Faces and Causes of Roma Marginalization in Local Settings: Hungary, Romania, Serbia
A joint initiative of the United Nations Development Programme Bratislava Regional Center, the Roma Initiatives Office and the Making the Most of EU Funds for Roma Inclusion program of the Open Society Foundations, and the Central European University/Center for Policy Studies.
Multilateral discussions by the UNDP BRC office and two OSF programs, as actors closely engaged in shaping European policy debates and knowledge on the Roma, acknowledged that a contextual inquiry on the key factors perpetuating Roma marginalization at the municipal and community level will enhance the value and the exploratory power of the 2011 household surveys of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the European Union’s Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA).
Project brief (Download)
The contextual inquiry explores the economic, political, demographic, and social forces at municipal and community level which shape practices and consequences of social exclusion and potential pathways to inclusion. Experts of the UNDP BRC and the Center for Policy Studies at the CEU lead the initiative to which two thematic programs of OSF, the Roma Initiatives Office and the Making the Most of EU Funds for Roma program are providing joint support.
The contextual research consists of three main parts:
Part 1 collects statistical data in 12 countries to provide a detailed mapping of the institutional, political, economic conditions of municipalities that shape the household’s access to services in education, labor market participation and opportunities in participating in public life.
Part 2 focuses on a representative sample of municipalities (20-30 per country) in Hungary, Romania, and Serbia to explore basic local social services and infrastructure provisions, conditions of political participation of the Roma, and local interventions targeting Roma inclusion. The research phase relies on structured field research collecting both quantitative and qualitative data (summer 2012 - summer 2013).
Part 3 targets 5-6 municipalities in the three countries to explore the dynamics of inter-ethnic relations at local level in the social, economic, political, and cultural domains explaining the faces of Roma exclusion and the potential pathways to inclusion (fall 2013 - spring 2014).
Expected outcomes
A comprehensive and comparative dataset on the communities with marginalized Roma neighborhoods in selected countries of CEE and SEE;
A comparative report on Roma marginalization in CEE and SEE that relies on both the UNDP/FRA survey and the contextual research results;
Reflected experiences of inclusive research practices potentially informing the construction of a local monitoring infrastructure in the region; and
Experienced teams of Roma and non-Roma researchers ready to assist self-monitoring exercises of local communities and municipalities on their exclusion problems and inclusion objectives.
Web: https://cps.ceu.hu/research/roma-marginalization
Contact: cps@ceu.hu