A data collection workshop was held in Nyíregyháza in Hungary. Participants included statistical experts
from the Ministry of Public Administration and Justice HU; Ministry of National Resources HU; OSI
Budapest; Municipality of Nyíregyháza, the AGS monitoring team and representatives from each of the
partner NGOs. The training focused on the absence of reliable data on the Roma and how important it is to
raise standards in monitoring and evaluation to ensure that policies have a positive impact on the Roma.
A data collection workshop was held in Nyíregyháza in Hungary. Participants included statistical experts
from the Ministry of Public Administration and Justice HU; Ministry of National Resources HU; OSI
Budapest; Municipality of Nyíregyháza, the AGS monitoring team and representatives from each of the
partner NGOs. The training focused on the absence of reliable data on the Roma and how important it is to
raise standards in monitoring and evaluation to ensure that policies have a positive impact on the Roma. A
distinction was made between census level, administrative and project level data and the different
challenges and opportunities they offer.
Ms Judit Kerülo, socialist and professor at the College of Nyíregyháza, showed how some of the
challenges of attaining ethnic data could be overcome by using information from a report by Gábor Kertesi
and Gábor Kézdi2. In Hungary ethnic data is not collected at the national level, instead the information is
taken based on being ‘disadvantaged’. These researchers used a national statistical set and then linked it
to an individual panel survey with detailed data on ethnicity and family background. There were
considerable discussions with examples given from the different countries regarding the lack of data, the
perception that it not a priority for governments, and it some cases harmful, and how to encourage the use
of this information. There were other sessions regarding projects in Nyíregyháza and how data is collected
to monitor their progress. The first day of the workshop ended with a short press conference and meetings
with the press. When the workshop closed, participants visited the complex services provided by the
Humánnet Foundation at Guszev settlement and the Dália street kindergarten in Nyíregyháza. On the
second day the lessons continued, the desegregation process in Nyíregyháza, special data-collection
methodologies were introduced to the group and the Good Practice Guide on Data-collection was
discussed. In total it was an effective and interesting workshop, gave a lot of food for thought.
