MINELRES: UNDP: Half of Roma ethnics in Moldova live in extreme poverty

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Original sender: Ionas Rus <rus@fas.rutgers.edu>


http://www.info-prim.md/?x=24&y=11915

Half of Roma ethnics in Moldova live in extreme poverty

2007-12-07/07:20 One in two Roma ethnics lives in extreme poverty,  
according to the "Roma in Moldova" survey, launched on Friday,  
December 7, in Chisinau. The report presents basic quantitative data  
and statistics about the situation of the Roma people in Moldova for  
different fields - poverty, health, living conditions, security and  
migration.

Stefan Secareanu, chairman of the Parliamentary commission on human  
rights, told the study presentation ceremony that the state,  
Government and civil society and all citizens have to jointly  
contribute to the elimination of the social exclusion of the Roma  
ethnic group. He pointed out to the need for more firm steps to be  
taken towards poverty elimination, creation of decent living  
conditions and providing representatives of this minority with real  
economic development conditions.

The survey shows that the poverty incidence among Roma people is  
double compared to the rest of the population in Moldova. One third of  
the Roma people belong to the 20-percent group of the poorest  
population in Moldova.

Incomes of the Roma households do not cover even half of the minimum  
existence level, and most of them come from the money transferred from  
abroad or from unofficial incomes (collecting used objects, gambling,  
begging, fortune-telling etc).

Data show that most of the adult members of a poor Roma household are  
usually unemployed or perform occasional jobs. The unemployment rate  
among the Roma people is twice higher than among the rest of the  
population. Only 23 percent of the interviewed Roma ethnics have  
mandatory health insurances.

The living conditions of the Roma people are mostly inadequate. One  
third of the Roma households live in an unsafe residence. Over 80  
percent of households do not have running water, toilets, bathrooms  
and sewerage network.

As for literacy, the study shows that one in two Roma ethnics cannot  
write or read, and only 4 percent of the Roma people have higher  
education, compared to the 38 percent of the non-Roma people. The  
migration of the whole family is specific for the Roma people and is a  
phenomenon which partially explains the incidence of the school  
abandonment among the Roma children.

Artur Cerari, the baron of the Roma in Moldova, says that the worse  
that Roma people daily do is not taking their children to school.

According to the report, Moldova is home to over 15,000 Roma people.  
The Roma population is younger than Moldova?s average; it has a higher  
birth rate, but a lower life expectancy, 65 years, by three years less  
than average.

The study Roma in Moldova was commissioned by the United Nations  
Development Programme (UNDP), within the Decade of Roma Inclusion  
(2005-2015), to close the gap of objective data on the Roma people's  
situation in
Moldova.

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