At its November meeting, the Józsefváros Council of Representatives adopted a comprehensive Roma programme, which sets out long-term goals in seven areas of intervention to support the opportunities of the Roma population in the district.
Our district is home to the second largest Roma community in the country and the largest in the capital, therefore we consider it necessary to define, in line with strategies and plans of the Municipality, in a separate concept, to identify actions and urban development policies to promote the opportunities and cultural representation of the Roma population of the district.
The goal of the Municipality is to make Józsefváros a district where all its members have equal opportunities in all areas of life. This goal guided us when we formulated the concept and action plan of the Equality and Social Justice Programme for the Roma Population of Józsefváros 2023-2028. The tasks defined in the different areas of intervention are related to the different policy plans and ideas of the Municipality, which, according to this programme, will pay special attention to the inclusion and access of the Roma population.
Establishment of a professional support office of equal opportunities and social justice
The Mayor’s Office of Józsefváros in the 8th district of Budapest has appointed officers in several areas of equal opportunities (Roma, disability, children, homelessness). However, for effective and meaningful operation, a functional office unit is needed that can operate predictably, with a planned budget and can coordinate the measures and operations of the various areas through horizontal coordination activities.To achieve this, it is proposed to set up a new administrative unit in the future, the Office of Equal Opportunities, which will be responsible for providing support for disadvantaged social and population groups in the Municipality’s administrative and institutional system.
Creating opportunities for women, special support for young women and mothers
The social status of Roma women reflects significant disadvantages in political, economic, social and cultural terms in relation to both women in the majority society and Roma men. Roma women also face multiple discrimination, in particular with regard to the following protected characteristics: female gender, health, wealth, disability, marital status, age and skin colour. Each of the areas of intervention affects the social status of women, so particular attention is paid to their inclusion, their specific needs, their different problems from men in terms of housing, employment, healthcare, culture and education.
Culture and popular education
Considering the significant Roma population of Józsefváros and traditions, it is appropriate to create a separate institution in addition to the one of the capital that servs other purposes.
Since the spring of 2023, there has been an organised cooperation with Romano Kher, which is maintained by the capital, and the Municipality continues to work on strengthening this cooperation.
Creating opportunities and spaces for cultural and popular education services, and public education,supporting creative and performing artists and their organisations, protecting the cultural heritage of the district’s Roma people, and creating the institutional background for the work and infrastructure that explores and presents the history of the district together with the Roma population, and creating opportunities for community and social participation among the district’s Roma population of nearly 20,000 is one of the priority public tasks of our municipality.
Economic progress and employment
The services provided by the municipality where the Roma population is explicitly targeted are currently mainly social, cultural and anti-discrimination efforts,. However our municipality strives to have Roma employees; among others
the Józsefváros Roma Internship Programme is currently running in the Municipality and its
institutions and the Józsefváros Newspaper. The Municipality aims to expand
the skills and qualifications needed to increase the labour market opportunities of the Roma population.
Housing
The housing problems of the municipality are addressed in several strategic documents: the
Economic Programme adopted in 2020, the annually updated Housing Management Plan and the Józsefváros Equal Opportunities Programme. In addition to improving the housing conditions, the municipality continues to prioritise the reduction and elimination of segregation. One example is the complex neighbourhood rehabilitation plan for Diószegi Street. Improving customer relations is a priority in the human side of housing.
Education
While the most talked about function of education is developing the next generation of the workforce, the municipality believes that if the system focuses exclusively on this function, the knowledge of young people leaving school will lose its competitiveness.
It is very important that students in the educational institutions acquire a variety of skills, critical thinking, the ability to learn and adapt continuously, thus helping them to build successful and happy lives and to be socially mobile. The programme briefly describes the progress made over the last three years in the Inclusive Kindergartens Programme and the results achieved in the fields of desegregation, integration and inclusion, as well as plans to strengthen, consolidate and continue them.
Healthcare
Józsefváros aims to make its institutions open to all. It is a common phenomenon in Hungary that Roma people, especially Roma women experience difficulties and discrimination in the care system, the municipality is also trying to ensure that the Roma people in Józsefváros do not have to face this.The Roma people in Józsefváros are not a homogeneous group from a health point of view, so the programme needs to pay due attention to finding and addressing problems in a targeted way.
The programme went through a public consultation process before its adoption, which you can read about here:https://jozsefvaros.hu/otthon/hirdetotabla/hirek/2023/11/a-jozsefvarosi-roma-strategia-tarsadalmi-velemenyezesenek-osszefoglaloja/