Boldesti Scaeni

General Information
 
ROMACT Cycle: 
Closed
Mayor of the Municipality: 
Bucuroiu Constantin
Contact Person within the Municipality: 
Țuică Georgiana, Inspector-Project Office
Facilitators: 
Mihaela Carstea
Total population: 
11 610
Source: 
National Statistics Institute 2016
Roma living in the Municipality: 
550
Description of the Municipality: 

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Boldesti-Scaeni is a small town from Prahova County located nearby Ploiesti Municipality, the capital city of the county, in central Romania. It is composed of 3 neighborhoods: Boldesti, Scaeni, Balaca and Seciu.
Roma unofficially represent 10% of the population.

There are 4 Roma marginalized communities in Boldești Scăeni, with poor population, low educational level, low access to employment, infrastructure and precarious living conditions:
* Str. Poienilor and Calea Unirii, in the Northern part of the municipality (357 persons, from which 328 of Roma ethnicity, 71 households – most of them from bricks), built after the earthquake in 1977 that destroyed their houses. In time, the children of these initial families built their own houses in the vicinity. 90% of the land is leased from the City Hall, 3% with property documents, the other without any legal documentation. Most of the houses are deteriorated and would need consolidations. Only 25% of the households have running water from public system, none are connected to the sewage system. 23% have bathroom, while all of them have electricity. There is public lighting in the community and people have access to garbage removal services. The distance from this community to: city hall - 3 km; school – 4 km; dispensary – 2 km. The road to the community is asphalted in 50%. Most of the women are housewives, people are living from seasonal activities: selling forest fruits and mushrooms, daily labour, social benefits. The main problems they are faced with are related to waste management, wild dogs and free-range animals.
In the last 5 years, the City Hall has granted plots of land for those who already had homes as well as for those who requested to build a home. It also supported the construction of some of the houses based on specific social criteria. In the last 3 years, the water distribution network has been expanded and connections have been made for each house. The public lighting network was also expanded. The intra-village limit for housing construction has been extended. Local authorities in collaboration with a waste management company have placed containers for the storage of household waste in the area and granted land for the construction of houses by the Roma population.
* Str. Livezilor, Str. Salcâmilor, in the Northern part of the municipality – 366 people live here, from which 244 Roma ethnics. 2 km to city hall and school, 1 km to dispensary, 0,5 km to the nearest food store. The road to the community is asphalted in 50%. There are 73 households made from adobe and people own them, only 19 do not have property documents. People are living from social benefits (64 medium guaranteed income, 33 – state allocation for families, 19 heating aids) and salaries. Part of the houses are deteriorated and would need consolidations. 42% of them are overcrowded, 26% do not have property documents. 46 are connected to the public water system, 45 to the sewage one and 73 to the electricity network. 39 have bathrooms inside the house. There is public lightning and inhabitants have access to garbage removal services. The area is floodable. The Local Police got involved in rounding up dogs without a master, in contravening the owners of animals left unattended on the public domain. Emphasis is placed on concluding contracts with the sanitation operator. 38% of the Roma people here have finished gymnasia school, 2% have a type of disability / medical condition, 33% are under 18 y.o.
* Str. Teleajenului, in the SW part of the municipality – there are 159 persons in 40 households living near the wastewater treatment plant, 55 persons of this community is of Roma ethnicity. The households were initially build on the municipal pasture, without property documents. There are 5 km to city hall, 3 to the school and dispensary, 1 to the nearest food store. Street infrastructure is asphalted 50%. People are living from social benefits (11 state allocation for families, 5 heating aids, 1 disability file), daily work, pensions and salaries. 14 households have no property documents and most are deteriorated, needing consolidation. 35 households are connected to public water system, 9 to sewage system, 37 to electricity. 21 have bath inside. There is public lightning and access to garbage removal services. Here also, the City Hall granted plots and supported access to housing.
* Șos. Ploiești-Văleni, outskirts of the municipality – 21 persons (16 of Roma ethnicity) are living in the community formed by 4 households, 2 with property documents, separated by a railway from the city and not connected to any public utilities, expert for electricity. It is at 5 km from city hall, 4 km from school and nearest dispensary, 1 km from a food store, surrounded by garbage. The streets are paved with gravel. The main occupation is collecting and selling iron. Seasonal migration is also quite present. For the last 5 years, the City Hall has been mediating with the owner of the land and its houses to find a solution beneficial to both parties to solve the legal situation of the land (sale in installments, etc.).
54% of Roma population in the municipality is living in overcrowded houses (<15,33 sq.m./person), while 12% are confronted with housing insecurity, due to the fact they do not posess housing documents.

