Civil society monitoring report on the quality of the national strategic framework for Roma equality, inclusion, and participation in Italy.
Date: 2023-08-16
Institutions: Directorate-General for Justice and Consumers
Subjects: Italy, Roma, access to education, anti-discriminatory measure, civil society, equal treatment, ethnic discrimination, housing, job access, monitoring report, poverty, right to health, social integration

Civil society monitoring report on the quality  
of the national strategic framework  
for Roma equality, inclusion, and participation  
in Italy  

Prepared by:  
Associazione 21 luglio 
Associazione Community Organizing Onlus 
Consorzio Nova 
Cooperativa Roma Solidarietà 
April 2022 

Justice 
and Consumers 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
EUROPEAN COMMISSION 

Directorate-General for Justice and Consumers 
Directorate D — Equality and Union Citizenship 
Unit D1 Non-Discrimination and Roma Coordination 

European Commission 
B-1049 Brussels 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
EUROPEAN COMMISSION 

Civil society monitoring report on the quality  
of the national strategic framework  
for Roma equality, inclusion, and participation  
in Italy 

Directorate-General for Justice and Consumers 
2022 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Manuscript completed in April 2022 

LEGAL NOTICE 

The European Commission support for the production of this publication does not constitute endorsement of the contents 
which reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be 
made of the information contained therein. 

PDF  

ISBN 978-92-68-00867-6 

doi: 10.2838/81769 

Catalogue number DS-07-23-126-EN-N 

How to cite this report: 
Roma Civil Monitor (2023) Civil society monitoring report on the quality of the national strategic framework for Roma 
equality, inclusion, and participation in Italy. Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg. 

Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union, 2023 

© European Union, 2023 

Reuse is authorised provided the source is acknowledged and the original meaning or message of the document is not 
distorted. The European Commission shall not be liable for any consequence stemming from the reuse. The reuse policy 
of European Commission documents is implemented by Commission Decision 2011/833/EU of 12 December 2011 on the 
reuse of Commission documents (OJ L 330, 14.12.2011, p. 36).

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
The  report  was  prepared  by  the  NGOs  Associazione  21  luglio,  Associazione  Community 
Organizing Onlus, Consorzio Nova, and Cooperativa Roma. 

The  report  was  prepared  as  part  of  the  initiative  ‘Preparatory  Action  –  Roma  Civil 
Monitoring  –  Strengthening  Capacity  and  Involvement  of  Roma  and  pro-Roma 
Civil Society in Policy Monitoring and Review’, implemented by a consortium led by 
the Democracy Institute of Central European University (DI/CEU), including the European 
Roma  Grassroots  Organisations  Network  (ERGO  Network),  the  Fundación  Secretariado 
Gitano (FSG), and the European Roma Rights Centre (ERRC). The initiative was funded by 
the European Commission’s Directorate-General Justice and Consumers (DG Just) within 
service contract no. JUST/2020/RPAA/PR/EQUA/0095. 

The report represents the findings of the authors, and it does not necessarily reflect the 
views of the consortium or the European Commission who cannot be held responsible for 
any use which may be made of the information contained therein. 

 
 
 
 
CONTENTS 

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ........................................................................................... 5 
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ................................................................................................ 6 
INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................................... 8 
1.  PARTICIPATION ............................................................................................... 10 
1.1.  Roma participation in the NRSF preparation ................................................... 10 
1.2.  Roma participation in the NRSF implementation, monitoring,  and evaluation ..... 10 
1.3.  System of policy consultation with civil society and stakeholders ...................... 11 
1.4.  Empowerment of Roma communities at the local level..................................... 11 
1.5.  Capacity-building of Roma civil society .......................................................... 12 
2.  RELEVANCE ....................................................................................................... 13 
2.1.  Fighting antigypsyism and discrimination ....................................................... 13 
2.2.  Education .................................................................................................. 14 
2.3.  Employment .............................................................................................. 15 
2.4.  Healthcare ................................................................................................. 17 
2.5.  Housing, essential services, and environmental justice .................................... 18 
2.6.  Social protection ......................................................................................... 20 
2.7.  Social services ........................................................................................... 20 
2.8.  Child protection .......................................................................................... 21 
2.9.  Promoting (awareness of) Roma arts, culture, and history ............................... 22 
3.  EXPECTED EFFECTIVENESS ............................................................................... 24 
3.1.  Coherence with related domestic and European policies ................................... 24 
3.2.  Responsibility for NRSF coordination and monitoring ....................................... 24 
3.3.  Quality of the plan ...................................................................................... 24 
3.4.  Funding   ................................................................................................... 25 
3.5.  Monitoring and evaluation ............................................................................ 25 
3.6.  Assessment of the expected effectiveness and sustainability ............................ 26 
4.  ALIGNMENT WITH THE EU ROMA STRATEGIC FRAMEWORK .............................. 28 
4.1.  Reflecting diversity among Roma .................................................................. 28 
4.2.  Combining mainstream and targeted approaches ............................................ 29 
4.3.  Usage of instruments introduced by the Council Recommendation .................... 29 
CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS ................................................................ 31 
REFERENCES ............................................................................................................ 33 
ANNEX: LIST OF PROBLEMS AND CONDITIONS ........................................................ 36 

