THE QUARTERLY NEWSLETTER OF UNICEF ROMANIA - NR 8, 2010

Back
to school
helping prevent dropout
 Let's Unite for Children!
Mid-September is when school starts for 220,000 children every year
in Romania. For two and a quarter million more children, it's time to
return for another year of the compulsory school cycle.
Some children eagerly look forward to getting back, others less so -
it often depends on the attitude of parents, personality of teachers,
school environment and many other factors. But however they feel, it
is mandatory to go to school. It is part of growing up, part of a child's
life, an essential part of human development. It's where children
spend a substantial part of their waking hours having their futures
shaped.
But for an estimated 300,000-400,000 children in Romania, there is little or no school. This is the
astonishing number that do not enrol or attend. It represents up to 20% of the country's future going to
waste. For what chance is there of a decent life without a basic education?
The children out of school usually share a few common characteristics: they come mainly from
families living in poverty, with parents who themselves had little or no education. In many cases, they
come from the Roma minority.
UNICEF has joined forces with the Ministry of Education and NGOs to do something about this
unacceptable state of affairs. The approach is to target the counties, and within them, the
communities which have the worst record of non-attendance at school. Accordingly, 38 communities
with high drop-out rates have been selected for concentrated attention this school year 2010-2011.
Action will focus on three key elements: (a) the families will be visited to persuade them to send their
children to school; (b) the schools will be persuaded to be more welcoming to poor and
disadvantaged children; and (c) the communities will be persuaded to support the families and
schools to ensure every single child gets the basic education which is his or her right.
So there is a lot of “persuading” to be done among families, schools and communities. Will it work?
That's the big question of course, but we think it will because this approach obtained very good
results when piloted in Giurgiu and Călăraşi counties. Now it's time to take the approach to the
country at large, starting with these 38 communities. Good results there can spark a momentum
which could see similar initiatives take off in other communities with school attendance problems. If
this scenario pans out, it would make a huge impact on the drop-out problem and get children into
school where they belong.
This edition of the newsletter looks at the strategy of the School Attendance Campaign from different
viewpoints. We will be bringing you further updates during the course of the school year.
In this issue, we also take a look at the successful fundraising campaign for the children and families
who suffered the effects of the devastating floods in the north-west of Romania in June of this year.
And we have an update on the situation in Haiti six months on from the terrible earthquake for which
the Romanian public contributed so generously to the relief effort earlier in the year.

Edmond McLoughney
UNICEF Representative in Romania

2 UNITE FOR CHILDREN

In this issue
Let's Unite for Children ............................................................................... 2
School dropout, the new silent emergency - a priority for UNICEF
Romania ................................................................................................ 4
Preventing and combating school dropout .............................................. 6
“The future starts in school” in partnership with GDF SUEZ Energy
Romania ................................................................................................ 10
Booking a ticket to a better future, Florin goes back to school ................ 11
Training School Mediators and Principals to Keep Vulnerable Children in
Education .......................................................................................... 12
Bringing Roma Children into the Educational Fold .................................. 14
After the floods - rebuilding a more robust Romania .............................. 16
Porsche Finance Group Romania - UNICEF partner in establishing the
Resource Center for Parents and Children ......................................... 19
UNICEF and Kaufland Romania - a parenting partnership ...................... 20
2.4 million tetanus vaccines donated in 2010 ........................................... 21
Haiti six months on: building a better country from the rubble ............. 22

Unite for Children is published quarterly by UNICEF Romania; 48A, Blvd. Primaverii, 011975, Bucharest 1, Romania;
T: +40 21 201 7872; F: +40 21 317 5255; E: bucharest@unicef.org; www.unicef.org/romania

Despina Andrei - Private Fundraising and Partnership Division Manager;; T: +40 21 201 7858; E: dandrei@unicef.org

Luminiţa Costache - Education Officer; T: +40 21 201 7863; E: lcostache@unicef.org

Focal Point for School Attendance Campaign

Eugen Crai - Social Policy and Advocacy Specialist; T: +40 21 201 7862; E: ecrai@unicef.org

Codruţa Hedeşiu - Communication Officer; T: +40 21 201 7864; E: chedesiu@unicef.org

Raluca Zaharia - Education Officer; T: +40 21 201 7863; E: rzaharia@unicef.org

UNICEF photographs are copyrighted. Photos includeed in this newsletter belong to the following photograhers:
@UNICEF/ LeMoyne, Ramoneda (Haiti section) and @UNICEF Romania/ Giacomo Pirozzi, Liviu Andrei, Codruţa
Hedeşiu, Marian Dincă, Raluca Manţa, Laura Petculeţ and Raluca Zaharia (other photos).

Disclamer: The points of view expressed in the publication belong to the authors and do not necessarily represent
those of UNICEF.

THE QUARTERLY NEWSLETTER OF UNICEF ROMANIA - NR 8, 2010 3

 School dropout, the new silent emergency -
a priority for UNICEF Romania
by Raluca Zaharia & Luminiţa Costache,
Education Officers - UNICEF Romania

