Roma Policy Lab

Healthcare, young medics

Project: “Give Roma Health”

The main goal of this small, but very important project for local people, was to empower Roma health mediators in Pazardzhik district to conduct early screening of the Roma population for the prevention of socially significant diseases and allowing over 1000 people free access to these check-ups.

Roma Early Childhood Inclusion in Bulgaria (RECI+) 

The Roma Early Childhood Inclusion in Bulgaria (RECI+) report has been prepared by Foundation Open Society Institute – Sofia and focuses on the situation in education and care, healthcare and social services for the Bulgarian children of Roma ethnicity aged 0 to 8. The report was drafted at the initiative and with the support of Open Society Foundations, the Roma Education Fund and UNICEF and is part of a series of similar surveys conducted in the countries from Central and Eastern Europe.

PAPER: Key findings from the discussions on “Building and sustaining trust in vaccines and vaccination in Roma communities”

Despite the large amount of ideas presented for possible actions to increase vaccination against Covid-19, the overall model for action that emerged from the aggregate suggestions of the participants cannot solve the vaccination problem, but it does provide guidance: 1) which are the problem areas; 2) for which activities there is no appropriate initiator and therefore, although theoretically necessary, they cannot be implemented or it is currently unknown how they can be initiated; 3) for which activities recommendations have been made to specific actors, but they have shown no willingness or initiative to implement them and it is currently unknown who can prompt them to do so.

Project: “Causes with voice and face”

The project features also stories about the people and organizations working for the benefit of the Roma community. That is why we present it on romapolicylab.org, placing special emphasis on individual radio episodes related to the topic.

Project: “One approach – many solutions. Model for integrated development (MID) in Samokov”

The project “One approach – many solutions. Model for Integrated Development (MID) in Samokov” aims to provide opportunities to support the successful realization and social adaptation of the residents of the Roma neighborhood in the town. It envisages the implementation of a model for integrated development (MID) of the individual and the community, which is based on the life cycle of the person and the tasks he must solve at every stage of life: from early childhood to adulthood, developed by the Health and Social Development” Foundation (HESED).

Project: Roma Inclusion Hub “Complex integration services for Roma inclusion in the Municipalities Maglizh and Nikolaevo”

The project proposal envisages the creation of two new hubs to offer complex integrated health and social measures in support of Roma inclusion in the municipalities of Maglizh and Nikolaevo. The scope of the project activities will include children over 7 years of age, young people (12-29 years old) and adult representatives of the Roma minority.