Social Inclusion Impact Assessment
16 February 2006
Social Inclusion Impact Assessment
Beginning in December 2005, the ERRC is implementing a 12 month project to assess the impact of measures intened to improve access to social services for Roma in the National Action Plans of Czech Republic, France and Portugal. The project is funded by the European Community under the European Comnunity Action Programme to Combat Social Exclusion 2002 - 2006 and is implemented in partnership with the independent Portuguese research institute Numena. The project aims, through original research, to evaluate the economic and social impact of policies in the area of social services in the National Action Plans of Czech Republic, France and Portugal as these affect Roma, including an evaluation of policies specifically targetting Roma as well as how general policies address the needs of Roma. The research will culminate with a detailed report, highlighting deficiencies and good practices, as well as recommendations for improving the effectiveness of policy within the identified Member States. The objectives of this project include:
- Transnational exchange of knowledge and best practices/lessons learned, promoting mutual learning between sectors and countries with respect to measures to further the social inclusion of Roma through improving access to social services;
- Evaluating, through thorough research and analysis, the impact of measures to improve the access of Roma to social services included in the National Action Plans of Czech Republic, France and Portugal;
- Identifying good and best practices in the implementation of policies and strategies aimed at increasing access to social services in the target countries to contribute to the further development of and improvement of social inclusion policy in both the target countries and other EU Member States and Candidate Countries with Romani populations that live in similar conditions and experience similar barriers to accessing social services;
- Raising awareness of the specific situation of Roma in terms of their (in)ability to access social services and the impact of social inclusion measures by Member States to date along the line of reducing social exclusion through a seminar to report the research findings as well as the publication of findings; and
- Expanding the knowledge base from which social inclusion measures within the EU and within Members States are developed.
Further information: Community Action Programme.