The rarely debated issue of school

dropout in the Romanian edu-
cation system requires immediate
action. It is a phenomenon so
widespread and serious that it
should be a priority for all those
involved in education: decision-
makers, community stakeholders,
families, teachers and students.
According to the National Report
on the State of the Education
System in Romania (2008) -
MoERY, in 2006/2007 the cohort
UNICEF Romania/ The write stuff: a good education
dropout rate for primary education
is vital for a child's development
was 9.8% and for lower secondary
education 12.4%. Moreover, there
are huge disparities in the dropout and identified influencing factors at three
rates when comparing urban and rural levels: family, community and school.
communities. The most common cause of school dropout
The Roma Inclusion Barometer (OSF, 2007) is poverty. Poverty is also the root of other
indicates that 23% of Roma respondents causes, such as: child labour, semi-legal
have no education whatsoever, 27% activities and employment of children.
attended primary school and 33% graduated At family level, apart from poverty, the
from secondary school without going parents' and siblings' educational examples
further - as opposed to 2%, 11% and 24% have a great influence on children's
respectively among other ethnic groups behaviour. Family break-up, early
taken as a whole. Furthermore, 95% of pregnancies and migration are other factors
Roma have no high school education, com- that can affect school attendance rates.
pared to 60% among the other respondents. At community level, the most common
According to Eurostat, in Romania in 2007 causes are the tradition of early marriage,
19.2% of people aged 18-24 had successfully lack of security around the school and the
completed only eight grades. This means custom of discontinuing education after the
that roughly one out of five young people eighth grade.
has no qualification. In school, dropout may be caused by the
Several recent studies have flagged up frequent repeating of grades, insufficient
some errors in the registration of out-of- pupil integration or poor relationships with
school children and by some estimates teachers and classmates.
300,000-400,000 children of school age are The large range of factors influencing school
not in the education system. dropout, led by poverty, makes it difficult to
UNICEF and its NGO partners have address school abandonment from the point
investigated the causes of school dropout of view of the education system alone. This

4 UNITE FOR CHILDREN

is why UNICEF is emphasising the importance
of partnerships to ensure families are properly
helped to support their children's participation
in education and to give them proper care and
protection.
Realising the gravity of the situation UNICEF
launched the School Attendance campaign in
2010.
The goal of the campaign is to prevent and
reduce school dropout and to increase school
attendance, with a focus on the most
disadvantaged children.
The campaign addresses the school dropout
phenomenon by focusing primarily on the
communities with the worst dropout
problems. Interventions will be made by the
family, school and community level.
Families will be involved in school affairs and
will be made aware of the importance of
education. They will also be trained to
develop their parenting skills and to know
how to promote their child's best interests.
At school level the aim is to make school a
more welcoming place for children. Special
attention will be paid to working closely with
teachers to ensure that:
— the right to education of every child is
observed without discrimination;
— they can adapt their teaching methods
so that they focus more on the
acquisition of (basic) competencies,
rather on just delivering information to
children;
— they can adapt their methods to each
child's learning capacity, rather than
seeing the class as a group.
The project will also improve the school
resources of the poorest schools through
appropriate supplies and equipment.
At community level, the project will try to
create or revive (where it already exists) a
community stakeholders network for bringing
children to school (Local Council, School
Inspectorates, General Directorate for Child
Protection, Private sector). School mediators
will play a very important role, as a link
between families, school and the community.
Their role is mainly to monitor children of
preschool and school age who are not
enrolled and help families to get them into
THE QUARTERLY NEWSLETTER OF UNICEF ROMANIA - NR 8, 2010
school or kindergarten.
For the implementation of the School
Attendance campaign, UNICEF has partnered
with the Ministry of Education, the Institute of
Educational Sciences, and Center Education
2000+ for interventions at school level and
with the Roma Civic Alliance for interventions
at community and family level.
The campaign will cover at least 70
communities in 30 counties over two years.
The communities have been selected based on
their high dropout rate. In the first year (school
year 2010-2011), the campaign will target the
15 counties with the highest rates of school
abandonment: Arad, Bacău, Braşov, Botoşani,
Caraş-Severin, Călăraşi, Constanţa, Covasna,
Dolj, Giurgiu, Mehedinţi, Sibiu, Tulcea, Vâlcea,
and Vrancea.
In these counties, the Institute of Educational
Sciences and Center Education 2000+ will
replicate the Education Priority Areas
approach; the Ministry of Education will train
Roma school mediators and school principals
and the Roma Civic Alliance will run a
mobilisation campaign at family and
community level. After the first year, the
school attendance rate in the targeted
locations is expected to have improved
considerably and the communities, families
and schools will be mobilised to find
solutions to address school dropout locally
and to prevent it in the longer term. ¢
UNICEF Romania/ Feather in the cap:
achievement in school can boost self-esteem
5
 Preventing and combating school
dropout Interview with Ciprian Fartuşnic, PhD and Otilia Apostu,
PhD student, Institute for Educational Sciences

— What is an EPA? How can it help to successful in preventing and combating

prevent dropout?
Educational priority areas (EPA) are a
set of measures used where economic
and social conditions get in the way of
students' success in school. The system
promotes positive discrimination and
compensation (allocating additional
school resources to students with
learning difficulties and poor school
results which stem from social and
economic challenges) and consists of
three main components:
school dropout both in European
education systems (especially in
France) and in our system, with pilot
interventions having been implemented
in Romania from 2003 with support
from UNICEF Romania.
The EPA system helps the school,
students and community develop
significant and effective partnerships. It
gives local stakeholders the means to
reduce the risk of dropout and combat
school inequalities.

a. Educational policies targeting compensation and the — How has this model fared at national
removal of educational inequalities, which involves level?
turning elite schools into mainstream schools and
providing equal opportunities through welfare state At the start of 2003, the Institute of
interventions; these policies are typically Education Sciences (IES) began a pilot
implemented geographically (EPA approach); project to test the feasibility of EPA and
b. Educational policies fighting exclusion (be it school how it might be applied to the national
or social and economic exclusion) by making radical education system. The project was
changes to school practices and furthering implemented with the help of UNICEF
understanding of socio-economic disadvantage; this Romania from 2003-2007, in No 3
approach focuses on equity and giving young people
a minimum level of skills and knowledge that can
bring about real social inclusion;
c. Educational policies promoting inclusive education;
this model focuses both on groups at risk and
children with specific/ special educational needs.

