Autonómia Foundation Annual Narrative Report 2007

Autonómia as the leader of the BRIDGE (Innovative Social and Economic Development Program of Roma People of Borsod County) development partnership within the framework of EQUAL

This program was the basic activity in 2007. The development partnership established in 2004 consisted of the following members: Autonómia Foundation, Lungo Drom Roma organization, Méra, Lungo Drom Roma organzation, Szalaszend, Bódvavölgyi Cigányok és Hátrányos Helyzetűek Érdekvédelmi Szervezete (Advovacy Organization of the Roma and Disadvantaged People in Bodva Valley) and Andrássy Gyula Technical School.
Direct goals of the program:

Our direct goals were the following: to provide training for vocational and semi-skilled worker’s qualifications for some 60 persons in the stove maker, wood industrial machine operator, mason, carpenter and blacksmith professions. Participants successfully completing the courses either work in the crews set up in the framework of the project or become self-employed entrepreneurs with the help of a micro credit loan. According to the original plans, participants to be employed for 20 months will be responsible for renovating the run-down houses of needy residents and installing energy-efficient insulation and heating equipment. Within the framework of the project, we aim to set up a wood industry for the production and repair of doors and windows, and a forge that would serve as a training centre and tourist attraction in addition to providing employment.

Indirect goals of the program:

The unemployed local Roma people get vocational training, certification, job and income, the life conditions of their families improve.
The broken down buildings of the families without work income will be renovated, energy efficient heating systems and insulated doors and windows will be built in, thus the heating costs will be reduced, the living conditions will improve.
The labor market competence of the local Roma organizations will significantly improve; they will be stabile active participants of the local social economy, and labor market.


Innovative elements of the project:

The unskilled unemployed Roma population is involved in vocational training and gets jobs in a way that as a part of the practical training and the employment the housing conditions will significantly improve, the heating costs will significantly decrease. It is expected that the participants will get out of the trap caused by the vicious circle of “no income – neglected housing – high maintenance costs – indebtedness”

The whole program is innovative inasmuch there is it provides entering a nd leaving opportunities for the participants in several levels. There are possibilities to find employment both in the social economy and in the primary labor market, and to become self employed through microcredit.

Results

Smith workshop in Perkupa

The smith training started in 2nd May 2006 with ten participants. The trainees were employed by Autonomia Foundation during the training. The theoretical and practical training was held in Perkupa and in Miskolc. As a part of the practical education the trainees also participated in the construction of the smith workshop in Perkupa within the BRIDHE project. The closing exam was held in February 2007, all the ten people proved to be successful.

According the original plans the construction-renovation works on the building of the smith workshop ought to have started in the fall of 2005. Because of contractual delays the operations started only in May 2006. Testing started in spring of 2007, we received the permission for use in October 2007.

Out of the ten graduates of the smith training six were employed by Autonomia between March and October 2007. In this period their job was to accomplish the ironwork needed for the local housing renovation, and produced the show pieces of the market production planned after the closure of the program.

Establishment of a wood works workshop in Méra, stove makers in Szalaszend

According to the original plans the renovation-expansion works of the building of the woodworks workshop ought to have started in the fall of 2005. Due to contractual delays the construction started only in April 2006. The renovation, expansion and transformation of the original building were done by the trainees in the course of their practice. The workshop opened in the spring of 2007, the date of the license to use is July 2007.

Out of the graduates of the vocational trainings seven woodworks machine operators were employed by the Lungo Drom Roma organization of Méra, eight stove- and fireplacemakers were employed by the Lungo Drom Roma organization of Szalaszend. During their employment they were responsible for the housing renovations, and also produced the show pieces for the market production planned for the future after the closure of the program.

Renovation, housing maintenance

Nine people out of the graduated carpenters were employed by the Advocacy Organization of the Roma and Disadvantaged People of the Bódva Valley, six out of the graduated masons were employed by the Longo DromRoma organization of Szalaszend. In the employment period both team worked on the renovation of the houses of disadvantaged families in the Cserehát region.

