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Educational Policies for the Roma in the context of the European Social Fund

Bucharest, 10 July 2012. Roma Education Fund Romania – member of the international Roma Education Fund network, whose mission is to reduce educational gaps between Roma and non-Roma populations – and UNICEF Romania are planning the fifth workshop entitled Educational Policies for the Roma in the Context of the European Social Fund – the Sectoral Operational Programme Human Resources Development (ESF-SOP HRD).

The event will be attended by decision makers from several ministries and other public institutions responsible for financing Roma educational policies, as well as nongovernmental organisations which implement projects funded by ESF-SOP HRD. At the event, participants will look at Roma-targeting public policies financed by European funds and at common problems facing European Social Fund-financed project implementers.

The debates held during the event provide answers to a series of vital questions as the current programmatic period is coming to an end and plans are being made for the next period of 2014-2020:
• Is civil society in Romania ready to take on an active role in the challenges set by the European Union for its Member States as regards the social and economic inclusion of the Roma minority?
• Are current funding mechanisms for Roma public policies designed as to enable the implementation of impactful projects focused on the structural causes to the present state of Roma communities?
• What priorities should be set for the following programmatic period in order to allow the Roma to benefit from investments needed for their social and economic development?

“The European Social Fund is obviously important for the development and implementation of educational policies (including for Roma education). The National Roma Integration Strategy and the educational reforms provided for in the new Law on Education are very much based on Structural Funds. Consequently, it is crucial to increase the Structural Fund absorption rate (if we want to have the resources needed to implement all reform measures and educational policies), as well as to correlate ESF planning with current educational strategies and policies” declared Eugen Crai, Roma Education Fund Romania Country Manager.

“UNICEF pays special attention to educational policies targeting disadvantaged populations, especially those addressed to Roma children. In this context, structural funds are an essential tool which, if efficiently used, may cut down discrepancies and social inequities. Such a debate is both welcome and necessary in a time where the framework of the future Operational Programmes 2014-2020 is being outlined. Decision makers and stakeholders must get the real picture of existing needs and the educational policies required to ensure the equitable right to education for all Romanian children”, stated Luminița Costache, Social Policy Specialist at UNICEF Romania.

For more information, please contact:
Adina Ursulean, PR & Logistics Officer, Roma Education Fund Romania, tel. 0785.231.919, e-mail: adina.ursulean@romaeducationfund.ro
Raluca Manța, Asistent Comunicare, UNICEF Romania, tel. 021.201.78.55, e-mail: rmanta@unicef.org.

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