The main aim of EPA programmes is to

give young people from socially and
economically disadvantaged areas
basic education, improve their school
results and facilitate their social and
UNICEF Romania/ Eyes on the prize: EPA programmes
professional integration. The EPA
aim to help marginalised children integrate
system has proved particularly
6 UNITE FOR CHILDREN
Elementary and Middle School in Giurgiu.
The school is located in a socially and
economically disadvantaged area, with a
high Roma population and little
involvement from the community in
solving school-related problems. When
the selection was made, the school was
dealing with numerous issues such as: a
high dropout rate, a relatively high
number of unschooled children in the
school's enrolment area, high grade
repetition rate, poor infrastructure
(including teaching materials and
equipment) and low funding from local
authorities.
The project targeted all students enrolled
in the selected school and some children
from socially and economically
challenged families. Its objectives were
those of the EPA model. The project's key
components were: training of teachers
and school managers; curriculum
development for the EPA class and
catch-up classes; school infrastructure
through improvement of school facilities,
furniture, teaching materials and
equipment; development of community
partnerships, involving parents, local
public authorities, private companies
and NGOs; and social work for both the
students attending the EPA classes and
the rest of the students.
The results of the pilot project
demonstrated that EPA-based
intervention can provide a long-term
solution to improve social inclusion for
students from a socially and
economically challenged background.
The IES research team, with the support
of UNICEF Romania, therefore decided to
scale up the EPA intervention by
implementing a new project in five
schools in the County of Călăraşi. Four of
these schools were located in rural areas
(No 2 Elementary and Middle School in
THE QUARTERLY NEWSLETTER OF UNICEF ROMANIA - NR 8, 2010
UNICEF Romania/ Making point: a boy from an EPA project
tackles his homework
Modelu, the Elementary and Middle
School in Roseţi, No 2 Elementary and
Middle School in Ulmeni and the
Elementary and Middle School in
Stancea-Spanţov) and one in an urban
area (School No 7 in Călăraşi).
During the 2009-2010 school year, over
1,700 children, 120 teachers, 300 parents
and 27 representatives of management
teams participated in project activities.
Monitoring and evaluation confirmed
that the project helped both school
stakeholders and the community. The
benefits of gradually scaling-up the EPA
framework and methodology to the
whole system were thereby confirmed,
especially as regards school attendance
and reducing dropout.
The decision to carry on with the EPA
project in other schools fitting the
criteria was only natural as the economic
recession has made this type of
intervention even more important. Most
County School Inspectorates indicated
that in 2009 the crisis had impacted on
school attendance rates, while the
number of dropout cases had risen
significantly as compared to previous
years.
7
 — In which schools will the new project be implemented and how were they
selected?

The schools where the EPA model is set to be scaled-up have high dropout rates
and are in counties which official data indicate are the worst affected by the
phenomenon. The school selection process was quite complex and involved
several stages:
Based on data from the National Institute of Statistics, 12 counties were selected from those reporting the highest dropout
rates in the 2008-2009 school year.
Two communities (and two-three other back-up communities) and schools were identified from each selected county.
Information on the identified communities and schools was initially gathered by the school inspectorates from those counties,
using a dedicated special investigation tool (School Chart).
Field visits to the selected communities featured meetings with school stakeholders (management team, specialised staff,
extra-curricular activities co-ordinator), community representatives and parents. During these visits, various aspects regarding
the specific features of the schools and their communities were discussed.

After the field visits, a list was drawn up of the 24 communities and schools where
EPA-specific activities will be carried out during the 2010-2011 school year. They
are listed below:

8 UNITE FOR CHILDREN

— What types of activities are planned
and what results will the new project
have?
The activities planned for the selected
schools should make school and
community stakeholders aware of the
extent and causes of dropout and means
of intervention for the fight against it.
More precisely, the schools will be given
information sessions, training and
assistance to help them:
– Identify students at high risk of dropping out of school
and develop personal intervention plans;
– Craft appropriate teaching strategies (through
curricular adjustment and the development of support
materials);
– Adjust institutional strategies and annual intervention
plans to the needs of the student group;
– Win families' support and involve parents who are
currently showing a negative attitude towards
education;
– Win support from community representatives and other
relevant partners at local and county levels;
– Develop the extracurricular activities on offer and use
them as motivational tools for young people at risk.
adequately measure the success of the
interventions in each school. In this way,
we hope the successful experiences will
be further scaled-up and replicated as
part of a process of fine-tuning the EPA
intervention to suit each community. The
end of the 2010-2011 school year will
thereby offer a series of long-awaited
answers to all those who are interested
in the project.*
To find out more about EPA projects, go to the
link below and see the report drawn up at the
end of the pilot project implemented in the
County of Giurgiu:
http://www.unicef.ro/publicatii/educatie/zone-
prioritare-de-educatie.html
The main features of the EPA intervention are
synthesised from an educational policy
perspective in the document Scaling Up the
EPA System. Policy Implications. IES, 2010.
* A further 14 communities in Suceava, Botoşani,
Dolj, Giurgiu and Vâlcea have been subsequently
added to the EPA scale-up.This means a total of
38 communities will carry out EPA activities in the
2010/2011 school year.

We expect the new schools hosting EPA

intervention-specific activities to see a
direct, clear and measurable impact in
terms of school participation as well as
other positive effects (for example,
improvement in the students' school
results, increase in the number of
children who continue their studies after
finishing middle school or compulsory
education, development of school-
family-community relationships,
increase in the management team's
capacity to promote educational
projects, and so on). As a result of the
field visits, relevant statistical data have
been collected to work out some UNICEF Romania/ Listen and learn
baseline indicators that will help to

THE QUARTERLY NEWSLETTER OF UNICEF ROMANIA - NR 8, 2010 9

 GDF SUEZ Energy Romania helps ensure

“The future starts in school”