In the spring of 2007 the last phase of one of the most significant program elements of the implementation period started. Before the beginning of the housing renovation and maintenance operations the members of the development partnership prepared the detailed documentation for the administration of this program element. In April 2007 the representatives of the partners in housing renovation prepared for the future work cooperative procedures within the framework of a modeling game. The actual renovations started in the same months and until November 2007 the renovation of 90 houses took place.

In the first quarter of 2007 the professional evaluation will take place.

The total budget of the program is 338 million HUF, out of which 145 million is the part of Autonomia. The professional and financial closure of the project is expected in the summer of 2008.

Economic development program in cooperation with the Mikrohitel (Microcredit) co.

According to the expert opinion of Piotr Korynski and dr, Anikó Soltész the Hungarian mirocredit situation can be characterized the best with the lack of micro- and small entrepreneurial market, and no real efforts can be seen to change this situation. From this point of view the cooperation between Mikrohitel co. and Autonómia Foundation based on the multiyear loan program of Autonómia is considered a fruitful initiative especially among the low income clients, like Roma.

The program supported by UNDP and AGFUND between 2005-2007 contributes to the group loan activities provided first of all for Roma groups, operated by Mikrohitel co. The essence of the problem to be solved by the program is the following: even though the poor groups of the Roma also use banks, that is have bank accounts or debit cards, however they are not bankable if it is about credit especially about entrepreneurial credit. There are very few opportunities for the Roma to get credit, thus they can easily fall victim to usurers, pawn brokers, or other institutions which provide immediate loan, but charge high interests.

The aim of the cooperation between Autonómia Foundation and Mikrohitel co. is double. On one hand it demonstrates that low income people, who have been excluded from the money market can make use of credit facilities, it helps them to be less dependent on informal and uncontrollable loans, and helps them in their cash flow problems. On the other hand it highlights that the credit provided to the poor is a working market segment, and the banks also can enter this market, as it happens in the West.

Beyond isolated, project based approaches it is only Autonómia Foundation that can boast of long term loan practice in this field. It is evident, that the originally low repayment rate improved by the end of the program due to flexibility and tough monitoring before and following the loans. Because of the Law on Financial Institutions this activity cannot be done within the frameworks provided by a foundation, the foundation’s professional experience was taken over by the Mikrohitel co., which is a registered financial institution.

The staff of Autonómia provide professional support to the Mikrohitel Co. as to the choice of the field of the program, construction of the mediator network, marketing of the program, dissemination of the information, elaboration of the training programs provided to the potential clients.

According to the wish of the donors the method has changed from the “Greameen bank” type tp the “village bank” type. The closest model for this can be found in Romania, in the microfinance project of the OSI.

Within a two year’s framework contract between the two institutions in 2007 the staff participated in the development of the Mikrohitel co. website http://www.mikrohitelrt.hu, the credit products, the credit conditions can be seen, the necessary forms can be downloaded from the website, and there is also a calculator to calculate the future repayments.

We organized financial training for the members of the newly formed groups, at the end of which each participant has to make a household or a business cash flow plan. In the future we plan to complement this training with further blocks, so that it can be used for those who come for the second credit to enlarge their businesses.

In 2007-ben we provided loans of HUF 12 250 00

Saving for the Future – the Hungarian IDA program

The Open Society Institute has engaged Autonómia to implement a three-year Conditional Cash Transfer program targeting communities in Hungary with a high concentration of low-income Roma.

IDAs have a ten-year history in the United States, and the program has also been successfully adopted in a number of countries, proving that even the poorest people can save more or less money on a regular basis. The funds matching these savings under the program enable participants to have higher aspirations, including asset goals that would otherwise be beyond their means. In essence, the program encourages participants to save a fixed amount each month by matching these savings. Participants also receive financial education that can reduce their economic disenfranchisement and dependency, and increase their knowledge of money management and legal issues.

The greatest benefit of the program is that the participants take an active part in it and achieve their asset goals through their own efforts

The short-term purpose of the program is to help eligible participants invest in their futures: to invest in the accumulation of assets, children’s education and family health. The long-term purpose of the program, however, is to demonstrate the superiority of conditional cash transfers over the existing Hungarian welfare system; to push welfare policy away from meeting the short-term subsistence of beneficiaries and toward helping beneficiaries reach financial independence.

