Roma integration in the European Union and in Hungary

At the beginning of 2011 the Budapest Institute was commissioned by the Open Society Institute (OSI) to provide an external review and strategic assessment of the Decade of Roma Inclusion, and based on this analysis, to identify the possible future roles of the Decade in formulating EU Roma inclusion policies.

During the assessment of the Roma Decade Program we carried out interviews and held meetings with national and international experts, we analyzed the impact area and possible strategic outcomes. Finally we formulated a number of recommendations for the OSI on how to position the Decade Program in the context of the Roma framework strategy adopted by the EU in the meantime.

As a follow-up of the project we reviewed the situation of Roma integration in Hungary and have made proposals for the development of the national integration policy (Roma integration in Hungary: status report and recommendations), which was published in a book edited by Bernard Rorke. During the public consultations for the National Social Junction and Roma Strategy we also compiled an independent report (BI comments on Nemzeti Társadalmi Felzárkózási és Roma Stratégia).