4 

 
 
 
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS 

CNR 
DG Just  

DI/CEU 
ERGO Network 
ERRC  
EU  
FSG  
INMP  
ISTAT  
M&E 
NEET  
NGO  
NHS  
NRIS  

NRSF 

PON  
RSC  
UNAR  
UNHCR  

National Research Council 
European Commission’s Directorate-General Justice and 
Consumers 
Democracy Institute of Central European University 
European Roma Grassroots Organisations Network 
European Roma Rights Centre 
European Union 
Fundación Secretariado Gitano 
National Institute for Health, Migration and Poverty 
National Institute of Statistics 
Monitoring and Evaluation Unit 
Not in Education, Employment or Training 
Non-Governmental Organisation 
National Health Service 
National Strategy for the Inclusion of Roma, Sinti, and Caminanti 
2012-2020  
National  Strategy  for  Roma  and  Sinti  Equality,  Inclusion,  and 
Participation 2021-2030 
National Operational Programme 
Roma, Sinti, and Caminanti 
National Anti-Racial Discrimination Office 
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees 

5 

 
 
 
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 

The ‘National Strategy for Roma and Sinti Equality, Inclusion, and Participation 2021-2030’ 
(NRSF)  refers  in  its  title  explicitly  to  the  ‘Council  Recommendation  for  Roma  Equality, 
Inclusion,  and  Participation’  and  represents  the  follow-up  to  the  previous  ‘National 
Strategy for the Inclusion of Roma, Sinti, and Caminanti 2012-2020’ (NRIS). The text was 
drafted by the National Anti-Racial Discrimination Office (UNAR), the Italian National Roma 
Contact  Point  (NRCP),  which  since  its  establishment  has  suffered  from  the  limitation  of 
being placed under the direct authority of the Italian Government, thus compromising its 
freedom of action and independence. 

The  NRSF has also a structural weakness dictated by its legal nature: it has no binding 
capacity  –  leaving  in  fact  to  the  free  initiative  of  local  authorities  the  possibility  to 
implement or not the actions planned – and does not provide a budget specifically allocated 
to the implementation of the actions planned. 

During the drafting phase, the NRCP has tried to ensure the activation of consultation and 
participation processes by expanding, compared to the past, the stakeholder audience of, 
opening  the  possibility  of  a  greater  exchange  of  information  and  contributions.  This 
meritorious  effort  does  not  appear  to  have  reached  its  full  objective,  clashing  with  the 
absence,  in  the  consultative  processes,  of  the  representatives  of  those  communities 
residing  in  formal  and  informal  settlements,  ‘communities  without  a  voice’.  The  critical 
issue  of  participatory  processes  is  reflected  in  the  text  of  the  NRSF  as  there  are 
shortcomings related to the empowerment of Roma communities, capacity building of the 
Roma civil society, and strengthening the participation of women. 

Compared to the past NRIS, antigypsyism is finally recognised, clearly and directly, as the 
key to reading across all axes of intervention as it affects all areas of daily life. However, 
in Italy there is a lack of statistical data necessary to have a clear picture of the present, 
to understand the direct and indirect causes, thus not allowing the definition of specific 
objectives and effective actions. 