The program’s success, in this regard, will not only entail helping a given number of participants reach their individual goals. It will involve buy-in and acceptance by the Hungarian government of the conditional cash transfer philosophy – to re-think subsistence welfare policies that have failed to lift its beneficiaries out of poverty.

The program offers an opportunity for low-income participants to play an active part in improving of their own financial situation, and therefore indirectly allows them to achieve the following goals:

– increase the market value of the real property they live in;
– increase their mobility;
– improve their chances for employment, increase and make their income more predictable.

In addition to the key goals listed above, the program can also have other important results:

– participants will become economically active through the start-up of small enterprises;
– group-based training offers an opportunity for participants to establish social contacts beyond their segregated neighborhoods and communities;
– participants will be motivated to join other programs and initiatives, and become accessible for other organizations (such as NGOs and municipal assistance organizations),
– the groups created through the program can serve as the foundations of future group-lending programs.


The program started in the beginning of 2006. The potential participants got acquainted with the opportunity in local fora, through local newspapers and radio. A Steering Committee was established, a screening system – so called client profile – was made, the application forms were tested and modified. By the end of 2006 21 million HUF was committed through contracts. This is about two third of the entire matching fund.

Asset Building Component:

One component of the Program is to assist participants in the acquisition of assets that will help raise their standard of living. Traditional asset goals in U.S. Individual Development Accounts, such as post-secondary education, are excluded from this program. The Program has therefore selected asset goals which can be reasonably judged “investments,” i.e. productive assets that increase wealth or create the possibility of social mobility.

Participants can change the original asset goal once with the approval of the program officer (they will have to consult the counselors in advance), and the new asset goal has to be an authorized asset goal under the Program (see below).

1. Personal development (including obtaining a Driver’s Permit or purchasing a home computer and accessories) up to HUF 250,000.
2. Home investment (including home purchase, repair, expansion, completion, building bathroom facilities or installing other amenities) up to HUF 550,000.
3. Start-up of an enterprise (including purchasing capital equipment, materials or inventory) up to HUF 350,000. The program will not provide matching funds for “working capital.”

Additional goals will be added at the Program’s discretion.

 Financial Counseling: Participants in the asset-building component will receive personal money management counseling, and if applicable, assistance in purchasing a home or starting a small business. The community counselor will receive applications, verify candidates’ eligibility, help participants develop a personal finance budget, provide basic financial education, track the participants’ saving activity, provide advice during financial emergencies, and ultimately issue matching funds. The counselor will also conduct follow-up visits to track how the participant put the asset to use. It is expected that the counselor will devote no less than 10 contact hours with each program participant.

 Account Structure: Participants will be the sole holders of their savings accounts. The program will be authorized to monitor account activity. Matching funds, however, will not be deposited into the participant’s savings account, but tracked separately and released only after the participant has reached his/her savings goal. Match “statements” will be provided to the participants each month either by mail or SMS.

 Match Rate: The program will offer the following match rates, match caps and time caps. Match caps represent the maximum monthly deposit amount that is eligible for a match. Time caps represent the period after which monthly deposits are no longer eligible for a match. These restrictions seek to ensure that the accumulation periods are long enough to deter ineligible participants, yet provide sufficient incentive for participants to reach their savings goal as quickly as possible:

Asset Match Rate Max Monthly Savings Eligible for Match Time Cap (Mos.)
Driver’s permit 200% HUF 6,000 18
Home computer 200% HUF 10,000 18
Informal enterprise 300% HUF 10,000 24
Bathroom construction 300% HUF 10,000 24
Home repair / expansion 300% HUF 10,000 24
Home purchase 300% HUF 15,000 24

 Minimum Accumulation Period: Regardless of asset cost, or participants’ savings rates, participants must be enrolled in the program for a minimum of six months before receiving match funds.

 Deposits: Participants set their own monthly savings schedule after analyzing their income and investigating the cost of their asset goal in conjunction with the program counselor. The participant’s commitment is set out in a signed “savings agreement.”

