Lukovit
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Lukovit municipality is located in northern Bulgaria and is one of the constituent municipalities of Lovech region. Lukovit municipality consists of 12 settlements and has a population of 18.125 residents, the Roma minority group numbering officially 2.776 people (16.5%).
Roma communities are located in:
- - Lukovit – around 2.200 people - Koszniczari Roma - and about 900 Turkish Roma, who named themselves Bulgarian - Mohammedans/Muslims
- - Bezanovo – 348 Roma and Bulgarian - Mohammedans/Muslims
- - Dermanci – 400 Bulgarian - Mohammedans/Muslims
- - Petrovene – 124 Roma
- - Toros – 23 Roma
Among the leading issues in the Roma neighborhoods are illegal construction, poor housing infrastructure and limited access to quality public utilities. Poor living conditions lead to spatial segregation of the Roma neighborhood relative to the rest of the population. Also, school segregation is high among Lukovit villages.
Only 2% of the Roma population holds a valid employment contract (the rest are working in the shadow economy or abroad – about 60%).
The ROMACT Process
Lukovit municipality joined the ROMACT program in August 2017 with the signature of the letter of agreement.
The Community Action Group (CAG) and the Taskforce for Roma Inclusion were created in November 2017.
The CAG was trained by ROMACT Facilitator to collect data and prepare a Community needs assessment. This was the basis used to update the Municipal Action Plan for Roma Inclusion that was approved by the Local Council in September 2018.
The Municipality benefited of ROMACT expertise for the following project :
* "Social and Economic Integration in Lukovit"- OPHRD- OPSESG
Beneficiaries : 756
Budget : 423 201 euros
Status : approved
Trainings provided by ROMACT experts :
Community Action Groups (CAG):
* Addressing drug delivery and use in the Roma neighbourhoods;
* Data collection and preparation of the Community needs assessment;
* Communication as a tool of advocacy;
* Participation in a meeting of the Public Council on Social Inclusion/Taskforce;
* ID cards and water supply: how to address the issues? ;
* Identification of practical steps for realization of the updated Municipal Action Plan for Roma Integration (MAPRI);
* Monitoring and evaluation process of the MAPRI;
* Local self-government;
* Participation in the process of consultation of the municipal budget;
* Legal consultation for resolution water supply issue;
* Advocacy with Local Authorities for addressing social exclusion and marginalization;
* Legal frame for addressing discrimination;
* Harmonizing activizm with professionalism;
* Drafting project idea & establish partnership under transnational cooperation;
Local Authorities (LA):
* Drafting project idea & establish partnership under transnational cooperation;
* Legal consultation for resolution of documentation issues;
* Legal consultation for resolution water supply issue;
* Approaches for working with and within Roma community. Working in intercultural environment;
* Partnership management for planning and implementation of municipal policies for social inclusion;
* Opportunities under the new Erasmus+ Program (2021-2027) in the School Education sector;
* Addressing challenges with water supply of Roma neighbourhood;
* Participation in a public consultation of the Recovery and Resilience Plan of Bulgaria;
* Information on procedure BG05SFPR002-2.003: “Future for the children” in Bulgaria;
* Building capacity for children's rights - health, education and social;
Taskforce :
* Monitoring and evaluation process of Municipal Action Plan for Roma Inclusion;
* National programs 2021 - 2027 funded by the EU structural and cohesion funds in support of municipal policies for social inclusion;
The following measures to solve problems in Roma community were taken :
* Construction of a school bus stop
* Construction of a parallel plumbing
* Building of community centre in Roma neighborhood
* Recruitment and training of a health mediator
* Improvement of the process to access ID
* Negociation with the Water Supply Company for reducing the debts and payment by installments
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 project was supported by ROMACT during April -July 2020:
Initiative to counter COVID19 pandemic – Municipality of Lukovit
ROMACT supported the municipality with 2537 € reaching Roma 70 families in the community. The project covered delivering information campaign on COVID19 and provided masks, disinfectants and soaps for each family. Essential food packages were also provided for families with dire financial situation.