The NRSF explicitly states that education represents a strategic area for Roma inclusion, 
as well as the importance of acquiring data and information aimed at filling in the large 
information gap regarding the school inclusion of Roma and  Sinti students. The planned 
interventions seem to take a step forward  compared to what was foreseen in the NRIS, 
configuring  themselves  as  potentially  positive  as  they  respond  to  the  need  to  promote 
exchange opportunities between families and schools, language mediation interventions, 
teacher  training,  interventions  on  educational  content  that  encourage  and  facilitate 
knowledge on the history of Roma and Sinti groups. 

On the ‘Employment’ axis in the past NRIS, interventions aimed at removing the elements 
that hinder the employment of Roma and  Sinti were weak and not very incisive. These 
limitations  re-emerge  in  the  current  NRSF,  where  the  actions  planned  are  developed 
mostly at the local level, in a fragmented manner and without a real direction  for wider 
support  that  can  effectively  counter  different  forms  of  discrimination,  promote  training 
courses in line with the expectations of Roma and Sinti, implement interventions capable 
of encouraging the permanence in the labour market and the birth of self-employment. 
Similarly, interventions aimed at supporting the work empowerment of specific categories, 
such as women and young people, are few and uncoordinated. 

The NRSF addresses the issue of health protection for Roma and Sinti by stating that it 
takes as a reference point the ‘Health Action Plan for and with Roma, Sinti and Caminanti 
Communities’; produced in 2015 by a working group established at the Ministry of Health, 
implementing the previous NRIS. The Action Plan pursued the promotion of a non-welfare 
but  participatory  model  of  intervention,  developing  the  measures  to  be  implemented 
around  four  areas:  research  and  data  collection;  training  of  socio-health  personnel  and 
system mediation (socio-health integration); cultural mediation and facilitation; and health 

6 

 
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 

awareness  and  education  interventions.  The  NRSF  seems  to  deviate  from  this  plan  in 
several aspects by not operating, for example, any definition of the target population of 
the planned interventions, often limiting itself to a generic ‘Roma and Sinti’, almost always 
referring only to communities living in formal or informal settlements.  

The past NRIS had indicated as a priority the “definitive overcoming of emergency logics 
and  large  mono-ethnic  settlements”  through  “a  wide  range  of  housing  solutions”.  In 
reality, these recommendations were followed by “poor local adherence to both principles 
and objectives” due to the acknowledged “weakness of governance and interinstitutional 
cooperation” inherent in the NRIS itself, resulting, in some contexts, in the “reiteration of 
evictions, the practice of assisted repatriation and  ‘temporary’ relocation in facilities not 
suited to the needs of the people”. These limitations do not appear to have been overcome 
in the current NRSF. They continue to be linked above all with the fact that the NRSF itself 
does not provide for elements that can bind the administrations, even from a legal point 
of view, nor sanction those who openly violate it. 

The topic of the protection of minors is not explicitly addressed and two critical issues that 
have  emerged  in  recent  studies  are  not  adequately  considered:  the  practice  of  forced 
marriages and the problems connected to the lack of legal status recognition that affects 
hundreds of minors from the former Yugoslavia in Italy. 

In  all  areas  of  interest,  the  NRSF  pays  the  price  for  a  lack  of  knowledge  with  the 
consequence,  for  example,  of  failing  to  focus  on  the  condition  of  Roma  and  Sinti 
communities  of  ancient  migration  and  those  of  more  recent  arrival.  Thus,  the 
recommendation  in  the  EU  Roma  Strategic  Framework  to  “recognise  the  diversity  and 
needs of specific groups within the Roma population” remains unfulfilled. Moreover, it does 
not address the phenomenon, rooted in some Italian cities, according to which access to 
ordinary services is hindered by the social assistance municipal structures allocated on an 
ethnic basis - which promote forms of support for Roma communities that are ‘parallel’ to 
those  provided  for  ordinary  citizens  –  failing  to  comply  with  the  indication  to  promote 
actions based on a combined mainstream approach with explicit but not exclusive target 
groups. Finally, the NRSF does not adequately respond to the recommendations regarding 
the  need  to  ensure  meaningful  participation  of  Roma  in  all  decision-making  processes; 
empowerment and capacity building of Roma, civil society and public authorities, building 
trust between stakeholders and between Roma and non-Roma communities; promotion of 
political, economic and cultural engagement of Roma. 

