MUNICIPALITY OF MENEMENI

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MUNICIPALITY OF MENEMENI

• POLICIES TOWARDS ROMA SOCIAL INCLUSION

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CONTEXT

• The Municipality of Menemeni is situated in the
  west side of Thessaloniki City, an area that
  displays social inequalities in comparison to the
  rest of the City and is inhabited by populations
  that face the danger of social exclusion due to
  low educational level, poverty, unemployment etc.
  The Municipality has around 20.000 inhabitants,
  of which almost 15 are ROMA that mainly live in
  the district of Agios Nektarios (Saint
  Nektarios), and co-exist without any major
  problems with the general population.

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MAIN OBJECTIVE

• Actions not only for the benefit of the sensitive
  population group of ROMA, but in favor of the
  general population and other vulnerable social
  groups as well. The Municipality attempts to
  formulate an integrated approach by responding to
  as many issues as possible and collaborating with
  local social partners and other bodies in order
  to achieve cohesive responses to the poverty
  challenge. Some of the activities are still in
  operation, whereas others stopped functioning
  with the ending of the programs.

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SECTORS OF INTERVENTION

• Promotion to employment/Vocational Training
• Education
• Health
• Social welfare
• Housing
• Civic situation

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FUNDING SOURCES

• National Funds (i.e. Housing Policy)
• Municipal Funds( i.e. Health, Civic situation)
• European Social Fund ( i.e. Community Initiative
  Equal, Social Welfare)

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PROMOTION TO EMPLOYMENT/ VOCATIONAL TRAINING

• Office of Social and Supportive Services
• Provision of counseling concerning
  vocational training, techniques of job seeking,
  information about vacancies, etc.
• Psychological support
• Facilitation in liaison with other units of
  employment and social provision (Greek Manpower
  Organization, Social Welfare Services,
  Educational services, Centers of Vocational
  Training etc)

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PROMOTION TO EMPLOYMENT/ VOCATIONAL TRAINING

• Community Initiative Equal ROM- ACTION FOR THE
  EQUIVALENT PARTICIPATION IN EMPLOYMENT. The
  Project was implemented by the Development
  Partnership Network for the encounter of
  discriminations against ROM. The partnership
  involved the cooperation of ROMA which was
  achieved mainly through their associations and
  Network ROM, institution of networking and
  representation of Greek ROMA. ?he main problem
  this project faced was the integration of ROMA in
  the labour market.

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EQUAL PRODUCTS

• 2 one-stop shops in the Municipalities
  of Menemeni and
• Echedoros.
• Provision of counseling concerning
  vocational training, techniques of job seeking,
  information about vacancies, etc.
• Psychological support
• Participation of mediators, derived from the
  ROMA population who provided information to the
  target-group and facilitated the access of the
  ROMA to the counselling structures.

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EQUAL PRODUCTS

• Development of the Electronic Observatory
  for the ROMA.
• Information regarding the target-group,
  such as
• The products of the Partnership
• Sectors which are very important,
  employment, health, education etc.
• The Observatory is cited in the following
  address www.rom.net.gr

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EQUAL PRODUCTS

• Awareness and Dissemination Activities for the
  promotion of the objectives of the project and
  also the awareness-sensitization of the dominant
  population, as well as the public servants.

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RESULTS

• Around 300 ROMA people have benefit from
  provision of counseling by expert consultants
  concerning employment and vocational training, of
  which almost 30 have been promoted to
  professional training seminars, according to
  their needs and skills.

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HEALTH

• Medical care is provided by personnel
  including a pathologist, a gynecologist, a
  pediatrician and a nurse. Every year around 900
  people visit the unit, 65 of those are ROMA and
  3.500 sessions are provided. The main issues to
  be faced are the following respiratory problems,
  cardiological problems, juvenile diseases,
  holding of TEST PAP for ROMA women, prescription
  writing.

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SOCIAL WELFARE

• Development of a Municipal Nursery School.
  The nursery provides services to children from
  2.5 to 5 years old. Non-ROMA and ROMA children
  have the opportunity to coexist, as 30 of the 35
  enrolled kids per year, are ROMA.
• Development of a Centre for Creative
  Activities for Children. The unit addressed
  children from 6-12 years old, with the main aim
  of engaging them in creative activities, drawing,
  music, handicraft etc. The unit hosted 30
  children per year, all of them were ROMA.

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SOCIAL WELFARE

• Help at Home unit at the level of
  Municipality. The units staff provides services
  to old lonely people and handicapped individuals
  that cannot attend to their own needs, but also
  to families with elderly suffering from long-term
  illnesses. The program services 65 people and 10
  of those belong to the ROMA population. The
  reason for the relatively low percentage is the
  fact that most ROMA do not meet the requirements
  of the program, as they live with their families
  that take care of them at home.

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EDUCATION

• Seminars of Greek language for the illiterate
  ROMA, who have dropped out of school
• Acquisition of the diploma of primary
  education
• 2 multi-cultural primary schools for students
  with cultural and social particularities, such as
  the ROMA.

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HOUSING

• ?he Municipality carries out a funding program
  by the Ministry of Interior, Decentralization and
  Electronic Governance which concerns the
  provision of loans up to 60.000 per ROMA family,
  with the aim of purchase, construction or
  reconstruction of an apartment or house in
  general, that will ameliorate the conditions of
  living. From 2002, 448 ROMA have benefit from the
  program.

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CIVIC SITUATION

• ?ranch of the Center of Civic Service, in
  the area where the
• majority of ROMA live
• Issuance of
• Birth/death certificates
• Certificates of family status, single state,
  social security numbers, permanent residence etc.
  
• Approximately 120 people visit the
  structure every month, 95 of them are ROMA.

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LOCAL CHURCHS INVOLVEMENT

• Activities in benefit of the general
  population and other social groups as the ROMA
• A daily meal is scheduled and offered in
  favor of the people in need, among them a
  significant number of ROMA.
• Courses of English Language for children and
  adults and Greek Language especially for the
  ROMA.
• Courses of Byzantine music and Theology.

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MAIN OBSTACLES

• Lack of funding sources
• Special characteristics of the ROMA population
  marginalization, fear and distrust towards the
  good intentions of the general population and the
  realization of supportive activities
• Distrust and uneasiness of the general population
  towards the ROMA, such as employers, institutions
  etc.
• Difficulty/Reluctance of the ROMA people in
  adapting to the way of thinking and acting of the
  general population ( mainly concerning employment
  and education)
• Parallel existence of multiple factors that
  contribute to the social exclusion of ROMA, such
  as family status, great number of dependent
  members, low school attendance, poverty,
  unemployment, inappropriate housing etc.

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CONCLUSIONS

• In conclusion, the confrontation of the ROMA
  problems should be based on an integrated
  intervention with a long-term perspective. This
  is possible when there is
• Continuous funding to guarantee the
  sustainability of policies.
• Change of mentality of the general and the ROMA
  population
• Activities should be planned and materialized for
  the benefit of the basic element of the Roma
  communities, the family.

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CONCLUSIONS

• In essence, working with the family, we can
  guarantee better perspective for the ROMA
  children, the target should be the amelioration
  of the future of the ROMA family and especially
  the youth. This is a great social problem that we
  have to approach from all its dimensions and not
  separately. The planning and realization of a
  complete intervention is required.

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Thank you for your attention!