In many ways, the story of Bosnia and Herzegovina is a journey of triumph in the face of hardship. Since 2015, Bosnia and Herzegovina has achieved real income growth of 3% annually, helping the nation to reduce its poverty rate from just under 17% to 13.5% by 2021. However, just like every journey, people can be left behind, and in this case, Bosnia’s Roma are at risk of slipping out of Bosnia’s path to progress.

Background

The Roma community face harsh discrimination in Bosnia and Herzegovina, encompassing multiple aspects of life, stemming from the Roma’s classification as a non-constituent people in Bosnia. A significant consequence of this discrimination is through employment practices, which contribute to the substantial multidimensional poverty experienced by Bosnia’s Roma. There is a heavy reliance on the informal economy to supply livelihoods, which excludes them from social protections and security. Crucially, NGO projects are empowering the Roma community to break the vicious cycle of unemployment through vocational training, diversifying the labour market for Roma and facilitating access to jobs with social protections to escape poverty.

Unemployment and Discrimination

Roma do not comprise a huge proportion of the Bosnian population, but they face the harshest discrimination in the country. Ninety percent of Bosnia’s Roma do not have a job, a stark indication of the country’s failure to include them within the labour market. Roma, many of whom are Muslim, are not part of multiple forms of political participation and expression by law, a by-product of their recognition as a non-constituent people.

This categorization underpins the employment discrimination they experience, with many failing to access support services or apply for jobs due to registration difficulties and a lack of documentation. Difficulties in obtaining official documentation relates to the informal settlements the Roma community tends to reside in, preventing them from accessing a stable labour market, thus depriving them of a dependable income to live in a permanent address where access to services and documentation can be achieved.

Subsidised Employment Programs Ineffective

 

One of the central tenets of Bosnia’s Poznan Declaration in 2019 to improve Roma Integration was enhancing employability. The target was to “increase the employment among Roma to at least 25%.” The plan involved allocating 5.2 million BAM ($3.1 million) to employ 650 Roma, however, a pattern of deteriorating funding and repeatedly failing action plans has resulted in little tangible progress for increasing employment for Bosnia’s Roma.

A 60% reduction in funding from the initial strategy means that Roma employability will likely fall, due to continued bureaucratic barriers and an expiring support period from Bosnia’s latest action plan. Whilst subsidised programs have failed, community-based projects from NGOs have garnered more support and more results through its focus- providing vocational training and upskilling individuals.

NGOs remain AHEAD of the game

One innovative project helping to improve employability is the AHEAD project, which focuses on combating intolerance against Roma through the encouragement of good practices, promoting round tables and seminars to dissect the root causes of discrimination.

Through targeting hate speech in the employment sector, if offers specific training to numerous stakeholders promoting anti-discrimination processes, facilitating the progression of Bosnia’s Roma- particularly the young generation searching for employment- into active, stable employment routes.

The Otaharin Citizens Association has been active in providing vocational training, particularly for Roma women in Bosnian society. The Association provides round tables like the AHEAD project, in addition to educational projects which provide a foundation for acquiring skills, promoting the importance of secure employment.

Otaharin further promotes employability skills through their social enterprise project, supporting work placements for Roma university students and volunteering programs for Roma secondary school students to help build their experience.

The Future

These organizations’ holistic focus towards employment means that more of the Roma community, especially young, aspiring Roma, are gaining the necessary vocational skills and experience to overcome discriminatory processes. Furthermore, educating wider stakeholders to tackle deep-rooted stereotypes regarding Romani people has ensured a two-way process can begin, a journey that Bosnia’s Roma can finally be a part of.

– Oscar McClintock

Oscar is based in Cambridge, UK and focuses on Good News and Global Health for The Borgen Project.

Photo: Flickr