Helping Roma children break the cycle of exclusion

By Lisa Jordan, Executive Director, 11 May 2010

Roma children are three times more likely to die before the age of five than other European children. One million Roma children never go to school, another million Roma children are relegated to schools for children with special needs. Within Europe, many of the 16 million Roma children are living in conditions that are worse than in Bangladesh or Papau New Guinea. Conditions that are unacceptable everywhere, but you simply do not expect to find in modern European countries.

When I attended last month’s Roma Summit, hosted by the Spanish Presidency of the EU, an EU official in sheer frustration, described a community of Roma who had taken shelter in the remains of an old coal mine after having been driven from town.

These conditions are the result of pure discrimination and the contravening of children’s rights. Notably in Croatia, Romania and Serbia where Roma children are often excluded from the regular school system.

A group of Roma parents recently sued the State of Croatia over it – and won – disproving the widespread myth that Roma parents themselves do not value education.

Europe is currently halfway through the Decade of the Roma, an initiative of the EU, Open Society Institute and the World Bank. There is attention from the Spanish Presidency, and commitments from Belgium and Hungary to keep the spotlight on Roma.

But the EU needs to do much more, namely cutting through the tangle of bureaucracy that makes it difficult for Roma led initiatives to find funding, and by offering financial incentives for municipalities and member states to invest in Roma – in other words easing access to structural funds and targeting those funds to towns and municipalities committed to improving the lives of young Roma children.

Foundations, including the Bernard van Leer Foundation, have an opportunity to make a difference by focusing on young Roma children and breaking the historic cycle of poverty, persecution and exclusion. Last year we joined with other European foundations and Roma-led organizations to create a European Foundation Forum for Roma Inclusion.

Here’s what we know so far. Interventions to reach the Roma communities are most effective when municipalities respond to the needs identified by Roma; when multiple needs are addressed simultaneously; and when there are visible Roma role models who own the process of change.

When it comes to kids, that means providing access to combined quality health, education, protection and economic support services. It also means more Roma teaching assistants and classroom helpers. Tragically, Roma children often drop out of school because of severe bullying. Like kids from many minority populations, they face language barriers and challenging cultural disconnects between home and school. Roma adults in the classroom equals Roma children succeeding in education.

You can read the full report on what works for Roma kids on the EFC website.

On June 2nd the Foundation Forum for Roma Inclusion will meet again at Foundation week to work with officials from the European Union and European cities to create an action plan for foundations (more details). All Foundation colleagues are welcome to join us in taking advantage of the attention and opportunities to work with the European Union.

In the meantime, the Bernard van Leer Foundation has funded excellent pedagogical training materials to prepare teachers for diversity in the classroom including specific training materials for teachers whom are working with Roma communities: “Making sense of good practice”, is available in 6 languages through the DECET network.

Given the widespread presence of Roma across and within many Europe countries, they have a profound claim on European citizenship, and they are at the bottom of the barrel. Our mandate to work with the most disadvantaged and to focus on Europe led us directly to Roma communities. When good European policy results in concretely improving the lives of Roma kids, we will all know with certainty that Europe can be an effective Union for all children.

That is a goal that all Foundations can get behind.