When diggers arrived one morning in early August to evict 37 Romani families from Ruga Kavaja in Tirana, no thought was given to the future of its youngest inhabitants. No social protection agency intervened. No alternative housing had been prearranged. Homes suddenly were splinters and dust and families were told to move on. Promises made on the first day of school by Albania’s Minister of Social Welfare and Youth, Erjon Veliaj, to alleviate the situation have yet to materialize.
When diggers arrived one morning in early August to evict 37 Romani families from Ruga Kavaja in Tirana, no thought was given to the future of its youngest inhabitants. No social protection agency intervened. No alternative housing had been prearranged. Homes suddenly were splinters and dust and families were told to move on. Promises made on the first day of school by Albania’s Minister of Social Welfare and Youth, Erjon Veliaj, to alleviate the situation have yet to materialize. This is nothing new in Albania, where the Romani population, officially under 10,000 persons and estimated to be over 150,000, has little voice in political, public or professional life.
Albania’s ombudsman, Igli Totozani said at the time of the evictions, “Unfortunately, government institutions have almost never demonstrated any care for the Roma people. The Roma are not taken into account or considered to have any influence as a social group. Although there are efforts to approve laws, or draft strategies and action plans, it only exists on paper.”
Alerted to the drastic conditions these families have been living in since their eviction, and the apparent inability of the city or state to act, the Roma Education Fund, together with its partners in Albania, National Centre for Community Services and Romani Kham have worked to provide a temporary solution. The Albanian government has already assigned three temporary places for the families, but still 37 families in the Ruga Kavaja area are living on the street. Despite recently joining the European Alliance of Cities and Regions for Roma Inclusion, the city of Tirana condemns the children of Ruga Kavaja’s to an uncertain future. Poor, homeless children are far less likely to prepare for and attend school and they are prone irreversible emotional and physical damage by living a meager existence with their families on the streets. In order to fill this gap in services as well as fulfill fundamental human rights that the Albanian government is unable to guarantee, REF has contributed to providing basic amenities for these families (some 114 adults) and funding appropriate housing solutions in an effort to assure the children of Ruga Kavaja attend school. Specifically, from 29 children under age 5, 8 are attending kindergarten thanks to REF’s intervention; from 33 children between ages 5-10, 11 are currently attending preschool or primary school and REF will enroll another 22; and 34 children between ages 10-15 are also attending school with REF’s assistance.
On the occasion of the confirmation of his cabinet by Albania’s parliament in late September, Prime Minister Edi Rama said, “The process of adhesion to the EU is a national goal that requires a democratisation and transformation of Albanian society in compliance with European values and principles….”
The Roma Education Fund would like new Albanian government of Prime Minster Edi Rama to recall that transforming Albania and investing in its growth – not to mention its possible candidacy to join the European Union – does not just mean shopping malls and fresh pavement ; it also means investing in the future of its most underprivileged, poorest and youngest citizens. Indeed, Mr. Rama’s Socialist Party platform expressly supports quality education for every child, regardless of origin, guarantees on access to preschool education, free transportation and a raft of bold initiatives that the Roma Education Fund welcomes throughout the Albanian school system. We are looking forward to see how the Prime Minister and his new Minister of Education and Sports, Lindita Nikolla, interpret this broad platform for reform and we would remind the Albanian government that investments made now in Albania’s school system will cost much less than haphazard repairs later.
A Concise History of REF in Albania
The Roma Education Fund began working in 2007 in Albania with Unicef and Amaro Drom. Initially, REF wanted to get a better understanding about the Romani and Egyptian population in Albania and their needs. REF also began to lobby the Albanian government to improve and honor its minority rights framework. As part of its activities it engaged local NGOs to help Romani families register births and thus qualify their children for basic healthcare and education.
By 2009, REF already was working with Rromani Baxt in its first joint scheme to promote and provide education and training for Romani children and youth in two public schools, “Bajram Curri” in Allias-Tirana and “Trifon Prifti” in Baltez-Fier, as part of a broader desegregation effort that effectively stopped the hemorrhaging of Romani students from local schools. REF also worked to boost enrollment numbers in surrounding kindergartens and bring Romani parents onto local school boards. Due to the dramatic improvement in attendance and outcomes for Romani pupils, as well as the impressive role of Rromani Baxt, the initial project was extended for the 2010-2011 academic year.
REF also began working in a partnership with Save the Children in the regions of Korça and Gjirokastra in 2009 in what became a 3-year project in 4 kindergartens and 4 schools to increase enrollment, reduce irregular attendance, poor academic performance and mitigate dropping out. Hand in hand with parents and schools, REF and Save the Children have helped create a safe, non-discriminatory and multicultural learning environment for nearly 600 Romani and Egyptian children, from which 10 joined Albania’s Children’s Government, an important forum for children’s issues across Albania. These regions later featured heavily in REF’s work in Albania, and in 2011 REF engaged Amaro Drom to provide early childhood education and care in area preschools. Increasing involvement by the local and regional authorities as well as the Ministry of Education also was a feature of the project as Albania’s government institutions and education system came to understand how they could contribute to assisting local Romani and Egyptian families.
REF also supported a handful of part-time fellowships at the European University of Tirana and has supported many young university scholars domestically and internationally through its Scholarship Program.
For more information:
Szilvia Pallaghy, Country Officer, szpallaghy@romaeducationfund.org
Marsela Taho, Country Facilitator, mtaho@romaeducationfund.org
Tom Bass, Communication Officer, tbass@romaeducationfund.org
