SLOVAK ROMA: THE COSTS OF NON-INCLUSION

UNCLAS BRATISLAVA 000468 SIPDIS DEPT FOR EUR/CE, DRL, PLEASE PASS TO HELSINKI COMMISSION E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PHUM PREL ECON LO SUBJECT: SLOVAK ROMA: THE COSTS OF NON-INCLUSION REF: BRATISLAVA 380 ¶1. Summary: On October 27, the Open Society Foundation in Bratislava released a study entitled The Costs of Non-Inclusion, which attempts to assess the long-term economic impact of the social exclusion of Slovakia's Roma population. The study's authors, Anton Marcincin and Lubica Marcincinova, did not approach the topic from a human rights perspective, but rather from an economic one. They conducted extensive field research, particularly in Eastern Slovakia, to gauge both the short-term costs (e.g. the Roma population's consumption of social benefits) as well as the long-term costs (e.g. unrealized GDP from an inactive segment of the labor force.) The latter is currently absent from the public debate, and could prove to be a useful tool to encourage the idea that investing in the Roma is akin to investing in Slovakia's future. End Summary. ¶2. In their study, "The Cost of Non-Inclusion," Marcincin and Marcincinova developed a series of what they term "conservative" estimates about the potential cost of social and economic exclusion of the Roma. According to their data, they believe by 2030, the Roma minority will account for over 10 percent of the Slovak population, and 16 percent of the active work force population. At the same time, Roma will make up only one percent of the population of seniors or pensioners. Currently, they estimate that over two-thirds of the Roma population have abandoned the job search, and only ten percent are employed. While they make up only approximately seven percent of the population today, Roma consume over 30 percent of Slovakia's poverty-related benefits. ¶3. The Marcincins point out several factors which complicate effective policymaking. First, Slovakia does not keep statistics broken down by ethnicity, so it is very difficult to calculate the costs of non-inclusion. Second, there is a cycle of defeat and skepticism that prevents majority population policymakers from investing time and resources into Roma-related projects, and the feedback and evaluation process for such projects is missing. Third, the education system is currently so poorly structured that many Roma children are mistakenly put into schools for mentally handicapped children, or are otherwise under-educated, so that they have no real chance of participating in the labor market (reftel). ¶4. If these factors are not remedied in the near future, the Marcincins estimate that Slovakia will lose 7 to 11 percent of its potential GDP on an annual basis. They argue that this unrealized GDP is a far greater cost to Slovak society than the cost of the social benefits currently being paid to poverty-stricken Roma. Thus, they urge Slovak policymakers and majority population members to reframe the dialogue and view investment in educating, employing, and empowering the Roma population as an investment in Slovakia's future. ¶5. On November 3, Embassy Bratislava organized the third meeting of what we informally refer to as the diplomatic working group on Roma issues, and invited Marcincin to present his study and findings. Last February, we hosted a meeting at the Embassy to gauge interest from like-minded missions here and to introduce our diplomatic colleagues to our prominent human rights NGO contacts working on Roma issues. Last June, we organized a trip for six Ambassadors and four other diplomats to visit special schools in Banska Bystrica and Banska Stiavnica to see the problem of school segregation up close. These events enable us to share our comparative expertise on the Roma issue with other embassies in Bratislava that have interest in the topic and (some) leverage with the government, but lack sufficient human resources to follow the issue with the same intensity. ¶6. The study, which can be found at http://www.osf.sk/en, was modeled after similar studies in Bulgaria and Hungary. We believe that this concept could be useful for other posts grappling with this pressing minority issue. In our estimation, there is a tangible, economic challenge presented by the social exclusion of Roma which is not often addressed, and we hope that this study will prompt debate and interest amongst the majority population. EDDINS