Highlights! ROMACT impact in Tundzha, Bulgaria

The ROMACT Programme has been implemented in Tundzha since October 2013 with results benefitting to all citizens of this municipality located in the South-Eastern part of Bulgaria.  
 
Thanks to the support of the ROMACT Programme, but also to the commitment of the Municipality administration as well as of the Roma communities, a common working front was built with the aim to improve access to education and employment especially for young people, in this area where more than 50% of the Roma population is under 20 years old.
 
Since September 2015, 560 children from the municipality aged from 3 to 6, most of whom are Roma, have been attending kindergarten for free. This measure ensures all children an equal knowledge of Bulgarian language and was included in the Municipality Plan for Roma Integration. This document includes needs defined by the Community Action Group (CAG) created under ROMACT framework and the implementation of its measures involves also regular meetings between the CAG and the Municipality administration.
 
Responding also to the needs highlighted in the Municipality Plan for Roma Integration, a project financed by the Bulgarian Ministry of Education is already implemented in 8 schools with the aim to increase parents’ participation in the educational process, with the help of Roma school mediators. Their role is to assist children at school but also maintain a regular communication with the parents, individually and through parental school clubs. The result of such initiative is an increased confidence in education as an opportunity to overcome social inequalities for the parents and a reduction of absenteeism and drop-out for the children. Moreover, two other projects on pre-school education and access to employment for young people without qualifications were submitted to EU Funded Operational Programmes.
 
Meanwhile, the team of the Mayor Georgi Geioriev and the CAG members are expecting with great interest the workshop on social entrepreneurship scheduled to take place under ROMACT Programme in April 2016. This exchange of experience with the city of Ghent will be a unique occasion to discover all the bottlenecks hindering the sustainable development of social economy within the Bulgarian context and the possible ways for implementing social entrepreneurship initiatives in Bulgarian municipalities. This will be one of the first activities implemented in the frame of the new component of ROMACT Programme that will enhance cooperation of municipalities from Western and Central Europe to advance Roma inclusion.