Roma and Egyptians in Albania: From Social Exclusion to Social Inclusion

1. Roma and Egyptians in Albania: From Social Exclusion to Social Inclusion or The Gold Coin Dilemma Key Findings Tirana, Albania May 28, 2004 Hermine De Soto, Sabine Beddies, Ilir Gedeshi

2. The Gold Coin Dilemma Once upon a time, there was a very poor Roma who had many children. He lived next door to a wealthy white man. Every night, the Roma family would play music and dance and entertain themselves with the few things they had and didn’t think about tomorrow. “Let God think about tomorrow,” they would say. One night, hearing the music coming from the Roma house, the wealthy neighbor decided to give the Roma family a cup full of gold coins, so that they could make a better living for themselves. The Roma thanked their neighbor for his generosity and went home. That day, the Roma family began to argue. The husband wanted to spend the gold coins on one thing and his wife wanted to use them for other purposes. They were so upset that they stopped playing music and dancing, they lost their peace and could barely sleep at night. Finally, they couldn’t take it any longer and decided to return the gold coins to their neighbor. “Those wretched coins took our joy and happiness away. We have done nothing but fight ever since we took them. We Roma are poor but we are happy with our own lives,” the husband told the neighbor, as he returned the gold gift. Soon, the neighbor heard music sounds coming from the house next door again.

3. Social Exclusion and Minorities Rational: • PRSP (2001) • Qualitative Poverty Assessment (2002) • Roma and Egyptians identified as the poorest of the poor • Roma and Egyptians not formally recognized as a minority group • Gov’t Albania aims for EU Accession • EU requirements: “respect for, and protection of minorities” • Gov’t needs a Roma strategy and thus requested WB assistance for needs assessment and policy recommendations • Donor Participation in study: American Embassy, Soros Foundation, Swiss Development Corporation, UNDP, World Bank

4. Social Exclusion and Minorities Objective of WB Needs Assessment • Investigate the socio-economic, cultural, institutional, and historical situation of Roma and Egyptians • Provide data collected -through qualitative & quantitative methods- to the Gov’t • Provide insights into social exclusion processes • Assist Gov’t to meet EU requirements for ethnic minorities: “Membership requires that the candidate country has achieved stability of institutions guaranteeing democracy, the rule of law, human rights and respect for and protection of minorities.”(Copenhagen criteria, 1993) • Design concrete actions and policies that facilitate the inclusion of Roma and Egyptians into Albanian society

5. Social Exclusion and Minorities

6. Social Exclusion and Minorities Causes of Poverty and Social Exclusion • Lack of Adequate Education • Language (Roma), discrimination in schools, income poverty, special schools for physically and mentally-challenged kids • Unemployment • Lack of market for traditional professions, decreasing value of qualification/skills in changing labor market, skill mismatch, discrimination, casual work, informal sector • Dilapidated Infrastructure • Lack of access (Roma), limited access (Egyptians) to basic amenities: potable water, sanitation, electricity, heating; overcrowded, dilapidated/inadequate housing

7. Social Exclusion and Minorities Causes of Poverty and Social Exclusion (cont.) • Social Protection • Inability to claim state assistance, lack of long-term unemployment benefits, Social Protection • Lack of access to information and governance • No information on gov’t policies, decision-making processes, rule of law; language difficulties, remote location, illiteracy • Limited access to law and justice • Discrimination, lack of formal marriage/childbirth registration; lack of understanding of judiciary procedures, limited access to lawyers, ambiguous laws and regulations

8. Social Exclusion and Minorities Symptoms of Exclusion = Coping Strategies • Informal Sector Activities • Why? Unemployment: a fact for 92% of Roma and Egyptianss (long-term and now chronic) • Coping? Casual and seasonal work, begging, sale of used cloths or metal cans, and musical performance at weddings • Migration • Why? Lack of formal and informal employment opportunities • Coping? Internal and int’l migration (often illegal) for casual/seasonal work, mostly in agriculture, sale of used cloths or cans, begging. • Coping? Insufficient remittances for families, risk for debt - money borrowing & purchase of basic food stuffs on grocery lists.

9. Social Exclusion and Minorities Symptoms of Exclusion = Coping Strategies (cont.) • Aid Dependency • Why? Lack of educational and vocational skills, unemployment, informal sector activities, income-poverty, lack of formal social nets • Coping? Economic Assistance “Ndihme Ekonomike” • Prostitution and Trafficking • Why? Lack of educational and vocational skills, no formal employment opportunities, divorce, abuse, income-poverty • Coping? Women as sex workers in shadow economy, child trafficking: rented into int’l migration, urban begging in Albania, labor migrants with own family

10. Social Exclusion and Minorities Approach to Coping with Exclusion: Social Capital • Wealth of cognitive social capital • Family networks • Trust • Purchase of food through “list” • Informal economic transactions, incl. remittances • Lack of structural social capital: • Interest representation • Institutionalized networks • Lack of participation in decision-making processes (local, regional, national policy levels) • Fragmented Roma and Egyptians associations unable to advocate interests and needs • No political party representation

11. Culture and Identity Culture endangered due to lack of formal minority status & discrimination – risk to social capital (cognitive & structural) • Roma & Egyptians have distinctive cultural features versus Albanians • Roma Culture, identified by Roma: • Social Organization: Fis/Clan - Community celebration: 80% • Kinship structure: Extended family - Family ceremonies: 74% • Romani language: 99% - Wicker work: 67% • Folk tales: 99% - Women’s dress: 63% • Music: 80% • Egyptians Culture, identified by Egyptianss: - Social organization like Albanians - Metal work: 75% - Albanian language: 100% - Music: 45%

12. From Social Exclusion to Social Inclusion Social Exclusion: Constraints and Opportunities • Constraints to Social Inclusion for excluded groups • Institutional barriers • Lack of political representation (structural social capital) • Opportunities to Social Inclusion for Policy-makers • Concrete understanding of causes and symptoms • Realistic policy actions and programs • Political will to promote inclusive institutions yet acknowledge cultural diversity • Political participation and interest representation by excluded groups

13. From Social Exclusion to Social Inclusion Policy recommendations for Social Inclusion • Minority status • Language training in Romani and Albanian • Mentoring programs to convey need for formal education and vocational skills • Free access to school facilities • Humanitarian aid: food, cloths, basic amenities, conditional to school or training attendance • Awareness campaigns for basic health care • Free basic health services, incl. isolated mountain areas

14. From Social Exclusion to Social Inclusion Policy recommendations for Social Inclusion • Prevention of illegal payments for medical treatments • Expansion of utility and communication networks (water, sanitation, electricity, public media) into Roma & Egyptians settlements • Welfare reforms (eligibility criteria, duration) with clear focus on including the poorest populations • Access to information and key policy and legal documents via translation into Romani

15. From Social Exclusion to Social Inclusion Policy recommendations for Social Inclusion • Prevention of judiciary discrimination • Change of legal status of common law to recognize unregistered marriages / childbirths, and allow alimony for divorced women • Vocational training • tailored to sectoral and geographical demands of labor market • for women forced into prostitution & trafficking to make ends meet • Improved formal business environment and investment climate

16. From Social Exclusion to Social Inclusion Policy recommendations for Social Inclusion • Increased formal employment opportunities • Anti-crime measures to prevent trafficking and protect livelihoods • Support for structural social capital, based on Roma & Egyptians associations, Albanian associations, int’l NGOs, and Gov’t • Establishment of Cultural Center to • Strengthen culture and identity • Provide basic services: education, health, information, legal advice • Community meeting place for Roma, Egyptians ad Albanian