Examining funding, participation challenges, and achievements in Croatia’s Roma inclusion strategy.
The new Croatian Action Plan 2023-2025 for the Inclusion of Roma outlines steps for reducing disparities and fostering social change. However, Roma participation remains a challenge, with only two individuals engaging in the planning process. The article navigates through the complexities of the plan, offering insights into its structure, the government’s historical tendencies, and the critical role of baseline data.
On October 25, 2023, the Government of Croatia approved the new Action Plan 2023-2025 for implementing the national Roma strategic framework 2021-2027, also known as the National Plan for the Inclusion of Roma (NRIP).
This Action Plan, covering the years 2023 to 2025, serves as the second implementation phase of the NRIP. The initial implementation document, the Action Plan 2021-2022, was endorsed by the government in June 2021.
It’s worth noting that the Croatian government has a history of delaying creating and adopting strategic documents concerning Roma inclusion. The NRIP and its preceding implementation plan were both adopted belatedly. This trend persists with the recent approval of the Action Plan for 2023-2025, which is particularly noteworthy given its reference to 2023 and its belated adoption in October of the same year.
One of the main advantages of NRIP is its inclusion of baseline data, serving as the reference point for evaluating the success of each implemented measure. Croatia concluded research on Roma, which is the most detailed in collected data and the largest in terms of the number of Roma individuals included in the study. These collected data form the base of initial values against which the effect of each measure is measured. Additionally, the NRIP outlines explicit objectives to be achieved.
Roma involvement in developing the new three-year implementation plan remained limited, with only two Roma participating through the Umbrella Roma association, the Union of Roma in the Republic of Croatia “Kali Sara.” One Roma attended the initial meeting, while the other actively contributed to all three meetings, aligning with the design of AP 23-25. The apparent low Roma interest may be linked to limited education and a weak Roma civil society. Nevertheless, we still need to define responsibility and outline the steps to increase the Roma participation in processes of considerable relevance for the Roma community in Croatia.
The new implementation document is relatively long and detailed; it has 113 pages and contains 58 activities/measures distributed among 13 holders.
The activities in AP 23-25 are distributed as follows:
- Anti-Roma racism and discrimination 10 measures/activities
- Fight against Poverty and social exclusion 04 measures/activities
- Participation 08 measures/activities
- Education 23 measures/activities
- Employment 06 measures/activities
- Health 04 measures/activities
- Housing 03 measures/activities
A novelty in this implementation document is a special attachment entitled: “Display of measures from documents of other state administration bodies for which it is expected to influence the achievement of goals of the national plan for the inclusion of Roma from 2021 to 2027.”
In this attachment, for each specific goal from the national strategy 2021-2027 and the implementation document for 2023-2025, strategic planning acts, implementation documents and measures of other state administration bodies are listed, which are targeted to be able to influence the achievement of specific goals from the NRIP. This innovation is crucial for monitoring activities that contribute to the purposes, and the implementation document for 2023-2025 can be considered more comprehensive than previous action plans. Under the activities of other bodies of state administrations that can contribute to achieving specific goals from the NRIP, there are listed 100 activities/measures distributed among 20 holders.
The activities from state administrative bodies in AP 23-25 are distributed as follows:
- Anti-Roma racism and discrimination 18 measures/activities
- Fight against Poverty and social exclusion 24 measures/activities
- Participation 03 measures/activities
- Education 18 measures/activities
- Employment 12 measures/activities
- Health 18 measures/activities
- Housing 07 measures/activities
The introduction of the implementation document for 2023-2025 shows that a total of 11 million euros were spent, of which over 1 million euros were from the European Social Fund, to implement a previous action plan for 2021-2022—the planned funds for implementing the new one amount to about 29 million euros. The planned funds are provided through the state budget (about 16 million euros), European funds (about 13 million euros), and another 150 thousand euros through other sources. The most are planned to be invested in the area of education (around 9 million euros). At the same time, the least is intended to be invested in the area of health (around 800 thousand euros) and employment (about 1 million euros).
Although the NRIP envisages the repetition of a comprehensive survey on the Roma, the data of which would accurately show us the achievement of goals in each specific area, this document already indicates the success of the implementation of measures in 2021 and 2022. Data published in October 2022 by the Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA), which is the result of research conducted by the same agency, were used to show the effectiveness of the measures.
