February 2017 25_Newletter February: Final preparations for the Pata-Cluj International Conference
Press release for the International conference The social inclusion debate: strategies and dilemmas, 1-2 March, ClujNapoca
28 February 2017 Cluj-Napoca
Over 200 experts will attend an International Conference on Social Inclusion organized in Cluj on 1-2 March
220 experts representing public institutions and NGOS, and representatives of important national and international forums, as the Embassy of the Kingdom of Norway to Romania, UNICEF Romania, the National Agency for the Roma, the Municipality of Cluj-Napoca, the Prefecture of Cluj, the Cluj County Council will attend the international conference The social inclusion debate: strategies and dilemmas taking place at the Grand Hotel Napoca in Cluj-Napoca, between March 1-2. The conference is organized by the Intercommunity Development Association Cluj Metropolitan Area, in colaboration with its project partners, Habitat for Humanity Cluj, the AltArt Foundation and the Community Association of the Roma from Coastei, within the framework of the Pata-Cluj project. Find the complete press release here.
Events and actions with and for the community Activities for children at Reactor for creation and experiment Children from Pata Rât and Cluj-Napoca have attended, together with their parents in February, the puppet theatre performances held on Saturdays within the MiniReactor
Financial Mechanism Office, Str Joseph II 12-16 (post address) Bd du Régent 47-48, B-1000 Bruxelles www.norwaygrants.org or www.norwaygrants-povertyalleviation.org © EEA & Norwegian Grants, Financial Mechanism Office, 2014-2017
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program held at Reactor, for creation and experiment. Thus, on the 4th of February, 15 children from Pata Rât and other children from the city attended the play Shapes (Forme). The play invited children to a journey in the world of shapes turned into characters, which through play and imagination were transformed in new shapes. After the journey, children had lunch and socialized with the organizers. On the 18th of February, a group of 10 children from Pata Rât attended together with children and adults from the city the paly Seasons (Anotimpurile). This performance deals with the passing of time and changes. At the end children stayed for lunch in the courtyard of Reactor, creation and experiment, playing games and telling stories together with the cultural facilitators and organizers from MiniReactor. Cultural and educational activities with youth and children from Pata Rât at the Paintbrush Factory Let’s play theatre is a series of acting workshops coordinated by Lucian Rad, which is part of the workshop series launched in November 2016 at the Paintbrush Factory held by actors and artists from the city. Lucian has worked with children and youth on various topics successfully addressed with the instrument they were the most afraid of at the beginning, improvisation. Through the exercises the trainer proposed those present managed to overcome their mistrust, their fear from the unknown or their fear to show their vulnerability in front of the others. Each child opened up and accepted the challenge to improvise at his own pace. By the end of the four meetings, each participant revealed his/her imagination through improvisation, in case of some children more timidly, while in case of others all happened with an enviable ease. Children, who opened up and became more enthusiastic after the workshops, are now waiting impatiently for the next series of workshops. The next series will start on the 8th of March, and will be a practical workshop implying crafts. Part of the youngsters living on the Cantonului street, which had attended and won the Pata-Cluj Got Talent! contest-show, started to work intensively with a professional choreographer. Thus, seven youngsters meet weekly, on several occasions, with Ferenc Sinkó, at the performance room of the Paintbrush Factory. Through playing and
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February 2017 25_NEWSLETTER experimenting they try out together various forms of performing: singing, beatbox and dance. The allocation procedure of the Pata-Cluj social apartments continues Throughout February the 4 external evaluators continued the work of assessing the applications for the social apartments provided through the PataCluj project. The two teams consisting of 2 evaluators paid visits to families living in Pata Rât, to those who submitted applications for the social apartments. Simultaneously with the assessment work, the acquisition team pursued the acquisition process of apartments in the Cluj Metropolitan Area. The youngsters participating in the YouthBuild Cluj 2016 program prepare for the final exams The 14 participants enrolled in the second edition of the YouthBuild Cluj program are preparing for the conclusion of the program and for the final exam. In November 2016, a new generation of youngsters from Pata Rât and ClujNapoca started the activities within the YouthBuild qualification courses. The young people aged less than 26 didn’t have a job and were not enrolled in any kind of formal education at the starting moment of the training. Thus, during the four months of the program, they attended qualification courses (they could choose between manicure-pedicure and hairdressing), courses of non-formal education, English classes, and activities through which they brought a contribution to the life of the Cluj community. The final exam for the selected courses will take place at the beginning of March. We wish success to all graduating participants! In March a new edition of the YouthBuild program will start with a new group of young people from the city and Pata Rât. On this occasion we wish a good beginning of the program for the new group! The program adopts an international model, developed by the YouthBuild International in over 15 countries from the world. You can find more details about the activities carried out within the YouthBuild Cluj program on the webpage and the blog dedicated to the project. Financial Mechanism Office, Str Joseph II 12-16 (post address) Bd du Régent 47-48, B-1000 Bruxelles www.norwaygrants.org or www.norwaygrants-povertyalleviation.org © EEA & Norwegian Grants, Financial Mechanism Office, 2014-2017
