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verthelastseveraldecadestheRoma

communityhasundergonemajorchanges

partlyduetothegeneralimprovementof

livingstandardsinSpainbutespeciallydueto

thefactthattheRomapopulationisgaining

accesstothebenefitsofthewelfarestate.

However,ifthistrendistocontinue,positivemechanisms

mustbeputinplacetofacilitateandguaranteeaccesstotheir

legallyrecognisedrights.

Thesituationofsocialexclusionmaynotnecessarilyimprove

inconsonancewiththeincreaseofwealthinagiventerritoryif

progressisnotmadeinotherareas.Infact,ariseineconomic

prosperityisoftenaccompaniedbyanincreaseinsocial

inequality.Socialexclusionmustalwaysbeinterpretedin

termsofsocialparticipationandhasacollectivecomponent.

Thelackoftrainingandsocial

qualificationleadstoan

especiallyserioussituationand

isoneofthemaincausesof

inequalityandsocialexclusion.

AsignificantnumberofRoma

todayhaveseriousdifficulties

gainingaccesstothelabour

marketandvocationaltraining

andthisdirectlylimitstheir

possibilityoffindingajob

andholdingontoitover

aperiodoftime.Special

mentionshouldbemade

ofthepotentialtheRoma

populationhasforthelabour

market.Labourmarketdata

concerningRomashowsthat

theywanttoworkdespitejob

Employmentandvocationaltraining

O

chef’S aSSiStant traininG courSe in madrid

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44 | Annual report’07 FSG

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instability,thelow-skillednatureofavailable

workanddiscriminationsufferedinthe

applicationprocess.

Hence,thissituationofdisadvantagefacing

theRomapopulationasconcernstheir

trainingandprofessionalqualificationsis

vitaltoouractionsandexplainswhypriority

is given to labour market integration

in promoting the social integration of

the Roma communityandthisintegration

shouldnotbelimitedtosupportforRoma

inimprovingtheiremployabilitybutshould

alsoenvisagetheeliminationofredtape

andbarriersstandinginthewaytoaccess

totrainingandpaidemploymentsoasto

effectivelyupholdtheequalopportunities

principle.

Ouractionsthereforefocusonimproving

the employability of the Roma

community,notonlytofacilitateitsaccess

tothelabourmarketbutalsoasameans

tocombattheprevailingsituationofsocial

exclusion.Theaimistopalliatethesituation

ofexclusionbymeansofindividualised

labourmarketintegrationpathwaysdesigned

toincorporatethemintotheworldofwork

andconsequentlytheirinvolvementand

participationinsocietyasfull-fledgedcitizens.

Tothisendweproposeanddevelopholistic

interventionwithanindividualisedand

multi-dimensionalapproachfocusing

interventionontheenvironment,thefamily

contextandthelabourmarketdetecting

employmentpossibilitiesandalliances.

Thisisamainstreamingapproachwherewe

applyamethodologycoveringmanyaspects

rangingfromcounsellingonlabourmarket

opportunitiestolabourskilltrainingwhile

remainingmindfulofthesocialskillsneeded

foremploymentwhichthissectorofthe

populationoftenlacks,andlikewisebearing

inmindthesituationandneedsoftheRoma

communityandworkingfromthevantage

pointofempathyandtheirspecificinterests

whilealsoinfluencingandbeingconscious

oftheneedsandrequirementsofthecurrent

labourmarket(skillsrequiredtogainaccess

toandholddownajob;laboursituationin

differenteconomicsectors,etc.).

Tothisend,ourworkrevolvesaroundthree

broadareasofintervention:

AsocialjusticeissueprevailswhenitcomestotheRomacommunityanditistheresponsibilityofthepublicauthoritiestocomeupwithspecificmeasurestocompensatefordisadvantagesandensureequalopportunity.

StudentS takinG part in the aSturiaS Vedelar traininG and employment eXperience

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45 | Annual report’07 FSG

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Direct intervention with the Roma

population,thespecificobjectiveofwhichis

toimproveemployability.Thesegoal-oriented

actions,focusingonandprioritisingthe

participationofRomaandnon-Romaalike,are

alwaysimplementedfavouringanintercultural

context.Thisworkmostlyrevolvesaround

theMulti-RegionalOperationalProgramme

toCombatDiscrimination(EuropeanSocial

Fund)butisalsoundertakenwithinthe

frameworkoftheRomaCommunityLabour

MarketIntegrationProgrammeunderthe

SpanishIncomeTaxscheme(Ministryof

LabourandSocialAffairs),trainingand

employmentexperiences(WorkshopSchool,

TradeHousesandEmploymentWorkshops),

IntegratedandExperimentalEmployment

AccessPlansandthroughothertraining

andlabourmarketintegrationprogrammes

undertakenbydifferentregionaland

municipaladministrationsincludingthe

followingtypesofactions:

❱  Labourinformationandadvisoryinitiatives

constitutingthefirstphaseofthework

methodologyentailingrecruitment,labour

information-trainingandtheinitialdiagnosis

oftheemployabilityofbeneficiaries.

❱  Labourcounsellingactionsentailinga

morein-depthindividualdiagnosisand

tutoringsessionstoprovideguidanceand

individualisedfollow-upforbeneficiaries

throughoutallofthephasesoftheirpathway.

