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