 Missed Deposits: Participants who miss or underpay their scheduled deposits will be contacted by the program counselor. Participants who regularly underpay will fail to reach their savings goal before the allotted time cap. They may continue to save, but will no longer receive a match. Participants who do not meet their savings goal six months after the time cap will lose their matching funds altogether. The limit for the missing or underpaid saving depends on the length of the total saving period, the missing amount and the length of the failure. The program officer will inform the participant about the fact that he or she has missed a payment. If the participant does not solve the problem in 30 days, he or she will be informed again with another ten days’ deadline. If the missing payment is not paid by this deadline, the participant will lose the matching fund.

Participants will be allowed to apply for a grace period with respect to up to three missed payments. The application must be written and approved by the program officer. The rules concerning this procedure are the same as in the case of Emergency Withdrawal.

 Emergency Withdrawals: Up to three un-matched “emergency withdrawals” are allowed. However, participants may not make a withdrawal without first consulting their counselor, and extensions of the time cap will not be permitted. The counselor will work with the participant to personally help him/her find other solutions to the emergency. The cap on emergency withdrawals is 50% of the amount held in the account at the time. The amount of the withdrawal must be paid back to the account in two months [60 days] at the maximum. If a participant fails to pay the amount back, he/she will lose the matching funds.

 Matched Withdrawals: Matching funds are not released to the participant until the participant’s savings goal is reached. At the time of a qualified withdrawal, the Program will release matching funds directly to vendors in order to minimize leakage to non-eligible activities. The manner in which saved and matched funds can be used will be set out in the Participatory Agreement signed at the beginning of the individual program. This point can be later modified (on issues such as the vendor, the attributes of the asset etc.) but only in accordance with the preliminary asset goal and with the approval of the program officer.

 Financial Institution: We have made initial contact with Völgység-Hegyhát Takarék, the Savings Cooperative that currently serves over 200 Roma clients in Bonyhád. The Savings Cooperative is an ideal partner due to its contract with local residents who receive public assistance funds from the municipal and national government (of which many Roma are beneficiaries), its proximity to the Roma community in Bonyhád, and its branch network in other cities with a high concentration of Roma. In preliminary discussions, officials from the Savings Cooperative stated that each participant would be subject to a HUF 70 fee per month, as well as a HUF 40 withdrawal fee. Interest rates are approximately 6% annually. Projected inflation for 2006 is 3.6%.


At the end of 2006 in the evaluation session it was decided that we should prefer smaller, shorter term aims than the housing renovation, which was originally considered a high poriority. The first supports were transferred in March 2007

Data at the end of 2007:

HUF
Total amount saved 2 117 000
Total amount expected to be saved 9 157 000
Total committed, contracted 26 189 800
Paid 5 269 800
To be paid (committed) 20 800 000

people
Paid 17
To be paid 57
Left and excluded 11


PAKIV European Roma Fund – The PAKIV program of the foundation

The initiative to create the Pakiv European Roma Fund started in 1993 among Autonómia Foundation, the Freudenberg Foundation and the Rromani CRISS. It was supported by a generous three year grant from the World Bank, and the result was a series of facilitator trainings for young Roma activists. Since no support of similar type or duration has arrived, the initiative has been transformed into the creation of a European network of the former trainees to start joint actions.

In 2007 PEN addressed the following themes:

• Active European Citizenship: participation and democracy in Europe: promoting participation and involvement of citizens in the decision making process, encouraging the development of European identity.

• Equal opportunities for all (European Year 2007): raising awareness of equal opportunities, encouraging communication, information and exchange of best practices and policies promoting equal opportunities for people from a less-privileged cultural, geographical or socio-economic background.

The support provided to the core work of the Pakiv European Network (PEN) program contributed to the interaction between citizens and civic organizations from Member States, which acceded to the EU before and those which have acceded since 30 April 2004. Local NGOs and public officials from Bulgaria, Slovakia, Hungary and Romania met NGOs, institutions and policy makers from Germany, Denmark and England to learn about their experiences regarding social inclusion of disadvantaged groups such as Roma and especially those in less privileged geographic regions and socio-economics backgrounds.

Transnational workshops, training and conferences served as a key platform for encouraging communication and cooperation on Roma-related issues, while expanding and strengthening the network. Participants were provided with opportunities to exchange and share their practical experiences on active citizenship and social inclusion at the transnational level, and gain new insights by learning from each other.