❱  Vocationaltrainingactionsandtraining

directlylinkedtoemploymentopportunities

identifiedthroughtheprospectivestudies

conductedineachterritoryandtraining

sessionspreparingbeneficiariesfortheirfirst

jobthroughtheSocialGuaranteeprogramme

andprojectstoenhancetheemployabilityof

minimumincomerecipients.

❱  Trainingandemploymentactions(Madrid’s

Amaró TegaraWorkshopSchool,theHostess-

PromoterWorkshopSchoolinMalaga,

indiVidualiSed Social-labour counSellinG SeSSion at a centre in leon

StudentS takinG part in the aSturiaS Vedelar traininG and employment eXperience

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46 | Annual report’07 FSG

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Almeria’sinterculturalmediationWorkshop

School,theCaminando enSestaoTrade

School,EmploymentWorkshops,personal

autonomytraining,interculturalmediation,

etc.)implementingmixedscenariosenvisaging

learningstagesandsubsequentinternshipand

employmentstages.

❱  Mediationandlabourmarketintegration

actionscomprisedofaccompaniment

initiativesintheactivesearchforemployment

andmediationinthelabourmarket,

identifyingpossibleoffersofemploymentthat

couldbecoveredbyserviceusers.

❱  Supportactionsforinitiativessuch

asprotectedemploymentandinsertion

companies(Uzipen:Professionalcleaning

service;Ecotur:Congressandtourism

hostessservice;Nabut:social-labourmarket

integrationcentre;Lacho Butipen:Press

kiosk;Vedelar:gardeningservice)thegoal

ofwhichistofosteremploymentexperiences

bridgingthegapwithmainstreamemployment

throughtheimplementationofinterntraining

processeswhichareverysimilartothereal

productionofgoodsandservicesandare

thereforeveryeffectiveingainingprofessional

experience,skillstrainingandworkhabits.

❱  Actionsencouragingandsupportingself-

employmentsuchasthedrawingupof

businessfeasibilityprojects,accompaniment

andconsultingduringtheprojects’start-up

andimplementationphase(seekingfunding,

etc.).

StudentS doinG the perSonal aSSiStant for autonomy courSe aS part of leon’S “keriben” employment workShop

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Institutional interventionmostlyfocusing

onsupportingmorepro-activesocialpolicies

fortheimprovementoflivingandworking

conditionsandresolutionoftheproblemsand

needsoftheRomapopulation.Todaythereare

veryfewprofessionalswhoarespecialisedin

thissortofworkwiththeRomapopulation,

thereisnotransferofthepositiveinitiatives

beingundertakenanditisstillnecessaryto

promotefurtheradaptationofTrainingand

EmploymentSystemstothespecificreality

ofthissectorofthepopulationwithaview

tofavouringtheiraccess.Inthisconnection

actionshavebeendevelopedintheareaof

trainingandthetransferofmethodologiesand

materialssothattheworkthatiscurrently

underwaywiththeRomapopulationmaybe

assessed,includingqualitycontrolsystemsfor

allinterventions.

Inconnectionwithwhatwasinitiatedin2005,

workwasongoingin2007togaininsightinto

therealityoftheRomapopulationthrough

studiesandresearch,thistimefocusedon

theAutonomousCommunitieswhereweare

implementingourprogrammes.Theaimof

thesestudiesistoacquireasbroadanidea

aspossibleofthesituationfacingtheRoma

communityallowingforacomparisontobe

madewiththesituationoftheentireSpanish

populationbasedontheparametersusedbythe

NationalStatisticsInstitute(Spanishacronym

INE)fortheirActivePopulationSurvey(EPA).

Forthispurpose,aresearchprojectentitled

The Roma Population and Employment:

a comparative study in four Autonomous

Communitieswasdeveloped:intheCommunity

ofMadridwherefieldwork,analysisand

dissemination-presentationofstudyresultswas

doneandinAsturias,Castile-LeonandGalicia

wherefieldworkanddataprocessingwasdone

in2007anddisseminationandpresentation

CriticalaspectsinmovingforwardwiththesocialinclusionoftheRomacommunity:1.educationandtraining;2.accesstonewtechnologies;3.underemploymentinfamilybusinesses;4.tailoredmeasurestargetingadvancementtogainaccesstothelabourmarket;5.promotionofequaltreatmentandnon-discrimination.

internShip of the Store clerk courSe in collaboration with toyS”r”uS in Galicia

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48 | Annual report’07 FSG

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ofresultsis

plannedfor

2008.These

studiesshow

usaRoma

population

which,despite

socialand

employment

barriers,wants

towork.

And lastly, the ongoing effort and

permanent awareness-heightening

of the society at largeandoftheagents

interveninginthelabourmarketfavouring

theeliminationofalldiscriminationagainst

theRomapopulationanditsaccessto

trainingandemployment.Thisgoalismet,

ontheonehand,byimplementingactions

withtheRomacommunitytofosterchange

intheirattitudewhenitcomestotraining

andemploymentand,ontheotherhand,by

workingwithgovernmentadministrations,

thebusinesscommunityandpotential

employerswiththeaimofraisingtheir

awarenesswithrespecttotheproblemsfaced

bythissectorofthepopulationintheareaof

trainingandaccesstoemployment,reducing

prejudiceandencouragingtheinitiationof

positiveactions.

“Employmentmakesusequal”. It is up to us all toturnthissloganintorealitybyfightingfortrueequaltreatmentandequalopportunitiesforallingainingaccesstothelabourmarket.

ecotur hoSteSS workinG at a conGreSS

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