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The program and the activity of teams doing fieldwork in Pata Rat The work program in the community is made by the Pata-Cluj team in order to accommodate the needs and schedule of the Pata Rat community members. It changed during October and November, during the period of applications submission for social housing. Starting January the program returns to normal. Medical consultations: Tuesday 12.00-14.00 Friday 12.0014.00 The medical team support residents from Pata Rât to assess their general health and to provide emergency medical services. Documents: Monday 12.00-16.00 Maria supports people from Pata Rât in obtaining birth certificates and identity cards.
Past events The Shelters theatre is playing sold out On the 13th of February a new performance of Shelters took place at Reactor for creation and experiment, event dedicated to a general interested public, attended by 65 people aged between 18 and 35 years. The non-Roma public showed interest for the topic, the performance gathering a many new faces filling the performance room. After the show was set a discussion with the public for Q&A on the play and more pieces of information on evacuations, on Pata Rât and the work of staging the performance. Starting January 2017, the performance Shelters was included in the social program and permanent season of the independent theatre, and is played monthly, with free of charge, in order to make visible the issues of housing and evictions in Romania. Shelters is 90 minutes long theatre performance that brings together different perspectives about forced evictions and homelessness in Romania. The performers focus on acting between distancing and involvement, producing an engaged discourse that can further lead to
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February 2017 25_NEWSLETTER critical debate. Created using the devised theatre techniques, the performance attempts to familiarize the public with these issues through a representation aiming to generate empathy among the public.
Future events Cultural activities The activities that took place until now at the Paintbrush Factory will continue in March as well. The thematic workshops in March will be led by jeweller Dana Ștefănoiu and architect Ágnes Szörcsei, who will experiment with the children the making of bijoux, common objects and pieces of paper decorations. Ferő (Ferenc Sinkó) will continue more intensively the experimental rehearsals with the young people from Pata Rât. Starting March, creative workshops will take place in collaboration with MiniReactor facilitators at Reactor for creation and experiment. The weekly meetings will carry on until April. The Saturday puppet shows will, as well, be attended by children from Pata Rât every other week. The next performance of Shelters will be staged on 6th of March. Maria and Júlia will participate at a seminar organized by the Superior Council of Magistracy in March Process manager Júlia and case manager Maria will participate on the 15th of March in Bucharest at an international seminar organized by the Superior Council of Magistracy. The seminarthe aims to raise awareness among decision makers regarding the problems faced by vulnerable groups. A further aim of the meeting is to disseminate the conclusions and recommendations of the study regarding the access to justice of vulnerable groups realized within the framework of the Improving access to justice. An integrated approach with a focus on Roma and other vulnerable groups project. The AltArt Foundation launches a new call for artistic interventions on Housing The AltArt Foundation launches the call for artistic interventions “The Visible City 2017” on Housing issues. The call is open for proposals for artistic interventions that highlight and discuss different aspects of the housing situation in Cluj-Napoca.
Financial Mechanism Office, Str Joseph II 12-16 (post address) Bd du Régent 47-48, B-1000 Bruxelles www.norwaygrants.org or www.norwaygrants-povertyalleviation.org © EEA & Norwegian Grants, Financial Mechanism Office, 2014-2017
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The proposed works may consist of artistic interventions in the public space, performances or other types of artistic or cultural expressions accessible to a diverse public. Initiated in 2010, the Visible City project approaches various aspects of urban life in an incremental manner, through cultural and social processes, with the intention of imagining and testing sustainable models of developing the urban environment and the social interactions determining this space. You can find more details about the call for artistic interventions and the regulations on the Pata-Cluj project website and on the Visible City project webpage.