The Transnational working group meetings for network coordination, Active Citizenship and Intercultural Dialogue contributed to the efficient work of its members, and further strategic development. Each group developed its strategy for the next 2 years, and project proposals have been initiated.

E-newsletters, policy statements and the Bulletins were produced and disseminated to over 600 organizations, networks, institutions across Europe, providing current information of the activities carried out during the reported period as well as good practice of the members of the network. The publications and materials produced within the core support are accessible on the website and made available in hard copy at local and national events in participating countries. The publications contain practical information about active citizenships, planning actions and strategies on Roma inclusion, promoting tolerance and equal opportunities and fighting prejudices and stereotypes. A movie of the Pakiv initiative was produced to promote the network and its members, along with their civic engagement in working to promote Roma inclusion.

Through the network’s regular annual activities (exchanges, training, workshops, publications, policy statements), member organizations and individuals engage in an ongoing praxis (action and reflection), in view of moving social inclusion and active citizenship agendas forward. In 2007, the network focused heavily on strategizing for expansion of members and development of permanent working groups to engage a broad range of stakeholders in ongoing transnational sharing of local experiences and practices. In this regard, transfer of knowledge and learning represents one of the main functions of the network, linking local actors together across Europe. The results of dialogue and reflection in 2007 will be used to inform future actions in forthcoming years. The idea is to sustain an ongoing process of action, dialogue and reflection on state of the art issues surrounding Roma inclusion and active citizenship.

Main partners:
• Creating Effective Grassroots Alternatives Foundation – 1000, Sofia, G.S. Rakovski 96, Bulgaria. cega@cega.bg
• Crossing Borders - Montebello Allé 1, DK 3000 Elsinore Denmark. garba@crossingborder.org
• RAA – Berlin – Chausseestrabe 29, 10115 Berlin/Mitte christoph_leucht@web.de
• Pakiv Slovakia – Na Karasiny 37/5, Prievidza, 971 01 Slovakia. z.demeterova@pakiv.org
• Romanian initiative group “Pakiv New Roma Generation”, i.halangescu@pakiv.org

2007: the creation of an independent website of Pakiv European Network

An independent website of Pakiv European Network has been created and launched with several sections, which provide information on programs, projects and activities held during the year. The website is regularly updated and serves as information and communication channel for the members of the network.
Web page: www.pakivnet.org

2007: a film about the Pakiv European Network was shot.

Other activities

• 2007 was the third year, that we have been providing support for three the Social Work and Social Policy Department of ELTE university in organizing social work placement.
• Autonómia Foundation provided professional support for HEWITT Ltd. in the implementation of the Family Friendly Workplace program.
• Autonómia Foundation has been part of the Rádió C board from its start. Radio C is the first Hungarian Roma Community Radio.



Board and staff


BOARD in 2007

István Boros (chair)
Tünde Buzetzky
Anna Csongor (director)
Ferenc Karvalits
Júlia Szalai
Péter Szuhay

SUPERVISORY COMMITTEE:

Ágnes Darvas
Zsuzsa Foltányi

STAFF in 2007

Full time:

Anna Csongor, director
Katalin Lukrécia Árvai, assistant
Endre Barát, project officer (EQUAL)
Tibor Béres, program officer (Economic Development, IDA)
György Lukács, program officer (Economic Development, EQUAL)
Miklós Kóródi, program officer (EQUAL)
András Nun, program officer (EQUAL)
Erika Réder, accounting, payroll calculation
Jennifer Tanaka, program director (PAKIV)

Part time:

Ilona Tóth, cleaning
Mádl Miklós, cash desk

Interns:
György Orsós (ELTE, philosophy)
Szilvia Rézműves (ELTE, social policy)

Full time staff in EQUAL BRIDGE Development partnership:

Gyula Balogh
János Bancsók
Jánosné Bancsók
István Dányi
Zoltán Horváth
Erik Kalocsai
Tibor Kalocsai
Károly Káló
Krisztián Káló
Jenő Kótai
József Lakatos
Szabolcs Mata
János Ruszó
Róbert Ruszó
Tibor Ruszó

Full time staff in Economic Development and IDA program:

Csaba Boros
Vilmos Jákovics

Project staff in PAKIV program:

Jennifer Tanaka
Judit Bari