Open Society Foundation's, Early Childhood
Programme Roma 'Kopaçi' Initiatives
‘Kopaçi’: the ‘sheltering
tree’
•
The Kopaçi Program consists of three linked initiatives or
'branches' stemming from a strong 'trunk' that engages
governments and civil society in ensuring the rights of
each young Romani child to develop to his or her full
potential in the home and community environments,
whilst advocating for implementation of effective ECD
models in the formal education sector…
•
The expert consultants and practitioners’ group, the
'trunk' of the Kopaçi programme
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Advocacy at national and international levels, including
the Roma Early Childhood Inclusion studies and reports
•
Romani Parent Support Projects
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A network for Roma, Gypsy, Traveller early years
professionals and paraprofessionals: Romani Early Years
Network
Context
•
The approach stems from previous Early
Childhood Programme initiatives and projects
working with Romani children and their families, in
partnership with national Open Society
foundations, Step-by-Step associations and local
NGO's…
•
The shift in emphasis in the current strategy is
from working through intermediaries to directly
engaging with Romani people on a communitybasis…
•
The historical deprivation of Romani and Traveller communities
and families in Europe and beyond means...
•
•
Limited access to high-quality, inclusive and developmentally
appropriate ECD activities and intercultural and
transformative early years education…
Clear evidence that Roma, Gypsy, Traveller participation in
quality early childhood development and education leads to…
•
the improvement of educational attainment and achievement
on the part of Romani and Traveller children and young
people…
•
the improvement in life chances for Romani and Traveller
people…
• A developing model of
inclusive Romani citizenship
(for example in Turkey, and
through the EU’s Social
Protection and Social
Inclusion initiatives), which
addresses the costs of
social exclusion, is being
forged as a basis for
addressing inequalities and
injustice in national and
international political
arena…
•
The international advocacy context (DH and others vs. Czech
Republic 2007; Sampanis and others vs. Greece 2009; Orsus and
others vs. Croatia 2010) includes judgements that have
strengthened the rights of Romani and Traveller children in
accessing inclusive, non-segregated education and ECD
services…
•
The international policy and advocacy context is characterised by
new regional and national commitments, including the new EU
framework for National Roma Integration Strategies to 2020, the
Council of Europe’s promotion of Roma rights and desegregation
of education, UNESCO’s task force for Roma education, annual
World Bank household surveys, and Roma and Sinti Contact Point
(OSCE) advocacy, among others…
•
A historical ‘moment’ of opportunity currently exists in which Roma
are very much in the focus of governmental, non-governmental
and inter-governmental policy and strategy…
• The largest actors and agents working in
partnership with governments and Gypsy,
Roma, Traveller communities increasingly
recognise the cost of exclusion of Roma, and
have identified provision of ECD services for
Romani and Traveller children as a viable
strategy for improving the economic and
social situation of Romani communities in
Europe and beyond…
• A shift in the debates has
occurred which weighs the
effectiveness of the
exclusive, trans-national
ethnic minority rights, cultural
and linguistic rights, against
a more integrative approach
that also addresses the lack
of economic and social
progress in general...
The ‘Kopaçi’ Experts’
group
• The ‘trunk’ of the tree is the experts’ group
that will be at the heart of the activities and
projects. These are a mix of early years and
ECD expert practitioners and Romani Studies
experts, bringing together two hitherto
disparate communities to work on supporting
the ECP ‘Kopaçi’ programme…
Supporting Romani
parents
•
Roma Parent Support projects (RPSp’s) pilot community-based,
culturally and contextually relevant services for caregivers and
their young children from the prenatal period through early
primary, focusing on improving the context of children’s
development in their homes and communities.
•
Based on an approach of consultation, partnership and
empowerment, these projects seek innovative solutions in
anticipation of substantial regional funding that is likely to flow
into Roma early childhood activities in the coming decade. By
developing community-led projects with demonstrable and
measurable results, this future funding may be targeted to
achieve sustainable outcomes, results and impacts...
Roma Parent Support
Projects
• Grants to projects in eight countries in 2013.
