Most of the Roma register with employment offices only for obtaining employment benefit. The process of really employing Romany people remains troublesome. The proposed jobs are unattractive, because of the salary as well. The women are more vulnerable in this regard, shows a monitoring report on labor and social protection for the second half of 2020 that was presented by the Coalition “Voice of the Roma”.
In a news conference at IPN, Silvia Feraru, secretary general of the Coalition, said the discrimination on the part of employers persists. “Most of them are reticent and have a discriminatory attitude to these persons, not trusting the abilities, perspectives of the potential Roma employee. The employment of the Roma is also difficult owing to individual factors, such as the lack of necessary education, orientation to large incomes during limited periods of time, unwillingness to work according to a program. Among the social factors are the economic difficulties and the anti-Roma stereotypes. The lack of employment experience and the daily economic constraints are obstacles to employment. The lack of positive employment experience among the Roma generates skepticism among economic entities and prevents these from employing Romany people,” stated Silvia Feraru.
Among other conclusions of the monitoring are that there is no responsible institution, the expected results defined in the Action Plan for Supporting the Roma Population for 2016-2020 are absent. “The Interethnic Relations Agency collects information, but does not assess and does not monitor appropriately so that we see where we have shortcomings and where we can intervene to implement the action plan,” explained Silvia Feraru. The Coalition “Voice of the Roma” recommends drafting and approving a new Action Plan for Supporting the Roma Population, which would set down specific objectives and actions achievable for the Roma for the next five years and modifying the framework for coordinating, monitoring and assessing public policy documents by instituting the Bureau for Relations with the Roma Population as part of the Government.
Ion Duminică, a member of the secretariat of the Coalition “Voice of the Roma”, presented the monitoring report on education. According to him, the implementation of the plan on education has slightly improved from unsatisfactory to satisfactory. Seven children from Hâncești (of 244 who are in the five monitored localities) benefitted from meditation programs for Roma children. In the first half of 2020, no child (of 257) befitted from such programs. The number of children who benefit from one-off financial support for purchasing school supplies also increased compared with the first half of the year, from 34 children of 257 to 104 children. “All the Roma children benefitted from free textbooks at the primary and secondary education stages, but we wanted to see how many Roma children benefited from educational and cultural events staged to study, promote the history, culture and traditions of the Roma in the Republic of Moldova. According to the indicators of the Ministry of Education, Culture and Research, 12 students from villages and 15 students from towns could benefit from these courses. Regrettably, in 2020 no Roma student from the five localities benefited from these,” stated Ion Duminică.
Elena Sîrbu, a member of the Coalition’s secretariat, presented the results of the monitoring in healthcare, saying the implementation of the action plan was at an unsatisfactory level. “To improve the situation during the next few years and to remove the shortcomings that accumulated during the four years, the Coalition “Voice of the Roma” suggests modifying the framework for coordinating and monitoring the policies on the Roma and delegating these responsibilities to a distinct entity within the central public administration,” stated Elena Sîrbu.
Valeriu Căldăraru, a member of the secretariat of the Coalition “Voice of the Roma”, spoke about the community mediators who work in all the five monitored localities. “A big problem related to the accountants of the local public authorities is the fact that even if the Ministry of Finance earmarked funds for purchasing office equipment in 2020, the mediators in Ursari and Parcani villages of Călăraşi district didn’t get such equipment. After both of the monitoring stages, the situation of the community mediators in the given localities didn’t improve. We see the same situation – they do not have offices, office equipment and didn’t benefit from training courses intended for community mediators throughout the year,” noted Valeriu Căldăraru.
The monitoring of the National Action Plan for Supporting the Roma Population for 2016-2020 was carried out by the Coalition “Voice of the Roma” in the framework of the project “Step by Strep we Find Solutions for the Roma in the Republic of Moldova” that is implemented with support from East Europe Foundation in partnership with the Center “Partnership for Development”, from the resources provided by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation and by Sweden. The monitoring reports for the second half of 2020 on the four areas were compiled for five localities that are densely populated by Romany people: Schinoasa, Parcani and Ursari villages of Călăraşi district and the towns of Hânceşti and Edinet. A number of 180 localities inhabited by the Roma in Moldova remained uncovered.
