Social inclusion against poverty and marginalisation of Roma and other disadvantaged groups (IASI)

finished

Women, young people (especially in rural areas) as well as minorities such as the Roma are among the most disadvantaged and impoverished groups in Bosnia and Herzegovina. These groups  are particularly hard hit by high unemployment and pronounced levels of social and economic exclusion. Youth unemployment is more than twice as high as in the EU. Consequently, these groups participate only to a very limited extent in the economic development of the country. The result is intergenerational poverty and great pressure to migrate.

The Roma minority is disproportionately affected and marginalised, with an employment rate of around 17%, labour force participation rates of 30%, and unemployment rates above 45%; for Roma youths aged between 18 and 24, the unemployment rate is as high as 80%. 

The project integrates income and job procurement, education, improved administrative management by the municipalities and strengthening Roma community development in a programmatic approach. 
The economic and social inclusion of these disadvantaged groups promotes municipal and regional development and reduces the pressure of migration among the local population thanks to improved prospects. 

Economic, social and political inclusion of particularly disadvantaged and marginalised groups reduce poverty, ease migration pressures and improve the prospects in two pilot municipalities. 

Particularly disadvantaged people are economically and socially better integrated and enabled to exercise and assert their rights. At the same time, the municipal authorities are supported in implementing their constitutional obligations towards all population groups more effectively and efficiently. 

Close cooperation with organisations and opinion leaders of civil society ensures access to the target communities and promotes local ownership. 

The integrated approach consists of including all factors that are relevant for the effective inclusion of particularly disadvantaged groups:

• Social inclusion at all levels of education and in vocational training.
• Close cooperation with the public authorities (municipal administrations) and inclusion of the private sector enable and promote sustainable and socially insured job creation.
• The community building approach enables the target groups to work in a more structured way as a community, to articulate their needs and interests to the administration and policy makers more effectively and ultimately to enforce their basic constitutional rights. 

Through promoting education, community development and empowerment, the project focuses in  particular on sustainable income generation as an important building block in the economic and social inclusion of particularly disadvantaged population groups. 

With the implementation of the cross-cutting and integrated approach (IASI, Integrated Approach to Social Inclusion), Caritas Switzerland redefines its role: less direct implementation, more process management, coordination and promotion of the partners.

This results in a significant strengthening of the role, individual responsibility and local ownership of the municipal administrations of Kakanj and Bijeljina who assume the main responsibility as partners, and the two partner organisations Romalen (Kakanj municipality and Otaharin (Bijeljina municipality).