Michal Miko responds to Czech Supreme Audit Office report: Romani social inclusion still lacks a systemic approach
The findings of the Supreme Audit Office (NKÚ) regarding the use of resources for social inclusion in the socially excluded localities of the Czech Republic reveal the serious shortcomings in the effectiveness and longterm impact of such projects. Despite investments in the amount of CZK 2.8 billion [EUR 112 million], what persists in many municipalities is a high level of social exclusion, which indicates the necessity of deeper, systemic transformation.
Just 24 % of participants in the projects supported managed to enter the labor market on a permanent basis, which is an alarming result when we consider that the cost of the project per participant was more than CZK 110,000 [EUR 4,000] on average. The fact that a mere 3 % of the resources were allocated to the target groups directly while most were used for administrative and overhead costs reflects the necessity of reassessing how this financing is allocated.
Projects targeting Romani people and other inhabitants of socially excluded localities have also been facing obstacles of a systemic nature, such as weak legislative support for social work and a lack of affordable housing. The absence of a coordinated approach among institutions, moreover, has further weakened the potential of such projects to yield actual change.
RomanoNet, an umbrella organization of nonprofits which are either pro-Roma or Romani-led, has long stressed that the fight against social exclusion has to be based on systemic support, legislative reform and the involvement of local actors, including Romani communities. Without such steps we will not manage to extricate ourselves from the vicious circle of measures which are short-term and have no lasting impact.
The conclusions of the NKÚ are more proof of the necessity of reassessing the current approach and concentrating on those genuinely effective solutions which will be of longterm benefit not just to Roma, but to society as a whole. RomanoNet is prepared to actively collaborate on designing this transformation and to contribute our experiences of what does and does not work for the creation of more effective strategies in the area of social inclusion.
Michal Miko is the director of RomanoNet