Announcements for the community Monthly session for IDs photos and information about social benefits On the last Monday of each month Roland takes photos for ID documents for the members of the Pata Rat community during the work program of the team dealing with social benefits. On account of February and March Roland together with Maria and Anna, colleagues of social benefits team, will take photos for ID documents at the beginning of March. The last photo session of the project will take place on March 27th. In February Mária and Anna filed together with the people of Pata Rat, 9 birth certificates with sentence, renewed 1 birth certificate and made two requests for state benefits. They also renewed 8 temporary ID cards and 1 ID card with change of residence. In the next period Anna and Mária will support and advise people who need help to restore the identity documents.
Pata-Cluj social inclusion calendar: March March 1st - Zero Discrimination Day The Zero Discrimination Day is a UNAIDS campaign of solidarity that stands up to racism, discrimination at work, discrimination at school, and other activities that reduce people's ability to participate fully and meaningfully in society. Around the world, this movement has garnered the support of many celebrities and prominent figures who want a world free of stigma and discrimination. Global Waste Picker Day The first meeting of representatives of waste pickers organization took place in 2005 in São Leopoldo, Brazil. This meeting layed at the foundation of an international network, set up 8 years later, for the promotion of waste pickers’ rights living and working in big cities. In 2008 and 2009 more national and continental alliances have been set up in countries in Africa
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February 2017 25_NEWSLETTER and Asia, Latin America and India. The Latin America Network Model has been used further in the social movements on the other continents. The Global Alliance who reunited a couple of times in the past years develops activities with great visibility and media impact. Among these activities there was a series of UN events on Climate Change organized in Bonn, Copenhagen, Tianjin, Cancun. There for the first time a waste picker spoke to the whole world on behalf of civil society in an opening plenary. March 7th - Roma Parent Day On this day Roma parents involved in school educative programs – mothers’ school, young fathers’ school, grandparents’ school – reunite for consultations with teachers regarding the education of their children. (These pieces of information are gathered and edited by Ghe. Sarău in a Roma calendar (in Romanian Roma's vision) that has mainly an educational purpose. © Ghe. Sarău, 2006) March 8th - International Women's Day International Women's Day is celebrated in many countries around the world. It is a day when women are recognized for their achievements without regard to divisions, whether national, ethnic, linguistic, cultural, economic or political. International Women's Day first emerged from the activities of labour movements at the turn of the twentieth century in North America and across Europe. The UN first celebrated International Women’s Day on 8th march, 1975 – named the International Year for Women. March 17th - National Day of Roma Mediator Between 15-17th of March 2000 took place a working meeting of inspectors responsible for Roma education in Tulcea. The seminar organized by the National Education Ministry, Romani Criss and OSCE set a first draft for a position of Roma education mediator, and the profession was enlisted in Classification of Ocupations in Romania in 2004 by a disposition of a Government Decision (HG 721/14th May 2004). The main responsibility of the school mediator is to support all children of a community to follow through the mandatory general education, encourage parents to be involved in the education of their children and the life of the school, and facilitate the collaboration between family, community and school. (These pieces of information are gathered and edited by Ghe. Sarău in a Roma calendar (in Romanian Roma's vision) that has mainly an educational purpose. © Ghe. Sarău, 2006) March 18th - National Day of the Roma Writer On March 18th 1812 Ion Budai-Deleanu signs and sends Letter of Praise to Mitru Perea (Petru Maior), famous songster, which revealed that Ion Budai Deleanu and Petru Maior were Roma. On the same occasion there are acknowledged and celebrated other Roma story writers and poets from Romania: Anton Pann, Valerică Stănescu, Păun Gheorghe Ialomiţeanu, Irina Gabor-Zrinyi, Ştefan Fuli, Luminiţa Mihai Cioabă, Gelu Măgureanu, Marius Lakatos.