The  NRSF  defines  specific  measures  to  be  implemented  for  each  intervention  axis. 
Numerous  targets  set  by  the  Council  Recommendations  are  presented  for  each  axis  of 
intervention, but these take on little significance due to the absence of country-scale data. 
The planned interventions, in all cases, are described only in general terms, without any 
reference  to  the  time  frames  to  be  followed  for  their  implementation  or  to  the 
implementation methods. Also missing are the expected results according to the different 
indicators  and  the  methodology  adopted  to  estimate  the  value  of  each  indicator.  The 
absence  of  operational  methods  for  data  collection  is  a  particularly  relevant  criticism 
regarding the data that should be provided by public administrations, with a probable time 
extension. 

The monitoring report concludes with eight recommendations (one addressed to the Italian 
Government, the others to the National  Roma Contact Point) aimed at guaranteeing the 
total independence of the UNAR in the future, the overcoming of monoethnic settlements, 
the adoption of active participation approaches in Roma communities, the adoption of clear 
objectives for each of the actions envisaged in the  NRSF, the discussion of the issue of 
early  marriages;  the  creation  of  a  legal  task  force  to  remedy  the  conditions  of 
statelessness; school support measures that respect the ‘Convention on the Rights of the 
Child and Adolescent’. 

7 

 
 
INTRODUCTION 

The ‘National Strategy for Roma and Sinti Equality, Inclusion, and Participation 2021-2030’ 
(NRSF) was adopted by directorial decree on 23 May 2022 and was signed by the Director 
General of the National Anti-Racial Discrimination Office (UNAR), which serves also as the 
Italian National Roma Contact Point (NRCP), Triantafillos Loukarelis.1 

Formally, as reported in the text of the NRSF2 itself, it represents the result of a complex 
consultation  process  that  lasted  more  than  two  years  and  was  divided  into  the  three 
phases: 

•  End  of  2019  –  first  semester  2020:  consultation  with  the  NGOs  of  the  National 

Platform of Roma and Sinti (Platform).3 

•  First  semester  2020:  UNAR  signing  an  agreement  with  the  National  Research 
Council (CNR) with the aim of building an evaluation plan following the analysis of 
the past NRIS. 

•  Second  semester  2020  –  second  semester  2021:  organisation  of  12  thematic 

meetings.4 

For the drafting of the new  NRSF, in addition to the previous  ’National Strategy for the 
Inclusion of Roma, Sinti, and Caminanti 2012-2020’ (NRIS), the Council Recommendation 
made use of approximately 30 written contributions from NGOs; the minutes of the 12 
thematic meetings held during the consultation process; the contributions and elements 
of  competence  sent  by  the  administrations  involved;  the  ‘grey  material’  (scientific 
literature, institutional reports, project outputs, NGO reports).5 

The NRSF, understood as a general strategic plan, “will be followed by an executive plan, 
with a series of detailed plans for the individual actions envisaged”.6 

The NRSF explicitly refers in its title to the Council Recommendation of 12 March 2021 on 
equality, inclusion and participation of Roma and  Sinti – 2021/C 93/01 of the European 
Commission and represents the follow-up to the previous NRIS presented on 24 February 
2012 in implementation of the Communication of the European Union Commission no. 173 
of 4 April 2011. 

The purpose of this report, which focuses on the assessment of the new NRSF, is to provide 
participatory  and  inclusive  monitoring  of  its  design  and  implementation  by  civil  society 

1 https://unar.it/portale/documents/20125/113907/Decereto+direttoriale+e+Strategia+Rom+2021-

2030.pdf/bd13dc57-d8da-8634-56b4-a9a4d2270dc2?t=1653399007662  

2 NRSF, pp. 3-4. 

3 Approximately 50 organisations participated in a public discussion that took place on 14 November 

2019 and over 30 organisations sent written contributions containing critical issues, good practices, and 
proposals for the drafting of the new NRSF (See the NRSF, pp. 3-4). 

