11/07/2022
Fundación Secretariado Gitano
Fundación Secretariado Gitano (FSG) has presented its Annual Report 2021 in digital format at https://www.gitanos.org/informeanual/ (only available in Spanish), with a Summary leaflet 2021, and a 4-minute video showing the main results of its activities.
Fundación Secretariado Gitano is an NGO with a presence in 14 Spanish regions and with 73 local offices. In 2021, the FSG provided direct support to 35,143 people in 654 training and employment, education, housing, equality and anti-discrimination programmes, among others.
According to Isidro Rodriguez, director general of the FSG, "2021 has been a especially intense year. Sara Giménez, lawyer and member of parliament, takes over the presidency of the Fundación Secretariado Gitano from Pedro Puente, founder and president of the organisation since 1982. The second highly significant event has been the 20th anniversary of our Acceder employment programme. An effective programme that has brought social and institutional changes".
Rodríguez also underlined "the launch of a pilot project within the framework of the Spanish Recovery Plan of the Next Generation Funds, which aims to reach Roma children, most of whom are from families receiving the Minimum Income". It is a project that seeks to have an impact on children -through socio-educational pathways- in order to break the cycle of poverty. It also includes a comprehensive Social Support Service for families that is related to the development of digital skills and technological accessibility.
This Annual Report presents the results of 2021; the main objectives of 2021 have been working to improve the living conditions and to reduce the inequalities of thousands of people -mostly Roma- and to defend their rights.
20 years of the Acceder programme
In 2021, the Evaluation of the Results and Impact of the Acceder Programme 2000-2020 was presented, revealing that it is an effective and efficient programme, which has facilitated access to employment for 4 out of 10 participants during its 20 years. It has proved to be the European initiative with the greatest impact on the social and labour inclusion of the Roma population. 11% of the Spanish Roma population has gone through Acceder.
The specific data for 2021 show that Acceder supported 20,996 people, of whom 4,013 found a job and 5,257 have received training. In addition, 6,458 employment contracts have been signed in collaboration with 3,422 companies with which 446 agreements were signed.
Also in the field of employment, the awareness-raising campaign The Challenge of Tomorrow was launched, calling for more effective and active employment policies for Roma.
During this year, there was also a firm commitment to youth and innovation through initiatives linked to the digital transformation of the job and education market. In 2021, an Innovation Area was created to lead and guide the programmes and training developed, and strengthen alliances with technology companies, as an element for social transformation.
For the educational success of Roma students
During the 2020-2021 school year, the FSG worked with a total of 3,794 students. With the programme Promociona, for the educational success and the continuity in the studies of Roma pupils, the FSG shows that the school failure affecting Roma youth can be successfully tackled if the right measures are put in place.
With Promociona, 167 Roma students (78%) in the last year of the secondary compulsory studies, obtained the Compulsory Secondary Education Certificate; of these, 90% went on to post-compulsory studies.
In addition, the FSG has worked with 1,711 students through Promociona-T, helping to prevent the curricular gap from pre-school education, and with Promociona +, supporting Roma students in accessing, remaining and completing post-compulsory studies. 75% of students in post-compulsory studies obtain a degree.
Fostering new initiatives to break the generational cycle of poverty
The FSG reinforces its support to Roma families in situations of greater exclusion for access to decent housing in inclusive environments, to ensure that basic needs (including access to Minimum Income) and health needs are covered.
In 2021, the FSG supported 15,754 participants, including 13,594 people in the “Minimum Income Support Service - Basic Income and attention to basic needs” and 3,288 families with “Comprehensive Intervention Plans”.
Through the programmes financed by entities such as Fundación "la Caixa" or the programmes of the Spanish Income Tax 0.7% - For Solidarity, in 2021 Fundación Secretariado Gitano supported 2,500 minors and their families, mainly in actions aimed at mitigating basic needs related to food, health, hygiene and school support.
The FSG supports Roma women to respond to the inequality and multiple discrimination that many of them experience. With the Calí Programme for the Equality of Roma women, the FSG has supported 1,599 women in socio-labour pathways, in actions to raise awareness and fight discrimination, with a team of 30 professional women, 27 of whom are Roma.
Fighting discrimination and protecting victims
In 2021, FSG also advised and supported 309 victims of discrimination and trained 1,925 key actors. FSG also brought strategic litigation in antigypsyism cases to court, presented its 17th Annual Report on Discrimination and the Roma Community, and continued to coordinate the Service for Assistance to Victims of Racial or Ethnic Discrimination, made up of 9 other entities, where 860 cases of discrimination were registered.
To achieve these results, the Fundación Secretariado Gitano has had the essential collaboration and trust of the European Social Fund; the state and regional allocation of the Tax Income / 0.7%; regional and local administrations; collaborating entities such as Fundación "la Caixa"; Accenture or Fundación Orange -among others- and its partners and donors.
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