Czech Agency for Social Inclusion in Roma Localities adds 10 more towns and villages
The Czech Government Agency for Social Inclusion in Roma Localities is expanding its work to another 10 towns and villages throughout the Czech Republic. Members of the Agency’s Monitoring Committee selected the locations at the end of a day-long meeting yesterday. The Agency will start working in the new localities at the start of July. The towns and villages are: Děčín and Kolín (in the category of municipalities with populations above 30 000 people) and Duchcov, Hodonín, Kadaň, Krupka, Mělník, Sokolov, Vejprty and Větřní (in the category of municipalities with less than 30 000 people living in them).
“I am glad the leaderships of 20 municipalities throughout the Czech Republic are interested in the systematic approach to social inclusion the Agency offers. This fact is especially pleasing at a time when many towns are calling for stricter rules and quick, radical solutions, a time when there is a recurrent rise in the activities of right-wing extremist groups that are appropriating the resolution of this question,” commented Czech Government Human Rights Commissioner Monika Šimůnková, the executive director of the section of the Office of the Government where the Agency operates. A total of 21 towns and villages applied for the program.
“The Agency is offering three years of collaboration with the municipalities that were selected. In July we will begin mapping their needs, preparing strategic plans and project requests for support for integration actions, and then implementing the projects in the field,” says Agency director Martin Šimáček. “I am not glad that we cannot help those who were not selected. They all showed significant motivation and determination to handle these problems constructively. I believe that in the future we will have the capacity to completely cover the demand from the municipalities. We will at least do our best to stay in contact with those who were not selected this year and to help them in the event of a critical situation.”
One local Agency consultant will work in each of the 10 localities to establish a platform for so-called local partnership on the scene. The platform will represent all entities involved in work with people living in socially excluded environments. This includes representatives of municipal departments, the labor office, schools, police, and nonprofit organizations. The local consultant will hold regular meetings of the local partnership which will create a strategic document to set goals for various areas such as education, housing, employment, social services and security. The preparation of specific project requests will be based on these goals. The local consultant will collaborate with partners during the selection of appropriate subsidy programs to apply to and the preparation of project requests.
Last year the Agency and its partners worked on a total of 85 projects which brought approximately CZK 82 million to the localities in which the Agency was active for the support of social inclusion. Should other submitted requests eventually succeed, another CZK 250 million could be brought to these localities.
The Agency is one of the departments of the Human Rights Section of the Office of the Government of the Czech Republic led by the Czech Government Human Rights Commissioner. It was created in 2008 and currently works in 22 localities throughout the country. The Agency will be leaving six of those localities at the end of June when the pilot period elapses.