UNICEF and GDF SUEZ Energy Romania, a branch of
the world energy leader GDF SUEZ, have formed a
partnership agreement to carry out the project “The
future starts in school”, which is aimed at increasing
school attendance and decreasing the school dropout
rate. The project started in September and will run for
two years in schools from 16 disadvantaged
communities in the counties of Călăraşi, Braşov,
Vrancea, Covasna and Tulcea.*
“The main outcome we expect from this project is an
increase in the school attendance rate and a decrease
in the risk of dropout among children from
disadvantaged environments. The direct beneficiaries of the project will be children at high risk
of becoming dropouts or who have already dropped out of school; children who have never
been to school, and their families; the teaching staff in schools; and the school management
teams”, said the UNICEF Romania Representative, Edmond McLoughney.
While in the last decade schools in Romania have been the beneficiaries of various projects,
the idea for this initiative came in response to the conclusions of an investigation into the
causes of the school dropout rate in the counties of Giurgiu and Călăraşi, which highlighted
how big the impact of school-related factors was in school dropout cases.
The project funded by GDF SUEZ, “The future starts in school”, is mainly intended to facilitate
community interventions, using the EPA (Education Priority Areas) model. A gradual approach
will be taken to achieve this goal, through activities aimed at the motivation, training and
empowerment of teachers, directors and parents, as well as other community members. To this
end, the main activities centre on:
– The identification of children at high risk of becoming school dropouts or who have
already dropped out of school, and the determination of the main causes of school
dropout,
– A review of the current curricula and teaching materials underpinning the training of
teachers, school managers, parents and other community members,
– The organisation and implementation of training and support activities for teachers and
school managers, as well as parents and community representatives. Modest school
investment in the selected communities and an intervention plan put into effect in each
school in the selected communities.
The intervention will be implemented jointly with and for the benefit of the local school and
community. Consequently, in schools will take part in all information, facilitation, training and
counselling activities, which are directed at the parents and other community members, while
the joint learning activities will have a direct impact on schools.
In line with the EPA intervention model, the main aims of this project are: to adjust the
provision of education to the needs of students from socially and economically disadvantaged
backgrounds; to increase the quality of education services with respect to the curricula,
teaching materials and learning environment; and to empower parents and increase their
involvement, as well as that of the public authorities and private sector in all school decisions.
The bottom line is that all children in these 16 communities complete, at a minimum, 10 years
of compulsory education.

* These are among the 24 communities listed at page 8.

10 UNITE FOR CHILDREN

Booking a ticket to a better future,
Florin goes back to school
by Debbie Stowe, UNICEF Consultant

Like many teenage boys, Florin Constantin
Dinu wears a football shirt. But it is reading,
rather than sport, that is the 16-year-old's
passion.
“He doesn't like to do chores or work, instead
he wants to study. He could stay all day long
with a book in his hand,” says Florin's mother,
Anişoara.
But Florin's schooling was interrupted when
he went to Spain to look after his nephew.
After two years out of the local education
system, it would have been easy for Florin to
have dropped out of school permanently and
stayed on in Spain, joining the thousands of
his compatriots drawn to the Iberian country
by the promise of higher wages.
Florin made the difficult decision to return to
Romania and finish his studies. “I told them
[my parents] I wanted to return home. I have
to learn a profession, so I can, in my turn,
teach other children, like our teachers are
doing with us.”
“We hope that we will manage to support
Florin through high school and if he wants we
will support him at college too,” says
Anişoara. “If he studies and gets a
scholarship we will help him. Somehow we
will manage…”
With support from his parents and from
UNICEF, Florin is now working towards a
better future for himself. Sitting on his bed in
the evening, he reads about the world in his
geography textbook. Education can make that
world his oyster. But there are thousands of
boys and girls like Florin, around Romania
and abroad, who have dropped out of school,
whose young promise is being squandered in
the pressing fight for survival.
Given help to continue their studies, they
could be tomorrow's doctors, teachers,
leaders the next generation taking Romania
on its journey from communism to
democracy. But deprived of an education,
their lives will simply be devoted to
scratching out a living.

With maternal pride, Anişoara says, “I always Perhaps Florin sums up best the importance
had great expectations from him. I don't want of education to Romania's young people.
to tell him what he should be; he just needs to “I must go to school to be somebody.” ¢
learn, learn for himself. He should have
whatever job he chooses. I don't want him to
struggle as we have…”

And life is indeed a struggle for the family.

Florin lives with Anişoara and his father, Gigi,
in a dilapidated home, typical of many
throughout Romania's towns and villages.
The place is in need of repairs, and there is
little space to do homework.

His parents work part time in a pet centre. No

doubt life would be easier financially if Florin
entered the work force. But it's a sacrifice that
the family are prepared to make for the sake
of their son's future.

THE QUARTERLY NEWSLETTER OF UNICEF ROMANIA - NR 8, 2010 11

 Training School Mediators
and Principals to Keep Vulnerable
Children in Education
by Raluca Zaharia & Luminiţa Costache,
Education Officers - UNICEF Romania

Vulnerable children, especially Roma,

have very limited access to education.
One in five Roma families say they cannot
afford to send their children to school
they do not have suitable clothing or
enough money to buy school supplies. At
the same time, schools often use Roma
families' lack of identity papers as an
excuse to turn Roma children away.
Forced by circumstances to work from an
early age in order to contribute to the
survival of their families, many Roma
children will eventually abandon school.
As indicated elsewhere, the Roma
UNICEF Romania/ School mediators have proved
invaluable in helping keep children in class Inclusion Barometer (OSF, 2007) indicates
that: 23 % of Roma respondents have no
education whatsoever, 27 % attended only
primary school and 33 % went no further than graduating from secondary school as
opposed to 2 %, 11 % and 24 % respectively among all other ethnic groups; 95 % of Roma
have no high school education, compared to 60 % of the other respondents.
In the 1990s, Romania created the position of school mediator to make access to
education easier for children from vulnerable groups. This positive experience was
developed and replicated and in 2001 The Ministry of Education designed the post of
school mediator as an auxiliary teaching position which means that funds can now be
allocated from the core budget. The school mediator has the important role of
connecting and assisting in communication between the school and the family and
facilitating school enrolment and attendance for disadvantaged children.
School principals have the fundamental role of facilitating the development of a shared
vision and managing the process of achieving that vision. They can be agents of change
and can lead the transformation of their schools into child-friendly units. It is, therefore,
of great importance that they be prepared to tackle dropout from inside the school.
In order to increase the school participation of vulnerable children, including Roma,
and to encourage their participation in preschool education as a prerequisite for the

