Czech Republic: Campaign offers young Roma a guide to the world of finance

"Got what it takes?" ("Máš na to?") is the name of a new campaign from the ROMEA organization aiming to assist young Romani people with taking responsibility for themselves and their financial situations. The campaign familiarizes them with the basics of money management and the dangers of the debt trap, offering them useful tips and helping them solve problems.

"The campaign wants to show young people that they have what it takes to make sense of all the twists and turns of the financial world and to either avoid difficulties or get out of ones they are in. Part of the campaign is a series of light, readable articles that review, for example, the issue of loans, telling people where it is best not to borrow and where it's safer, as well as everything they need to pay attention to when borrowing money. However, first and foremost it calls on young people to reflect on whether they really even need to borrow to buy a 'supersmart' phone or whether a cheaper one that they could have without taking out a loan would do, even if it means having to save up for it for a while," says Zdeněk Ryšavý, director of ROMEA, o.p.s.    

The series will be posted on the Romea.cz website in the "Got what it takes?" ("Máš na to?") section. It will be updated twice a month between September 2014 and April 2015.

Campaign topics "made to order" for young people are being developed in collaboration with experts on debt counselling - Kateřina Jirová, the head of programms to address indebtedness at the RUBIDON Centrum company, is writing the texts together with lawyer Michaela Tejnorová.   The first of the topics in the series, "Do you know what you're signing?" describes the value of one's signature as part of a story about an "advantageous" offer for a "cheap" mobile phone plan and a clever salesperson who fills out a contract on behalf of a customer and asks him to "just" sign it.

In other articles readers will learn about their basic rights as consumers and customers, personal finance, savings, and the issue of debts and collections. The campaign will also target areas in which young people are continually exposed to social problems such as unemployment, financial problems, indebtedness and housing problems.

The campaign intends to impact the younger generation in particular, as there is still time to get them to change their financial habits and support them by offering assistance with orientation in the principles of personal finance and emphasizing avoidance of risky behavior, such as going into debt. The project is financed by the ČSOB Foundation's 2014 education program.