Transcript Designing Roma Housing Improvement Strategies

Designing Roma Housing
Improvement Strategies
Presentation to HfHI ECA
Outcomes of Initial Research
6th February 2005
Roma Poverty
Common Characteristics:
-
Long term unemployment
Income does not cover daily subsistence
Welfare dependency
Large households
Very poor housing and hygiene conditions
Poor health
Lack of access to public information and
opportunities
- Involved in shadow / informal economy
- “Losers” of the transition to market economics
How is it different from the poverty of other groups?
- Group most vulnerable to falling into absolute
poverty and destitution and of staying there
- Face extreme prejudice from all parts of society
including public authorities responsible for their
welfare
- Large groups live completely segregated from
the majority population and opportunities
- General absence from educational mainstream
guarantees several future generations will be
excluded from socio-economic development
even as economies improve
- High birth rates
- Coping strategies include participation in illegal
activities and lead to further exclusion
Characteristics of Roma Settlement 1
Outside Major Urban Centres / Rural
- Completely segregated from other population groups
- Lacking most basic infrastructural and sanitation
facilities (sewerage, water infrastructure, etc)
- Lacking most basic utilities, if available illegally
acquired
- Illegal or informal by definition of public authorities
- Isolated from basic public services (health, welfare,
education)
- Isolated from any socio-economic development
opportunities
- Close to environmental hazards (garbage dumps,
polluted / contaminated areas)
- Destitution or absolute poverty is common
Characteristics of Roma Settlement 2
Close to Major Urban Centres / Urban:
- Roma live among other urban poor or alongside
urban poor
- Partially or fully integrated in majority society,
including education and in/formal economy
- Live in degraded public / rented housing or
squats
- Theoretically have access to utilities but cannot
afford cost, find illegal ways to access heating /
electricity
- Poor access to welfare and other public services
and interventions lacking
- Destitution less common, “working poor”
Roma Housing Conditions
- Extremely poor living conditions
- Absence of indoor plumbing and / or functioning
sanitation
- Absence or insufficient heating
- Overcrowded
- Use of inappropriate building materials
- Not in conformity with safety standards
- Wet / Damp
- Degraded Housing
- Infestation by vermin and lice is common
Barriers to addressing Roma Housing Problems
- Segregation
- Illegal status or unclear ownership of land on
which settlements are built
- Lack of family resources to maintain upgraded
housing
- Lack of family resources to pay utilities and the
cost of basic services (garbage collection, etc)
- Lack of political will to implement “radical”
housing policies because of risk of being voted
out of power by majority voters
- Negative consequences of other policies
- Housing is cost and investment intensive
- Complex bureaucratic procedures for getting
building permits
Role of Housing in Roma Poverty
- Poor housing is both a symptom and a cause of
ongoing poverty among Roma
- Segregated housing is a key correlate of
extreme poverty as it implies lack of access to
socio-economic development, education and
welfare opportunities
- Poor housing conditions are responsible in part
for the poor health condition of a large
proportion of Roma and higher mortality among
children, mothers and old people
- The condition of Roma housing and settlements
reinforces majority prejudices of Roma as dirty,
lazy, and as parasites
Barriers impeding Roma breaking out of Poverty
- Erratic educational participation and attainment
- Overrepresentation among low / unskilled workers
and the long term unemployed
- Poor command of national languages
- Society wide discrimination
- Increasing segregation of Roma from majority
communities
- Continuing high birth rates
- Erratic political will to support improving situation of
Roma
- Absence of “unbiased” data and evaluation results
on Roma situation on which to base interventions
Some Basic Dilemmas 1
- Housing interventions are needed by most
Roma families but they cannot maintain the
improvements due to income poverty
- Improving housing conditions in illegal
settlements is urgent to improve the day to
day life conditions of Roma families but it is
not sustainable as real infrastructural
investment will not be undertaken by
authorities
Some Basic Dilemmas 2
- The housing conditions of Roma are such that
resettlement in newly built accommodation is
warranted but that would immediately imply further
segregation, because most members of the
majority don’t want to live near Roma and
authorities will not risk placing Roma settlement
near / in majority neighbourhoods
- Given the level of exclusion, training for Roma
families / communities in accessing welfare
benefits would be very helpful but this would imply
feeding welfare dependency.
Some surprises !!!
- In terms of financing housing and other
interventions, micro-credit can work under
certain circumstances
- In terms of income generation and sustainability
of family nutrition, agricultural and market
garden can work
- Inter-communal solidarity and solidaire coping
strategies have been observed among equally
poor Roma and non-Roma in integrated areas
??? Open Questions ???
- Which kind/s of Roma should we be targeting?
- Which kind/s of Roma poverty CAN we make a
lasting impact on?
- Which kinds of intervention are likely to be
sustainable?
- Which kinds of intervention model are likely to be
suitable to the conditions described?
- Which are the strengths and weaknesses of NOs for
dealing with the situations described?
- What profile of organisation/s can we work with
locally / nationally to deal with the dimensions not
within competencies of the NOs?