12 UNITE FOR CHILDREN

prevention of school abandonment, an important activity throughout the entire
two-year campaign will be training by the Ministry of Education of 220 Roma
school mediators and 200 school principals.
The school mediators will be trained to facilitate family-school-community
communication while school principals will be trained to help transform schools
into child-friendly facilities.
After the training, the school mediators will:
— Facilitate school-family-community dialogue;
— Monitor children of preschool age who are not enrolled in kindergarten and
support families to enroll their children;
— Monitor children of school age who have never enrolled, provide solutions
for their school integration or for their access to alternative education
programmes;
— Collect relevant data to monitor children's access to compulsory education
and pass them on to the school in order to identify solutions;
— Take note of educational or other issues that could affect attendance in
school;
— Inform families of the role of the school and the legal provisions on
children's attendance;
— Inform the authorities of violations of children's rights.
The training of school principals will equip them to:
— Facilitate the development of a shared vision, resolve problems and
manage a process to achieve that vision;
— Act as community catalysts to ensure that the right to education of all
children is properly observed;
— Ensure a safe and friendly school environment for all children, with a focus
on the most vulnerable, including Roma;
— Secure the necessary resources for the school;
— Facilitate essential training for teachers and develop a school culture
conducive to learning;
— Facilitate parent involvement and build constructive links with the
community to achieve a high participation rate of children in education.
The training of Roma school mediators and school principals is part of the School
Attendance campaign launched by UNICEF in 2010 to fight dropout. It is a multi-
layer campaign, targeting families, schools and communities at the same time
and aiming thus to increase its efficiency in getting back in school as many out-of-
school children as possible. Training 220 school mediators and 200 school
principals will increase the chances of reinsertion in the school environment of the
vulnerable children from as many communities. ¢

THE QUARTERLY NEWSLETTER OF UNICEF ROMANIA - NR 8, 2010 13

Bringing Roma Children
into the Educational Fold
by Iulian Stoian,
LL.M. Consultant,
Roma Civic Alliance of Romania

Every year, at around this time, tens of

thousands of parents and grandparents
are caught up in the frenzy of enrolling
their child or grandchild in the
neighbourhood school. None of them
would settle for less than the best school
in the neighbourhood. The year's savings
are checked, planned and reallocated; a
whole marketing operation is set into
motion by the entire family to find the best
school backpacks, pencil cases, notebooks
and other school supplies indispensable to
UNICEF Romania/ Do the maths: one of the project's any first grader who will make the family
aims is to improve school attendance rates proud at the start-of-school ceremony on
in Roma communities the first day. Children's clothing stores are
closely inspected by the family members
to pick the coolest garments for the family's school girl or boy to start his or her
“career”...

A seemingly common picture but one far less commonly replicated in the lives of
Roma families. Why is this? First of all, because of an unfair label applied to the Roma
parent, resulting from the stereotypes and prejudices which are still persistent in our
society. The Roma's state of servitude during times of slavery, the forced assimilation
policy alongside the cultivation of a mono-cultural spirit and suppression of all forms
of assertion of ethnic identity during the communist regime, and, more recently, the
lack of intercultural education and equal opportunities have made a deep mark on the
mentality of our society as regards the Roma. And unfortunately on the Roma
themselves, who have often internalised the stigma...

Sadly, parents are not the only ones who get the blame. Roma children, interacting
with others, adults or children, who have not been exposed to a culture of diversity,

14 UNITE FOR CHILDREN

also internalise the social stigma. Often deemed incapable of coping with school
or less bright than their peers, Roma children are understandably reluctant to
attend a dreary-looking, cold school that is nowhere near ready to understand
them, to get them involved, to stimulate and capitalise on their full creative
potential, to finally welcome them...

Still, the Roma have much in common with the majority population. All of us
share the same human emotions and the same aspiration for a “better life” for
our children, including the Roma. On the outskirts of society for decades, trying to
survive, the Roma have internalised the stigma and neglected to appreciate the
true potential of school. Of course, lack of successful role models in the
community, of achievers through education, is yet another problem that we all
have to face. For this reason, every Roma child's school success contributes to the
emancipation of this ethnic minority group.

The Learning for Life! campaign, run by the Roma Civic Alliance of Romania, in
partnership with UNICEF Romania is hereby being launched to support 24 poor
Roma communities, aiming to prevent and reduce school dropout.

Increased attention will be paid to supporting Roma children who have dropped
out of elementary or middle school by helping with their enrolment in the Second
Chance educational programme. We estimate that, as a result of the campaign, a
higher number of Roma children from the project's target communities will enjoy
the fundamental right of a child to education. In addition, before children's
enrolment in school, we aim to offer support to the children's families and hold
community meetings, which we call the Roma Parents' Forum, thus facilitating
dialogue between Roma community members, the school and local authorities.

Roma parents will learn that they need to get involved and play an active part in
school decision-making, and that they have the right to be informed and
consulted about the school curriculum. Sensitive yet pertinent matters will be
discussed, such as discrimination, ethnicity-based school segregation and the
poor quality of rural education, and what the community and the school can do to
avoid them. For this purpose, the Roma Parents' Forum will also be attended by
school managers and teachers who will talk about the school's educational offer,
as well as by the mayor, medical doctor, health mediator and school mediator.
Through such community consultation at local level we advocate for a dynamic,
inclusive school, which is present in and connected almost constantly to the life of
the community, and for an active community of parents interested in Roma
children's school achievements.

