With the support of the Norway Grants, the social integration of the community members from Pata Rat (Cluj-Napoca) can become a successful example, not only for Romania
The Intercommunity Development Association Cluj Metropolitan Area organized on Thursday, November 12, 2020, the launching conference of the project “Replicable integrated interventions for inclusive housing and combating marginalization in the Cluj Metropolitan Area” (Pata 2.0). This new project addressed to the marginalized community from Pata Rat, started in December 2019, aims at a complex and multidisciplinary intervention, which would contribute to the social inclusion of community members formed in the area of the former landfill on the outskirts of Cluj. The project benefits from a funding of 4.27 million euros, offered by the Norwegian Grants 2014-2021, through the Program “Local Development, Poverty Reduction and Increasing Roma Inclusion”, administered by the Romanian Social Development Fund (FRDS).
One of the most important intervention levers of the project is the housing component, which involves the purchase of at least 30 social housing for members of the community from Pata Rat. At the same time, the project aims to increase the access of community members to social and medical services, for children being provided, among others, mentoring and career guidance services, respectively non-formal education programs.
The project launch event took place online and was attended by 50 people, guests and members of the project team. Those who spoke at the conference expressed confidence in the success of this project, but also drew attention to the challenges they will have to face.
Her Excellency, Siri Barry, the ambassador of the Kingdom of Norway in Bucharest, emphasized in her speech the massive financial support that her country offers, through the EEA and Norway Grants, for the improvement of the social problems that Romania is facing. “We are confident that the project promoter and its partners will make every effort to achieve the expected results and will succeed in improving the lives of the beneficiaries,” said His Excellency.
The Deputy Mayor of Cluj-Napoca, Oláh Emese, stated that the municipality is aware that the housing problem is currently the biggest challenge for the community living in Pata Rat and assured that the project will benefit from all the support of the mayor’s office. For her part, Ms. Sheena Elaine Keller, who spoke on behalf of the body that manages the EEA and Norway Grants, said she was confident that the project could become an example not only in Romania but also in other countries. “This project, in my opinion, exemplifies the essence of the approach that these grants support, when it comes to Roma inclusion and accountability. Combating marginalization is one of the most complex issues and requires multilevel efforts, effective coordination and strong commitment from all stakeholders. (…) I think that the current project also has a huge potential to become an example, one that sets out approaches and initiatives, not only in Romania, but also in other countries. We noticed that there is interest from other partners, in other programs, about how we could implement an integrated approach to social housing in an innovative way. (…) Through such approaches, such as those in the present project, we will be able to tear down the walls between the Roma and the rest of society”, Keller said.
Mihaela Peter, the executive director of the Romanian Social Development Fund. drew attention to a possible trap, namely the too high horizon of expectations that the project could create. “I think this project has all the ingredients to achieve its goals and indicators. But we are concerned about this great challenge, which is the long waiting horizon. And we believe that these expectations come not only from the community of Pata Rat, but also from the neighboring areas, Cluj County, Romania and Europe in general. We know that with this financial allocation, which is not a huge one, you will not be able to solve all the problems in Pata Rat. It is important to make the community understand that this intervention is a pilot type, which will not be able to solve all the social problems that exist in the area “, she said.
The conference can be viewed online at this link: https://youtu.be/8ZQyvE2O8so
About the project
The project “Replicable integrated interventions for inclusive housing and combating marginalization in the Cluj Metropolitan Area” aims to continue the process of desegregation in the disadvantaged community of Pata Rat, a process started by the project “Pata-Cluj, an integrated approach to social inclusion”, completed in April 2017.
The promoter of the project is the The Intercommunity Development Association Cluj Metropolitan Area, partners being the Medical and Social Assistance Department of Cluj-Napoca City Hall, the Faculty of Sociology and Social Assistance of “Babeș-Bolyai” University and the City of Bergen, Norway.
The current project has a double general objective. First of all, it aims to reduce the housing, social and economic disparities between the disadvantaged community from Pata Rat and the majority population from Cluj-Napoca. Secondly, it aims to combat the risk of social exclusion among other poor families in the Cluj Metropolitan Area, especially Roma families who, in the absence of support provided by the project, could be constrained by economic and social circumstances to move to Pata Rat or in other marginalized areas.
The project takes place in Cluj-Napoca and the Cluj Metropolitan Area, between December 18, 2019 – December 18, 2022. The total value of the financing contract is 20,439,118.69 lei, of which the Norway grant is 17,373,250.88 lei and public co-financing 3,065,867.80 lei.
Funding is provided through the “Local Development, Poverty Reduction and Increasing Roma Inclusion” Program, supported by the EEA and Norway Grants 2014-2021 and operated by the Romanian Social Development Funnd.
-> More information and images from the project are available on www.desegregare.ro