At a meeting of the Roma Coordination Council in the southern Hungarian town of Kaposvár, Minister of State for Social Affairs and Inclusion Károly Czibere said that over the past two to three years the exposure to poverty of Hungarian Roma has dropped and, while the indicators are still high, the improving trend proves the success of the Government’s inclusion strategy.
The Minister of State said that income poverty has dropped from 68 to 63 per cent, in-work poverty from 43 to 27 per cent and the deprivation rate from 78 to 68 per cent ; all indicators have shown more improvement among the Roma than among the general population. He added that, contrary to widely-voiced opinions, inclusion funds are not a waste of money and results can indeed be achieved.
Mr. Czibere said that among inclusion initiatives are compulsory kindergarten attendance, expanding eligibility for free meals at nurseries and kindergartens, kindergarten development projects and one free hot meal per day in schools.
He also mentioned changes in the child protection system, the public works initiative (which has offered between sixty and sixty-six thousand Roma the chance to return to the primary labour market), and programmes in the education system for fostering talent.
Referring to the recent infringement procedure launched by the European Commission related to segregation in the education system, he said that the Government is baffled by Brussels’ action, as many measures have been enacted in this area.
Administrative area borders have been redrawn, a strategy against premature departure from education has been designed, there are initiatives for the transformation of the education system, and several inclusion programmes have been launched. All these have had an anti-segregation effect, he said.
He said that the Government believes only in joint education and tuition, all its programmes and regulations point in that direction: a direction which is unambiguous.
On behalf of the Roma community, at the meeting Félix Farkas said that Hungary has been subject to an attack from Brussels against the education system, even though “Hungary is a country which supports the inclusion of the Roma.”
The Government has involved several Roma organisations in its work, has launched a number of scholarships, and devised a Roma strategy, and “This is why I must reject the Brussels procedure”, he said.
Katalin Langerné Viktor, Deputy State Minister for Social Inclusion, said that the meeting was convened to discuss the implementation of the second action plan of the National Inclusion Strategy and the complex settlements programme. She said that these have an effect on both Roma and non-Roma Hungarians, and thus require cooperation and joint thinking.
János Kelemen, Deputy Rector of Kaposvár University, said that his institution has always valued social responsibility, and Roma strategies within that. He said that in 2012 the University initiated establishment of a regional Roma strategy council; this involved regional organisations dealing with Roma issues, companies and municipalities involved in integration, school districts and government agencies.
He said that their task is to find solutions which improve the quality of life of members of Roma communities and assist Roma graduates in finding jobs.
The Roma Coordination Council was set up in 2011 in order to include as many players as possible in designing, popularising and executing the Roma strategy. The council has more than two dozen members, most of whom belong to the Roma community, and includes representatives from the Academy of Sciences, churches, industry and trade unions, Roma self-governments, NGOs and various state bodies.