PROMOTION OF NETWORKING AND CO-OPERATION WITHIN THE ROMA COMMUNITY

During the work sessions we had more than 20 presentations on the topic. This is showing the great diversities and the multiple faces of the work in this field.

One main aspect runs as a red line through all the presentations:

The great lack of participation of the Roma community in the general society on all levels and - in connection to that - the problems of access to health, social and employment services.

The presentations pointed out the fact that, in the single countries, there are many activities at various levels: from national programmes to concrete work in the field.
Of course, there is always a lack of funding and capacity, but one can recognize that there is a lot of attention to the particular issues, especially in the candidate countries and in Spain, with relatively long term experiences..
In many countries the access to health support is guaranteed, but there are still many barriers and gaps to cover. If we realise that Roma live, in average, 10 years less than the general population, we then will know that there is still a long way to go.
Speaking about drug abuse we recognise that there is a high prevalence of use of substances in the Roma community. This is related to the fact that the population is very young (in Spain 25% are less than 25 years old) and there are social problems as marginalisation and discrimination. Public opinion often connects drug use and ethnicity, resulting in an additional stigmatisation. Monitoring violence and discrimination seems to be a useful tool which can help us to get a clear picture of the situation.
Anyway, researches show that ethnicity is not a risk factor for substance abuse. Moreover, drug use patterns are not different from other groups, while there is recognition of the cultural variations.

The most productive strategy for the improvement of the situation is the involvement of the Roma communities themselves - as cultural mediators, as workers in the field and at institutional level. Such a condition give them a relevant role also in the decision making process.
Furthermore it is important to organise support with an integral approach, taking into account the legal and social aspects while focusing not only on drug/health problems. Stimulating the own responsibility of the drug users and the community is an important issue since there are behaviours in the Roma population which are prone to the denial or the hiding of the problems, especially concerning drugs.
On the other side, drug services have to improve their cultural sensitivity and realise the importance of the cultural mediator.

Another aspect which was mentioned has been the issue of the data collection. There is a great lack of data concerning ethnic minorities, immigrants and foreigners in Europe. The significance of the decision of not to collect data's in the single countries is very honourable, because no one should ask the nationality before providing support. On the other hand, without hard data one cannot argue for specific problems, analyse situations in a competent way or ask for additional programmes for target groups.

We have heard that the population of Roma is not a homogeneous group, that there is a great diversity and that their living conditions are different from country to country. So, what is finally the sense of working together in projects and seminars on European level? Why should we cooperate and exchange models of good practice if the situations are so different everywhere?

I think that the need to cooperate on a European level is more necessary and obvious than ever before.
First of all, the growing together of Europe on a political and economical level create a need of cooperation also in the health and social sectors, something which appears to come always too late. The Roma population is present in nearly all the member states of the Union - therefore it's a core European group.
Secondly the quick changes and developments in the general societies have a major impact also on ethnic and vulnerable groups - even if often they don't have the skills and possibilities to react adequately to these changes. So, trans-national projects, networks and collaboration have an important role to play in this setting. Solutions cannot be found only on national level anymore.