4 Among them, as reported in the NRSF (see p. 4), the following should be noted: a) two plenary 
meetings of the National Platform of Roma and Sinti; b) one meeting of the National Platform of Roma and 
Sinti on specific topics; c) one meeting of the Forum of Roma and Sinti communities on specific topics; d) one 
training and information meeting dedicated to guidelines, indicators and useful elements to encourage a 
participatory process in the elaboration of the document; between side-events connected to specific issues 
such as: the question of collecting statistical data, the topic of memory and historical knowledge, the question 
of the Sinti family micro-areas ; e) five meetings of ad hoc working groups on the following sectoral axes: 
Housing Axis; Antigypsyism Axis, Education and Cultural Promotion Axis; Governance Axis, Local Level 
Participation Axis; Health Axis; Work and Fight against Poverty Axis. 

5 Ibid.  

6 Interview with a representative of the National Roma Contact Point for the NRSF, 24 February 2022. 

8 

 
 
 INTRODUCTION 

actors.  The  aforementioned  text  aims  to  provide  direct  information  to  the  European 
Commission and the national authorities. 

For the drafting of the text, the following documents were used as a reference:  

-  12 interviews with panellists;  
- 
- 
- 
- 

the NRSF; 
the Communication of the European Commission no. 620/2020;  
the Council Recommendation;  
institutional reports and NGO reports produced in the last three years.  

The 12 semi-structured interviews were carried out between 21 February and 15 March 
2022. A focus group was organised with the involvement of a delegate from the National 
Roma Contact Point (NRCP) for the NRSF and a delegate from the public authority in charge 
of  drafting  the  NRSF.  Other  interviews  –  caried  out  remotely  because  of  the  Covid-19 
prevention measures taken by the Italian government in the period under consideration – 
were administered to:  

-  a councillor from the Lazio Region;  
- 

three  representatives  of  civil  society  associations:  Sucar  Drom,  Comunità  di 
Sant’Egidio (Community of Sant’Egidio) and Chi rom e chi no (Who Roma and Who 
Not) operating in the Municipalities of Mantua, Rome, and Naples;  

-  a representative of a national Roma movement, UCRI – Unione delle Comunità Rom 

- 

in Italia (Union of Romani Communities in Italy),  
two  academics  from  the  Università  del  Salento  (University  of  Salento)  and  the 
Università del Sacro Cuore di Milano (Catholic University of the Sacred Heart from 
Milan); 

-  an expert in the area of Roma education; 
-  a contact person from an international organisation, European Roma Rights Centre 

ERRC;  

-  a researcher from the National Institute of Statistics, ISTAT.7 

The following organisations contributed to the preparation of this report: Associazione 21 
luglio,  coordinating  organisation  of  the  National  Coalition,  Associazione  Community 
Organising Onlus, Consorzio Nova, Cooperativa Roma Solidarietà. 

7 The National Institute of Statistics is an Italian public research organisation that conducts general 
censuses of population, services and industry, agriculture, household sample surveys and general economic 
surveys at the national level. 

9 

 
 
1.  PARTICIPATION 

1.1.  Roma participation in the NRSF preparation   

Accepting  the  European  Commission’s  invitation  to  “ensure  that  Roma  and  Sinti  are 
represented in all diversities […] in local policy-making processes”,8 the NRCP sought to 
ensure that the process for drafting the NRSF was as open as possible to consultation and 
participation processes, giving weight to the role of the Forum, which together with the 
Platform, “represent operational tools for dialogue between  the UNAR, civil society,  and 
central and local administrations involved in the NRSF”.9 

The two bodies (the Forum and the Platform) are made up of 79 associations10 scattered 
throughout the country but they lack adequate representatives of families in formal and 
informal settlements, ‘voiceless communities’; still, the main actions of the NRSF focus on 
them.11 

These structural critical issues are at the root of the weaknesses of the consultative and 
participatory process identified in the interviews with supporters of the Roma communities 
and civil society.12 

Those interviewed found that only associations with certain characteristics participated in 
the  preparation  meetings  for  the  NRSF,  such  as:  organisational  structure;  economic 
capacity that allowed the participation of people willing to dedicate time and resources to 
the  intervention;  adequate  digital  skills  (that  would  allow  for  the  online  preparatory 
meetings to take place) were privileged in the pandemic context. 