By comparing the data in the action plan, the following conclusions are stated:
- Concerning the horizontal goals of the national strategic document and the associated objectives, values can be noted that in the particular goal of fighting against anti-Roma racism (the official term for “antigypsyism” in Croatia) and suppression, no significant progress has been made in discrimination.
- In the special goal of the suppression of poverty and social exclusion of Roma to reduce the socio-economic gap between Roma and the general population, a significant shift was achieved in the rates of severe material deprivation, both in the general Roma population and children. Moreover, regarding the rate of severe material deprivation of the general Roma population, the target value of the National Plan for the inclusion of Roma for the period was achieved and exceeded from 2021 to 2027, while for children belonging to the Roma national minority, this value is only 12 % of the target value, which can be linked to the implementation of the Action Plan activities, i.e. The annual program to improve the living conditions of members of the Roma national minority through which members of the Roma national minority were provided with equipment from 2019 onwards bathroom/sanitary units and delivery of the kitchen and the bathroom electrical appliances.
- In the special goal of encouraging the participation of Roma through empowerment, cooperation and trust of Roma in institutions, % of Roma in the Republic of Croatia who reported incidents of discrimination of those who experienced discrimination in the last 12 months with relatively high 18% (compared to the same share of people from the Roma national minority in comparable countries EU members) reduced to 5%.
- In the field of education, compared to the initial values, the coverage of children aged 3-6 years increased slightly in preschool upbringing and education, and % of children belonging to the Roma national minority attending classes in which the majority or all students are Roma indicates an increasing trend and now applies to high school students 53% of children.
- In the field of employment, a significant shift towards the target values is noticeable concerning the total share of employed members of the Roma national minority (from 18.3% to 41%), as well as the reduction of the percentage of young people who do not get an education, work or improve their skills (from 63.30% to 49%). But still, the gap between Romani men and Romani women, which in the meantime has almost doubled (from 21.40% to 40%), is worrying and indicates the need for more decisive action in the direction of employment of Roma women to reach the target gap value of 10.7%.
- In the field of health, data related to differences in life expectancy of Roma men and women at the population level indicate an increasing trend compared to the general population and the difference in the expected life expectancy of women belonging to the Roma national minority, who live an average of 15.7 years shorter than the general population of Croatian citizens and five years shorter than the male members of the Roma community.
- In the housing area, noticeable progress has been made towards the target values. The share of housing-deprived Roma has decreased (from 69% to 55%), as has the percentage of the population with households connected to the public water supply system (from 66% to 80%). The only indicator of the outcome in the previous period is the “share of the population living in overcrowded premises, ” which amounts to 84%.
The new action plan for 2023-2025 shows the continuation of the Croatian government’s policies, where the focus remains away from addressing segregation. Investments in Roma settlements and efforts to reduce environmental and infrastructural disparities between the Roma and non-Roma populations are still categorised under the umbrella of desegregation measures.
While the Action Plan acknowledges the need to combat segregation in education, the approach primarily centres on educational efforts, overlooking one of the primary causes of educational segregation—spatial or residential segregation. Finally, it is not completely clear whether the rate of 53% refers to Roma children in Croatia or in Međimurje County who attend segregated education.
Interestingly, the new action plan attributes advancements in poverty reduction and employment to the activities and measures undertaken in these areas. However, considering that the employment sector has limited measures, with a significant portion of invested funds directed toward public works initiatives that have not proven effective in achieving desired outcomes, it becomes challenging to accept that the stated goals were met through initiatives such as distributing household appliances.
In evaluating the measures, it is crucial to recognise that the Croatian state is grappling with emigration and a labour shortage. Reports from the RCM in 2019 indicate employers were willing to hire Roma. It is plausible that disruptions in the labour market created opportunities for Roma, which led to increased employment rates and decreased poverty. Still, a definitive interpretation of these results is yet to be established.
In conclusion, the 2023-2025 Action Plan for Roma inclusion in Croatia signifies progress and persistent challenges. The funding commitments and strategic goals outlined in the plan reflect a concerted effort to bridge gaps and address social disparities. However, the limited Roma participation and delays in policy adoption raise essential considerations. Just as the previous Action Plan, this one does not predict any investments or even a plan of segregation of Roma settlements, which seems to be one of the main obstacles to the Inclusion of Roma in Croatian society. While achievements are notable, the path forward requires continued collaborative efforts to ensure the genuine integration and empowerment of the Roma community in Croatia.
Written by Siniša-Senad Musić for RCM