and 311 personalized intervention plans were drawn up;
● Eight persons from the targeted communities were identified, selected and monitored in order to obtain identity documents; identity cards have already been obtained for these persons who also benefited from health mediation services (4 Roma people and 4 Romanian people);
● 140 persons have been identified as eligible for employment services;
● 200 packages with material support - school bags and school supplies were distributed to the beneficiaries included in the project;
● 200 packages with material support - clothes and shoes - have been distributed to the beneficiaries included in the project;
● Material support packages were distributed to 200 child beneficiaries and 88 adult beneficiaries;
● Health mediation services were provided to 279 project beneficiaries (200 children and 79 adults);
● Psychological counselling for 42 children and vocational counselling for 16 children;
At the same time, also as results recorded within the project we mention:
● 11 specialists and volunteers from PP and partners were professionally trained to improve their skills in working with Roma people and other vulnerable groups in the communities. The training course focused both on the development of soft skills (communication, assertiveness, empathy, conflict management) and on topics of working with Roma people (Roma culture and traditions, stereotypes of Roma people, non-discrimination and equal opportunities);
● In order to create a space for dialogue and information on the needs of Roma people, E-Romnja Association organized 3 meetings with representatives of the Roma community from Chitila, Giulești and Străulești neighbourhoods on topics related to community facilitation and anti-discrimination. The aim of these public cafes was to know, identify, discuss and prioritize the most important issues for the community. The meetings were attended by both Roma and non-Roma women and Roma and non-Roma men from the three project implementation communities, who want to be involved in the project activities and, moreover, want their problems to be heard and solved;
● On 21-22 August 2023, E-Romnja Association organized the training activity for the 5 mentors and women who form the initiative group, selected according to established criteria (interest in community involvement, availability of time). The 2 training workshops focused on specific topics of community leadership, representation, communication, building networks and alliances, anti-discrimination. Their aim was to support Roma women from the 3 communities - Chitila, Străulești and Giulești - to become community leaders and to participate in local council meetings or events/conferences organized in Bucharest by NGOs on topics such as domestic violence, gender equality, human rights, reproductive health, etc.
The project is supported by a grant from Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway through EEA Grants under the Program "Local Development, Poverty Reduction and Roma Inclusion". The objective of the project is to develop an integrated and innovative system of quality services to ensure increased inclusion and empowerment of Roma people in identified Roma communities in Sector 1 of Bucharest.
For more information on the Local Development Program, please visit https://dezvoltare-locala.frds.ro/
For detailed information on the programs funded by the EEA and Norway Grants 2014-2021, please visit https://www.eeagrants.ro/ and https://eeagrants.org/
Material produced with the financial support of the EEA and Norway Grants 2014-2021. Its content (text, photos, video) does not reflect the official opinion of the Program Operator, the National Contact Point or the Financial Mechanism Office. The information and opinions expressed are the sole responsibility of the author(s).
