Methodology and practice in the Cserehat Region in Hungary Marta Marczis , 2009

1. Methodology and practice in the Cserehat Region in HungaryMarta Marczis, 2009 Capacity development for Area based

2. New phenomenon in the European Union: Increasing area based disadvantage and extreme poverty • high number of small, less-integrated local communities, because of geographical feature of the area which is not favorable for traditional mainstream agricultural production • the local urban center is far or weak because of different reasons (like political decisions, local economic crises, or because of • isolated (within mountains) or peripheral geographic location (national or county border region) which is not prosperous for mainstream investment • high and growing number of disadvantaged communities ( like Roma in the Cserehat region)

3. lost self-confidence and trust in future perspectives low ambition, inactivity, depression lost “local knowledge” and “life-management” skills low qualifications and working skills aid dependency growing feeling of exclusion and discrimination increasing health and family-problems (including problems with drug and alcohol) human capacity for local development is lacking, while exclusion and discrimination is growing, which causes lack of absorption confers serious social and economic problems infrastructural and institutional coverage is weak lack of services limited information access exquisitely high unemployment weak “voice” widespread practice of usury and increasing criminality Consequences for individuals Territorial consequences 1 million people, 10 % of the people are living in disadvantaged areas in Hungary.

4. The main and specific feature of poverty and social exclusion from a top down perspective • demography • remoteness • education • labour market which problems „interact and generate ‘vicious circles’, which reproduce and amplify the phenomenon of poverty”(1). And some other aspect generating the “vicious circles”: • devaluation of the “peripheries” in policies, development strategies and decision making practices • depreciation of the puzzle of “small scale” social-economic development and its sustainability • and discrimination of poor not in the formal legislative and institutional systems, but in attitudes (1) Study on Poverty and Social Exclusion in Rural Areas”, commissioned by Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities DG - Paola Bertolini, Marco Montanari and Vito Peragine, Fondazione G. Brodolini (2008)

5. GDP per head (national average = 100) – NUTS 3 LEVEL2004 [1] „Study on Poverty and Social Exclusion in Rural Areas”, commissioned by Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities DG - Paola Bertolini, Marco Montanari and Vito Peragine, Fondazione G. Brodolini (2008) • Predominantly Rural (PR) – more than 50% of inhabitants live in rural areas • Intermediate (IR) – 15-50% of inhabitants live in rural areas • Predominantly Urban (PU), which also present significant elements of rurality – under 15% of inhabitants live in rural areas

6. The most disadvantaged micro-regions in Hungary 33 micro-regions where 10% of the people live

7. A region left behind:The Cserehat • located least developed part of the Hungary, one of the poorest regions of the expanded European Union • typical “hilly” rural area with “diverse” geographical surface, located in “peripheral” situation in North-Eastern Hungary, on the border to Slovakia • 100 thousand inhabitants live in 6 small and underdeveloped towns and more than hundred tiny villages • the social and physical infrastructure is poor, most of communities are distant from urban services and industrial, financial, commercial centers • similarly to the correlation of poverty and exclusion with higher birth rates worldwide, the population ratio of the 14-18 years-olds in the Cserehat exceeds 80%

8. Micro regions of Borsod-Abauj-Zemplen county

9. Population (2008)

10. Roma

11. Unemployment (2008)

12. The CserehatProgramme Launched in November 2005 by the Minisitry of Social Affairs and Labour (SZMM) of Hungary and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the programme aimed to • reduce the region’s geographic disadvantages by building new capacities area based and • support the region on a complex way for progress that links sustainable economic development, protection of the environment and social justice • promote equal opportunities to those who live in the poorest areas so that they can improve their own lives with the assistance of development funds. • enhance people’s self-confidence, trust, motivation, knowledge and skills for changing their attitude, increasing their competiveness and advancing them to utilize the local potential and improve the accessibility of the region for breaking out of the cycle of poverty and social exclusion.

13. Keywords of the area based development modelprogramme • complex answer to specific needs of any geographical area • the local community is not target but an actor of development on local level • built on endogenous resources (nature, people, local knowledge, economy and • organization) and innovation • investment in communities and provide financial resources at the same time • both top-down and bottom-up in character

14. Area based capacity development

15. Programme approaches and pillars Territorial – Partnership – Bottom up – Integrated – Participation – Process oriented • Coaching • ‘Learning by doing’ – financing and mentoring micro-projects • The Development Resource Centre • Increasing the adsorption capacity area based – generating, financing and implementing development projects • Crating future action plan • Providing model to other regions and programmes • Across borders

16. Coaching for launching social innovations • 10 micro-areas/ 10 coaches • Working together with local actors for 2 years and by the end of the period, locals will be capable of taking independent local initiatives • Animation; building confidence and self-confidence • Community mobilization for creating motivation and commitment towards development • Providing models and develop management capacity and organization • Building organizational capacity, partnerships and networks (mapping partners and development ideas) • Transferring development knowledge and information • Ensuring equal opportunities • Mentoring andtraining for empowering local development actors • Generating projects and action plan

17. Process of the local animation Communication Action Plan; Building internal and external networks and cooperation C O A C H Generating projects Develop partnership and organization Mentorship and training Mobilization Access and providing information, mapping partners Local community

18. Micro-grant support Learning planning and management in action • Easy application requirements provides equal opportunity to non-experienced partners • Inclusion of the most disadvantaged groups, communities (supported by coaches, RCSD, Programme Office) • Identification of development partners, development of local partnerships through concrete local actions • Starting point of thinking about future development projects (growing projects) • Small –scale development widens participation and promotes socio-economic integration • 60,000 beneficiaries; 1,340 local actors of which 930 are from the disadvantaged groups; 116 active local leaders

19. Micro projects and results

20. Jobs generated by the micro projects

21. Creating the necessary institution, organizational and communication skills • Development Resource Centre, as institutional focal point of local development (Existing local organization; 3 employees) • Networking on local level for creation of cross sectorial partnerships • Information network, consultancy, coordination and fundraising • Communication strategy and channels: capacity to pass the model onto others Local • Facilitation and improvement of internal and external communication of the region • Advisory contribution and Technical assistance

22. Development Projects and Action Plan drawn up with community participation

23. Absorbed EU funds and UNDP contribution to the macro-projects

24. Partnership model for development area based

25. The LHH ProgrammeComplex area based programmefor development of the 33 most disadvantages micro-regions in Hungary

26. Cross-border cooperation over political, professional and, geographical border lines

27. Thank you! CserehatProgramme Implementation Unit, 1054 Budapest, Hold utca 1. E-mail: marta.marczis@undp.org; Website: www.cserehat.hu