Aware of the financial difficulties that parents may face, with this project we also
want to support the parents of Roma children enrolled in school. Before the school
year starts, all the children who are beneficiaries of this programme will receive a
school backpack filled with school supplies and a jacket. This is our symbolic way
of staying close to Roma first graders on their first day of school. ¢

THE QUARTERLY NEWSLETTER OF UNICEF ROMANIA - NR 8, 2010 15

After the floods - rebuilding a more
robust Romania
by Debbie Stowe, UNICEF Consultant
“What should I do? I have lost my house.
There is nothing left. I have just the
clothes I'm wearing right now. I would
start again but I am old and weak. I do
not even have a bottle of water to drink.”
The words of the Săuceşti woman, her
UNICEF Romania/ UNICEF Representative,
Edmond McLoughney, and Mihai Tatulici, Realitatea TV,
talk to victims of the floods
UNICEF Romania/ The UNICEF team volunteers
alongside Habitat for Humanity to repair
flooded homes in Dorohoi
16 UNITE FOR CHILDREN
home destroyed by the recent floods
that devastated parts of north-east
Romania in June 2010, cannot fail to
touch the heart. So too the story of the
fire fighter who, while working with
colleagues on the rescue effort, was told
that his own house had also been
flooded. Over 20 people died in the
disaster, most drowning and two being
struck by lightening.
The catastrophic flooding of late June
was brought about by freak weather,
with Suceava County the hardest hit of
the areas affected. Over a week of heavy
rains and storms sent river levels
dangerously high. As well as those who
lost their lives, thousands of people
were forced from their homes. But the
repercussions spread beyond the
afflicted zone itself. The floods ravaged
Romania's agricultural heartland,
wrecking the harvest at a time when
local food prices are rising. Fields and
farms were turned into swamps almost
overnight. Infrastructure - roads, bridges
and power lines - in the region was also
brought to a standstill.
Flood disasters are not the sole preserve
of developing countries: recent disasters
in France, the UK and the US show that.
But while richer nations are able to rally
more resources and deploy them more
effectively in disaster areas, less well off
countries struggle to protect their land
and people from the wrath of nature.
Rudimentary defences were mounted in
north-east Romania, with sandbags
used to contain the ravages of the
water, but they could do little to stem
the tide.
The authorities responded as best they
could, given the constraints that the
economic recession has placed upon
the state budget and the estimated
EUR 60 million clean-up costs of the
floods. Local authorities, the army and
the police moved to provide immediate
relief, in the form of blankets, food and
water, and start the process of
repairing and rebuilding damaged
homes. President Traian Băsescu and
Prime Minister Emil Boc were among
the public officials to tour the region.
Beyond the financial cost is the human
toll, as people who have lost loved
ones, homes and livelihoods, and seen
places where they lived and worked
submerged in mere hours, try to come
to terms with their traumatic
experience and move on with their
lives - either in new locations or in their
flood-prone towns and villages, aware
that the waters could always return.
With help from its donors, UNICEF has
moved to try and provide aid to people
in the stricken areas. Its response
consists of several phases. The first is
situation assessment, an ongoing
process that involves gathering and
using data from various sources, in
order that the extent and details of the
damage are fully known, allowing the
relief effort to be effectively targeted.
Next comes the immediate response in
the form of psychological assistance
provided to the worst hit communities
of Dorohoi, Pătrăuţi, Suceviţa and
Săuceşti. The establishment of a safe
environment for children, including
child-friendly spaces, is a priority.
THE QUARTERLY NEWSLETTER OF UNICEF ROMANIA - NR 8, 2010
Children are typically the most
seriously harmed by disasters of this
kind. The third phase of the relief effort
involves play activities and summer
camps organised by child specialists as
a means to reduce the effects of the
trauma suffered by children in the
region and boost their psychological
recovery. Psycho-social support is
integrated into education and
protection responses. Local teachers
are be trained to spot signs of post-
traumatic stress disorder.
Schools and education are also at the
heart of the next phase of UNICEF's
plan of intervention. The teachers who
received training after the floods of
2008 are being 'reactivated', enabling
them to help their local communities.
Schools are being assessed and
furnished with supplies where
necessary.
Further down the line, the focus
narrows to making sure the most
vulnerable children are attending
school regularly, a cause that UNICEF
is also working towards countrywide,
and which is covered in depth
elsewhere in this issue. Finally, 50
houses will be repaired in Dorohoi,
Botoşani County: single-parent families
with more than two children are the
priority candidates.
With crisis comes opportunity, and the
hope is that through the efforts of
UNICEF and its partners, the
communities - some of the poorest in
the European Union - will ultimately be
restored to a better condition than they
were in before the floods hit.
Working with UNICEF to achieve all of
this are the Directions for Social
Assistance and Child Protection
(DSACP), Prefecture, General
17