Even  where  active  involvement  was  allowed,  the  interviewees13  themselves  highlighted 
partial  listening,  having  found  in  the  text  of  the  NRSF  the  failure  to  implement  some 
suggestions from the representatives of the Roma communities and civil society, especially 
in  terms  of  housing  and  antigypsyism.  Finally,  returning  to  the  structural  criticality 
mentioned above, the interviewees explicitly denounced a deficit in the criteria with which 
the supporters of the Roma communities that make up the Forum have been selected in 
recent years, especially in terms of competence, representativeness, and effectiveness.14 

1.2.  Roma participation in the NRSF implementation, monitoring,  

and evaluation  

The NRSF does not investigate the value of the active participation of Roma and  Sinti in 
its implementation, monitoring, and evaluation. 

8 NRSF, pp. 9-10. 

9 Idem, p. 27. 

10 Ibid. 

11 “In the NRSF, when you find written ‘Roma’ and ‘Sinti’, you have to read ‘Roma and Sinti in the 

camps’”. Gennaro Spinelli, representative of UCRI, a Roma national movement, 14 March 2022. 

12 See interviews with Carlo Berini, representative of Sucar Drom, a civil society organisation, 21 

February 2022, and Gennaro Spinelli, 14 March 2022.  

13 Ibid. 

14 “In the Forum, people who have not finished compulsory school were asked about how to improve 

schooling within Roma communities” (Gennaro Spinelli, 14 March 2022).  

10 

 
 
 
 PARTICIPATION 

This,  therefore,  remains  an  aspect  that  is  insufficiently  addressed,  as  reported  by  the 
supporters of the Roma communities and civil society interviewed15 when they highlighted 
how only the organisations that are part of the Platform and the Forum have been involved 
in  the  past  in  this  process;  therefore,  those  already  registered  in  the  UNAR,  are  more 
structured from an organisational point of view and have easier access to IT tools. 

Regarding the indication contained in the  EU Roma Strategic Framework that Roma are 
adequately represented among the staff and paid experts of the NRCPs, regional and local 
administrations and other public bodies involved in the implementation of the NRSF,16 the 
interviews  conducted  reveal  that  this  has  not  happened  in  the  past.  Last  year,  some 
associations had recommended  favouring the hiring of people from the Roma and Sinti 
community  who  could  mediate  and  raise  awareness  between  public  officials  and  land 
managers. 

From this profile it emerges, as already noted in the interviews conducted, that one of the 
causes for the lack of Roma representation among the staff and paid experts lies in the 
inadequate training of some members of the Forum and “for this reason today the quality 
has moved away from the Forum and most of the associations that are worthwhile have 
moved away [from the Forum]”.17 

1.3.  System of policy consultation with civil society and stakeholders 

A  representative  of  the  pro-Roma  civil  society18  recognises,  on  the  one  hand,  a 
discontinuity  compared  to  the  past  due  to  a  greater  commitment  from  the  NRCP  in 
expanding the audience of stakeholders consulted and an increase in the involvement in 
the drafting of the new NRSF. 

In other regions, as reported by the same interviewee, however, there is a deficit in the 
involvement of local authorities, which are indispensable especially in the  dissemination 
phase of the NRSF among the Roma communities in the territories. 

In some territories, it seems instead that the Roma communities are totally divorced from 
any consultation system and for this reason it is necessary “to inform the Roma that this 
thing  is  happening  [the  publication  of  the  new  NRSF]”.  In  many  cases  it  would  be 
necessary  to  strengthen  the  process  of  dissemination,  listening  and  involvement  of  the 
Roma communities “rather than organising academic activities, doing door-to-door work, 
which in certain contexts is necessary, perhaps making an ‘assembly’ speech about it”.19 

In the text of the NRSF, it is not clear whether the NRCP has provided written participation 
protocols  that  establish  the  mandate  (scope  and  nature  of  the  commitment),  the 
composition  (principles  for  the  selection  of  members),  the  working  methods  and  the 
expected  results  of  the  consultation  and  participation  bodies,  in  order  to  guarantee 
effective results in terms of cooperation, trust and responsibility. 

1.4.  Empowerment of Roma communities at the local level 

In  the  NRSF  there  are  no  references  to  the  issues  covered  by  the  aforementioned 
paragraph, thus revealing a gap to be filled as they are central activities that generate a 

15 Carlo Berini, 21 February 2022, and Gennaro Spinelli, 14 March 2022.  

16 Ibid.  

17 Ibid.  

18 Sandro Palmieri, representative of Communità di Sant’Egidio, a civil society organisation, 1 March 

2022.  