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The ROMACT Process

ROMACT started in November 2018 with the signature of the Letter of Agreement.
The Taskforce for Roma Inclusion was created on 31 March 2019.
In July 2019, the Joint Action Plan for Roma Inclusion was adopted by the Local Council. 

As of April 2023, ROMACT process is reinforced in Boldesti Scaeni and a new agreement was signed.

The Municipality benefited from ROMACT expertise to apply for the following projects :
The expertise provided by ROMACT for municipalities involves training and guidance on preparing project proposals and implementing inclusive policies aimed at improving the living conditions and social integration of vulnerable populations, including the Roma.

*Developing infrastructure in marginalized area (Poienilor and Unirii Streets) -EEA and Norway Grants , "Local Development, Poverty Reduction and Enhanced Roma Inclusion"
 Budget: 7 110 euros
Status: Approved

EDU – Distance and e-learning in our school - Funded by the Central European Initiative (CEI).
Budget : 31 660€
Status : rejected

Equal access to digital education for students belonging to disadvantaged groups - Funded by the CEI.
Budget : 25 500€
Status : rejected

Trainings provided by ROMACT experts :

Local Authorities (LA):
* EEA and Norwegian Grants 2014-2021
* Project management (vocational training)
* Expert for accessing structural&cohesion funds
* Partnership management
* Public procurement expert
* Implementing, evaluating & monitoring JAPs
* Planning project implementation

The following measures to solve problems in Roma community were taken :
* Endowment of n°2 gymnasia school
*Recruitment of the  Local Expert for Roma issues 
*Recruitment of the health mediator 
*Recruitment of the school mediator

ROMACT Small Grants Scheme :

ROMACT offers small grants scheme to support the efforts of the municipalities and Community Action Groups to respond together to the needs of the most vulnerable and to multiply the good practices across ROMACT municipalities.
 
Under the scheme of small grants, the following projects were supported by ROMACT between April - August 2020:
 
Protective Measures Against COVID19​ –  Boldesti Scaeni Municipality :

ROMACT supported the municipality with 5002 € reaching 1000+ people with the project of “Protective Measures Against COVID19”. The project covered information campaign on COVID19 and provided masks, disinfectant products, informative flyers for the vulnerable families in the community. Telephone consultancy and specialized assistance were also offered to people who are at high risk of health due to COVID19.
 
School is your friend! – Mihai Viteazul Gymnasia School :
 
ROMACT supported Mihai Viteazul Gymnasia School with 4450 €, reaching 90+ pupils and 35 families who are vulnerable with poor financial status. The project increased the pupils’ school attendance in a proper sanitary environment with higher level of self-esteem through the procurement of school supplies and hygiene products for each pupil. Pupils and their families received counselling sessions on the importance of education and attended workshop on inclusive education in order to reduce school drop-outs during the pandemic.

Media Coverage

Programul ROMACT - Romania

 

Timeline Points

22 Nov 2018
Step 1- Becoming Commited- Signature of the letter of commitment
31 Mar 2019
Creation of the Municipal Taskforce for Roma Inclusion
23 Jul 2019
Step 3- Translating priorities into measures- Adoption of the Joint Action Plan by City Council
2 Sep 2019
Step 4- Funding, implementing and monitoring- Project proposal submitted to EEA Norway Grants
29 Sep 2020
End of ROMACT process
30 Mar 2023
ROMACT Reinforced
30 Sep 2023
End of ROMACT reinforced process
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