UNICEF Romania/ UNICEF's Eugen Crai helps distribute
essential supplies in Dorohoi
Inspectorate for Emergency Situations
(GIES), NGOs: CRIPS, SPAS, SOS
Children's Villages, the National
Authority for Youth and Sport, County
School Inspectorates, Institute for
Educational Sciences, Roma Civic
Alliance, Community Development
Agency Together and Habitat for
Humanity. Orange, Vodafone, Cosmote
and Romtelecom are the agency's
telecommunication
partners, and BRD - Groupe
Société Générale its
strategic partner.
As usual, none of this is
possible without the
compassion and support of
the general public and
corporate donors, who
have offered up their
resources in a heart-
warming gesture of
solidarity for their stricken
compatriots in response to
a media campaign by
Realitatea TV, UNICEF's
18 UNITE FOR CHILDREN
fund-raising partner. 650,000 Euros
had been raised for the flood
victims.
Over 200,000 people donated for
the flood victims. The campaign also
gained support from numerous
companies and organisations such
as: Fundaţia Romtelecom pentru
români, Amgen, BRD - Groupe
Société Générale, GDF SUEZ Energy
Romania, Tractebel Engineering,
Carrefour, OMV Petrom, Fundaţia
Vodafone, SIF Moldova, Enel,
Grupul Industrial de Componente,
Anvergo, Romanian Trade
Garments, FIN EXPERT, Konsta
Splendid and DIGITAL IT CONSULT.
Though the waters may have now
receded, the road to recovery for
Romania's devastated north-eastern
communities runs far beyond repairing
their homes and farms. But with the
efforts and expertise of partners and the
generosity of donors, there is hope that
the afflicted communities can look to a
brighter tomorrow. ¢
UNICEF Romania/ The UNICEF team volunteers alongside
Habitat for Humanity to repair flooded homes in Dorohoi
Porsche Finance Group Romania partners UNICEF
to set up Resource Centre for Parents and Children
Holt Romania/ Chalk it up: a child improves
her art skills at the centre
Porsche Finance Group Romania has
contributed to the opening of the first
Resource Centre for Parents and
Children in Medgidia. Through
parenting courses given at the centre,
mothers and fathers will have the
opportunity to improve their child-
rearing knowledge and practices.
Kurt Leitner, CEO of Porsche Finance
Group Romania, sole partner in the
project, said: “We support long-term
partnerships - both partnerships with
our customers and with outside entities
and the local community. We think that
our role goes beyond the business
environment and we believe in family
values. That is why we have decided to
form a partnership with UNICEF to
establish the first Resource Centre for
Parents and Children in the city of
Medgidia.”
The company, a provider of integrated
financial services for the purchase of
Porsche vehicles, has put up EUR
25,000 to help refurbish the centre,
fund the necessary materials and cover
the training expenses.
The main goal of the parenting courses
THE QUARTERLY NEWSLETTER OF UNICEF ROMANIA - NR 8, 2010
is to encourage parents to consider
their own lives and how they relate to
their children, allowing them to make
the best choices for their families.
The program, which kicked off on May
31, 2010, starts from the premise that
parenting is necessary not only for
children, but also for the further
development and social emancipation
of individuals. During the meetings the
parent is valued as an individual, for
their identity outside the role of parent
which they must perform in their
everyday life. While improving their
knowledge of themselves and their new
role as parents, the trainees will learn
to feel more comfortable, allowing
them to grant the required attention to
the balanced development of their
children.
By July 2010, the new centre had
hosted eight parenting courses of eight
sessions each, based on the Holt
module, “How to become better
parents”. To date, 86 young mothers
have taken these courses and over 180
children have benefitted from the
programme.
Holt Romania/ Children enjoy playing at the Resource
Centre for Parents and Children in Medgidia
19
 UNICEF and Kaufland Romania -
a parenting
partnership

UNICEF Romania/ Giacomo Pirozzi/

Mum's the word: a mother helps her
daughter get to grips with writing

Kaufland Romania has been supporting the “Parental Education” community-based

project implemented by UNICEF in partnership with Holt Romania and the Ministry of
Education, Research, Youth and Sports.

The project aims to promote a new type of community-based service to prevent

situations of risk for children and their families. The Holt-modelled course, “How to
become better parents”, takes a positive approach to child-rearing and education and
specifically focuses on factors that contribute to abuse and neglect, including lack of
information and parenting skills, and difficulties faced by the parents, their low self-
respect, feelings of isolation, unrealistic expectations, as well as misconceptions
about child development and the role of a parent.

Some 150 teachers and class coordinators will be trained as parenting trainers under
this initiative, and will then hold training courses on parenting for 1,500 parents. The
project will be rolled out in 18 counties around Romania, of which Kaufland is present
in 16.

Parenting a teenager can be as challenging as raising a 5-year-old, as any parent will

realise. Consequently, counselling, guidance and support are invaluable at all times,
and the courses are designed with this in mind. Course modules are usually available
for the following age groups: 0- to 3-year olds, 3- to 6-year olds, 6- to 10-year olds
and teenagers.

The courses will continuously explore new ways to help parents acquire the
necessary knowledge and skills to ensure the best development for their children.
This is a basic right for every child and lays the foundations for a better future for all
human beings, families and communities. ¢

20 UNITE FOR CHILDREN

 2.4 million tetanus vaccines
funded in 2010
Parents throughout the country have continued to support the “1 pack = 1
vaccine” campaign this year. With their help, Pampers has funded over 2.4
million tetanus vaccines for UNICEF in 2010, to go with the over 2 million
vaccines financed two years ago in Romania during the campaign against
neonatal tetanus.

The goal of the “1 pack = 1 vaccine” campaign, launched worldwide four

years ago, is to eliminate neonatal tetanus in the countries affected by the
disease. Although it has been eradicated from developed countries,
including Romania, through immunisation campaigns, in the poorer areas
of Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Pacific Region, as well as in other
parts of the world, maternal and neonatal tetanus remains a real threat.
Over 140,000 infants and around 30,000 mothers die yearly because of it.
Most mothers from developing countries have an income of less than USD
1 a month. The poverty they face, along with the precarious practices and
hygiene conditions associated with childbirth, provide fertile ground for
neonatal tetanus. And yet a simple vaccine that costs just USD 0.07 could
save the life of a newborn.

To alleviate the suffering of babies and help their mothers protect them
from this deadly disease, Romania joined the Pampers UNICEF “1 pack = 1
vaccine” initiative in 2008. Through this project, with each pack of diapers
or wet wipes with the logo of the campaign sold, Pampers will give UNICEF
the money required to purchase a tetanus vaccine.