In 2013-14, the emphasis of the programme
will shift from selection and design of projects
with grantees to provision of individualized
technical support, monitoring and evaluation
in each community, using the Kopaçi
programme's expert consultant group...
• Roma parent support
projects will be established
to extend medium and longterm outcomes and impacts
on Romani and Traveller
parents and ECD
organisations and
associations. Monitoring
and evaluation will inform
program development and
promote the best programs
for scale-up using national
and European funding...
Advocacy
•
Improving the situation of Roma is a shared responsibility
of European institutions, national governments, local and
regional authorities, civil society, the media, and Roma
communities themselves. The RECI studies offer an
important advocacy opportunity to work in partnership
with UNICEF, the Roma Education Fund, the International
Step-by-Step Association, Save the Children and the
World Bank and like-minded agencies to press
governments to adopt and implement effective ECD
policies that guarantee accessible, high quality services
for young Romani, Gypsy and Traveller children in
Europe...
Roma Early Childhood
Inclusion Reports (RECI)
•
The RECI reports, a joint initiative of OSF, UNICEF, ISSA, Save the
Children International and the Roma Education Fund, aim to produce
and disseminate analyses of current early childhood policies that
impact young Roma children in select countries and to provide a
series of recommendations and events to improve services and
government accountability.
•
The first phase (5 national reports – Hungary, Czech, Romania,
Serbia, Macedonia – and a synthesis report) was completed in 2012.
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Four additional reports (Albania, Kosovo, Bulgaria and Slovakia) and
a joint conference are will be completed in 2013-14. The programme
also cultivates expertise of young Romani, Gypsy and Traveller
researchers in their own communities...
Advocacy
•
The timing of the RECI
reports could not be better.
They are being launched at
the same time that
European governments are
preparing and discussing
their national Roma
inclusion strategies for
2020 with the EC. Funding
priorities for the next EU
budget period beginning in
2014 are being
established...
The Romani Early
Years Network
•
The Early Childhood Programme launched a major initiative to increase the
quality and quantity of expertise of Roma, Gypsy and Traveller early
childhood professionals and paraprofessionals across Europe and Eurasia
in collaboration with ISSA, the Roma Initiatives Office and the Roma
Education Fund (REF)…
•
This work has many dimensions; developing online learning communities,
pre- and in-service training, mentoring, standards, certification, qualification,
horizontal sharing and innovation, and promotion of monitoring and
evaluation of programs...
•
Since the REYN initiative was launched in 2012, three national early years
networks for Romani ECD have been established (Kosovo, Slovenia, Irish
Republic), with others in Macedonia, Hungary, Croatia, Rumania and
Bulgaria, to follow in the near future...
Outputs for 2013-14
•
Four new national RECI studies and a synthesis report
summarising the ECD situation for young Romani,
Ashkali and Egyptian children and proposing
recommendations to improve policy, provision and
practices, will be developed and disseminated across
key stakeholders…
•
24 communities in 9 countries reaching approximately
10,000 children and 2,500 parents and carers will
participate in innovative Roma ECD Parent Support
Programs addressing the needs of children from birth
through eight years (early primary)…
Results
•
An international network of community-led, Roma
parent support projects will be established in ten
countries in CEE, CIS and SEE, to extend medium
and long-term outcomes and impacts on Romani
parents and ECD organisations and associations...
•
2,000 early childhood professionals and
paraprofessionals across 20 countries will receive
professional development and support through the
ECP’s Romani Early Years Network, managed by the
International Step-by-Step Association in 2013-14
Impacts
•
Inclusion of Gypsy, Roma,
Traveller ECD into national
policies and strategies,
building on the momentum of
the EU’s Roma Integration
Framework for 2020, and
promotion of socially inclusive
education (desegregated) and
quality educational
outcomes...
•
A European ECD workshop in
June 2014, focusing on
‘lessons learned’ from the UK,
in terms of raising attainment,
to apply in the CEE/CIS
countries…
Projects
2011
2012
RECI
$60,000
$79,000
Roma Parent
Support
$702,000
$1,050,000
Roma ECD
$132,000
Expert support
$150,000
Advocacy
$90,000
$80,000
Total
$1,207,000
$1,491,000