Financial Mechanism Office, Str Joseph II 12-16 (post address) Bd du Régent 47-48, B-1000 Bruxelles www.norwaygrants.org or www.norwaygrants-povertyalleviation.org © EEA & Norwegian Grants, Financial Mechanism Office, 2014-2017
NORWAY GRANTS | 25_Newsletter • February 2017
(These pieces of information are gathered and edited by Ghe. Sarău in a Roma calendar (in Romanian Roma's vision) that has mainly an educational purpose. © Ghe. Sarău, 2006) March 21st - International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination It marks the day in which, in 1960, police opened fire and killed 69 people at a peaceful demonstration in Sharpeville, South Africa, against apartheid pass laws. Proclaiming the day in 1966, the United Nations General Assembly called on the international community to redouble its efforts to eliminate all forms of racial discrimination. March 22nd - World Water Day It’s a day to acknowledge the worldwide problems caused by lack of water or drinkable water and the effects of water related issues on the future. In 1993, the United Nations General Assembly designated 22 March as the first World Water Day. 22 years later, World Water Day is celebrated around the world every year, shining the spotlight on a different issue. Water is at the core of sustainable development and the right to water is a fundamental right. Water resources, and the range of services they provide, underpin poverty reduction, economic growth and environmental sustainability. From food and energy security to human and environmental health, water contributes to improvements in social well-being and inclusive growth, affecting the livelihoods of billions. March 24th - International Day for the Right to the Truth concerning Gross Human Rights Violations and for the Dignity of Victims On 21 December 2010, the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed 24 March as the International Day for the Right to the Truth concerning Gross Human Rights Violations and for the Dignity of Victims. The purpose of the day is threefold: to honour the memory of victims of gross and systematic human rights violations and promote the importance of the right to truth and justice, to pay tribute to those who have devoted their lives to, and lost their lives in, the struggle to promote and protect human rights for all and to recognize de work of one of its most important defenders, Archbishop Oscar Arnulfo Romero, of El Salvador. He was assasinated on 24 March 1980, after denouncing violations of the human rights of the most vulnerable populations and defending the principles of protecting lives, promoting human dignity and opposition to all forms of violence.
Pata-Cluj Annual Report 2016 In 2016 the major activity of the Pata-Cluj project was the development of the housing process, which has become the key component strongly interconnected with the other threads of the project. We endorse the idea that full responsibility for the housing process should fall on the local administration. However, by setting in motion the process of Pata-Cluj social housing, as a component of the Social interventions for the desegregation and social inclusion of vulnerable groups in Cluj Metropolitan Area, including the disadvantaged Roma project we have made a commitment to facilitate this process. Details on our working
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February 2017 25_NEWSLETTER process on housing and on the activities developed in 2016 you can find in the full version of the report on our project webpage.
The Pata-Cluj project, fully named Social interventions for the de-segregation and social inclusion of vulnerable groups in Cluj Metropolitan Area, including the disadvantaged Roma is implemented by the Intercommunity Development Association, Cluj Metropolitan Area, in partnership with the Community Association of Roma from Coastei, Habitat for Humanity Cluj and AltArt Foundation. The project is financed by the Government of Norway through the Norway Grants 2009-2014 within the Poverty Alleviation Program (RO25).
*** About the Norway Grants Through the Norway Grants and EEA Grants, Norway contributes to reducing social and economic disparities and to strengthening bilateral relations with the beneficiary countries in Europe. Norway cooperates closely with the EU through the Agreement on the European Economic Area (EEA). For the period 2009-2014, Norway’s contribution is €1.7 billion. Grants are available for NGOs, research and academic institutions, and the public and private sectors in the 12 newest EU member states, Greece, Portugal and Spain. There is broad cooperation with Norwegian entities, and activities may be implemented until 2016. Key areas of support are environmental protection and climate change, research and scholarships, civil society, health and children, gender equality, justice and cultural heritage.
The content of this material does not necessarily reflect the official position of Norway Grants 2009-2014. Camelia Badea Comunications coordinator for Pata-Cluj project Tel.: 0786/375 825 E-mail: camelia@patacluj.ro patacluj@gmail.com Website: www.patacluj.ro Facebook: www.facebook.com/PatadinCluj Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQVqLCQJ 4ozYqZtRtTlcAnQ Issu: https://issuu.com/pata-cluj2
Financial Mechanism Office, Str Joseph II 12-16 (post address) Bd du Régent 47-48, B-1000 Bruxelles www.norwaygrants.org or www.norwaygrants-povertyalleviation.org © EEA & Norwegian Grants, Financial Mechanism Office, 2014-2017
NORWAY GRANTS | 25_Newsletter • February 2017