Numerous celebrities, such as Andreea Marin Bănică (UNICEF Goodwill

Ambassador in Romania), Ştefan Bănică Jr., Nico, Analia Selis, Nicola,
Andra, Anca Ţurcaşiu and Chris Simion, have joined forces and, along with
Pampers, UNICEF and other individuals throughout the country, have
helped save millions of lives this year as well.

Pampers and UNICEF thank all those who have made it possible to continue
the fight against tetanus, thereby proving that love and humanity have no
borders, and that the life and the smile of a child are worth any effort.

THE QUARTERLY NEWSLETTER OF UNICEF ROMANIA - NR 8, 2010 21

Haiti six months on:
building a better country
from the rubble
UNICEF /LeMoyne/ Pupils attend lessons
in a UNICEF classroom tent
UNICEF/ /Ramoneda/ Girls receive school
supplies provided by UNICEF at a temporary
classroom in a park
22 UNITE FOR CHILDREN
by Debbie Stowe, UNICEF Consultant
Six months after a devastating 7.0-magnitude earthquake
rained further agony down on Haiti, the story has long
since drifted from the media radar screen, replaced by
more recent disasters such as the floods in Pakistan. But
though the drama of collapsing buildings and immediate
threats of disease outbreaks have receded, and the
world's gaze now lies elsewhere, life is Haiti is a long
way from back to normal. And given the challenges that
beset the Caribbean state prior to the tremor, even that
'normality' was a long way from being an appropriate
environment for Haiti's children who make up nearly
half of the country's population.
UNICEF, as one of the main aid agencies involved in the
post-earthquake operation, has used the occasion of the
six-month anniversary of the quake to compile a
progress report. The document records not only what has
been achieved so far, but what pressing needs remain, as
Haiti struggles to become a country fit for children.
It is a huge challenge. As always, the true scope of the
suffering is most poignantly exemplified by the personal
stories of the survivors and victims. But even the bare
figures are shocking. Some 220,000 lives lost. 1.6 million
people displaced (the equivalent of the population of
Manhattan), of whom half are thought to be children.
300,000 injured. 4,000 people who have lost a limb.
Millions of onlookers, moved by the humanitarian
catastrophe unfolding on their television sets, computer
screens and newspapers, contributed to the relief effort.
The good news is that half a year on, there has been no
increase in malnutrition and no major outbreaks of
disease. But Haiti is not out of the woods yet. The release
of the report coincides with the onset of the country's
often devastating hurricane season, which threatens to
undo much of the fragile recovery. In 2008, more than
800,000 people were affected by hurricanes and tropical
storms. And it is estimated that over 100,000 people in
84 assessed sites in the capital of Port-au-Prince are
vulnerable to rain-related hazards such as have been set up for 155,000 learners. This
floods and landslides. Currently, only 7,000 marks significant progress from three
have been moved to safer ground. months after the disaster, when UNICEF
was about to deliver the first 200,000 of
And there are other risks. The spontaneous
720,000 backpacks containing essential
settlements housing those who lost their
school supplies. At that point, 900 school
homes in the quake could, if left, develop
tents covering over 90,000 children had
into new urban slums. In these sites, an
been deployed in conjunction with Save the
average of 145 people share one latrine,
Children.
creating obvious health and sanitation
hazards. Half a million children in Haiti have UNICEF-supported child-friendly spaces are
been deemed extremely vulnerable and now up to 225, catering to 62,800 children
require child protection assistance. (in comparison with 80 such spaces tending
to the needs of 55,000 children at the three-
And of course the pre-existing problems
month point). Meanwhile, the agency
also remain. Children and women in Haiti
continues to coordinate the Clusters in
are still living in unacceptable conditions,
Nutrition, Education (co-led with Save the
with too little water and too little access to
Children Alliance), Water, Sanitation and
proper sanitation. Infants and children
Hygiene, and the Child Protection Sub-
under five are still exposed to vaccine-
Cluster. With the United Nations Population
preventable diseases, while older children
Fund (UNFPA), UNICEF co-leads the
are not in school and vulnerable to physical
Gender-Based Violence Working Group and
and sexual violence, exploitation and child
co-leads with the International Organization
trafficking. Young people and adolescents
for Migration in the Mental Health and
are missing out on the opportunities taken
Psychosocial Support Group.
for granted by their peers elsewhere.
UNICEF is continuing its efforts in the
But the challenges must not overshadow
stricken region, working to overcome the
the great progress that has been made,
unique challenges presented in a country
thanks to the combined efforts of the
where the entire administration collapsed
government of Haiti, United Nations,
in the wake of the disaster. It is without
international community and people of
doubt a long road back for Haiti. But the
Haiti. An unprecedented joint effort from
cooperation of the agencies, public and
aid agencies, funded by the generosity of
organisations on the ground combined
people across the world, has already
with the goodwill and generosity of people
reaped tangible results.
around the world offer hope that the
Safe water is now reaching 330,000 people incremental changes as the months pass
daily and more than 275,000 children have can help build a better Haiti and a country
been immunised against major vaccine- truly fit for children. ¢
preventable diseases. Children between
nine months and seven years are receiving
vital vaccinations against deadly diseases
and Vitamin A supplements, as part of a
wider immunisation campaign.
On the nutrition side, 126 outpatient
therapeutic feeding programmes and 28
stabilisation centres provide life-saving
care to malnourished children, compared to
the 8 acute malnutrition management sites
that were in operation three months ago.
As immediate needs are met, attention
turns to long-term aims like education. The
six-month report reveals that 185,000 UNICEF/ Markisz/ Footballer Lionel Messi,
children have now been reached with basic UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador, visits children in Haiti
education materials and 1,297 school tents
THE QUARTERLY NEWSLETTER OF UNICEF ROMANIA - NR 8, 2010 23
United Nations Children's Fund - Romania Office
48A Bvd Primaverii, 011975 Bucharest 1, Romania
Telephone: +40 21 201 78 72
Fax. +40 21 317 52 55
Email: bucharest@unicef.org

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