19 Ibid.  

11 

 
CIVIL  SOCIETY  MONITORING  REPORT  ON  THE  QUALITY  OF  THE  NATIONAL  ROMA  STRATEGIC  FRAMEWORK 
in Italy  

significant  improvement  in  terms  of  inclusion  and  development  of  the  Roma  and  Sinti 
communities. 

1.5.  Capacity-building of Roma civil society 

In  the  NRSF  there  are  no  references  to  the  issues  covered  by  the  aforementioned 
paragraph, thus revealing a gap to be filled as they are central activities that generate a 
significant  improvement  in  terms  of  inclusion  and  development  of  the  Roma  and  Sinti 
communities. 

12 

 
 
2.  RELEVANCE 

2.1.  Fighting antigypsyism and discrimination  

Antigypsyism is the transversal key to all axes of intervention. It is still “the mother of all 
evils”,20  “a  pervasive  and  systemic  aspect  in  all  spheres  of  society”,21  “a  neuralgic  and 
transversal obstacle to the real implementation of any strategic framework aimed at Roma 
and  Sinti  inclusion”22  as  claimed  by  different  interviewees.  In  order  to  be  able  to 
understand and combat it, it is essential to define its origin and extent on a national and 
local  scale,  elements  on  which,  in  Italy,  there  is  little  and,  in  some  cases,  outdated 
information available. Statistical surveys carried out in the past are poorly suited to provide 
a clear picture of the present. “On antigypsyism, the data we have in Italy cannot be of 
statistical value”,23 acknowledges a person with expertise in the field. 

There is also a lack of comparative research in Italy aimed at investigating how and to 
what extent the phenomenon of antigypsyism is strengthened precisely where it is linked 
to  the  presence  of  so-called  ‘nomad  camps’  or  mono-ethnic  residential  areas,  to 
marginalising  and  excluding  living  conditions,  to  forms  of  serious  socio-economic 
precariousness,  to  socio-environmental  degradation,  to  deviance  and  to  what  is 
experienced  by  the  approximately  13,000  individuals  living  in  formal  mono-ethnic 
settlements.24 It is therefore difficult to distinguish within the public opinion the aversion 
to  the  Roma  and  Sinti  as  such,  from  the  target  group  of  those  experiencing  social 
marginality, antigypsyism from  ‘aporaphobia’ (aversion to poorer groups), and negative 
perceptions of Roma communities from the homeless. 

These  limits  are  made  explicit,  but  not  addressed,  in  the  NRSF  itself  where  it  merely 
acknowledges how antigypsyism represents “a specific form of racism that is among the 
most difficult to decode”.25 

The  issue  of  antigypsyism  in  Italy  is  also  “still  little  debated  in  the  context  of  school 
education at all levels, starting with university education. But it is also not very present 
within  the  Roma  and  Sinti  communities”,26  where programmes  should  be  promoted  “to 
instil greater confidence in them, to make them safe and prepared to report any acts of 
discrimination”.27 

The  NRSF,  recognising  its  importance  and  centrality,  devotes  a  special  chapter  to  the 
subject, considering that antigypsyism affects “all areas of daily life, from transport to the 
right to housing, from access to the labour market, to health, to the right to study, both 
in real life (off-line) and in virtual life (on-line)”.28 

Four declinations of antigypsyism are examined: the one “present in the public sphere – 
with  particular  reference  to  social  –  and  in  the  political  debate”,  “the  phenomenon  of 
intersectional discrimination”, “discrimination in access to housing”, “episodes of violence, 

20 Representative of ERRC, 1 March 2022.  

21 Representative of Sucar Drom, 21 February 2022. 

22 NRSF, p. 31. 

23 Researcher at the National Institute of Statistics, 8 March 2022. 

24 On this number, cf. www.ilpaesedeicampi.it  

25 Idem, pp. 32-24. 

26 Expert in the area of Roma education, 22 February 2022. 

27 Representative of Sucar Drom, 21 February 2022. 

28 NRSF, p. 29. 

13 

 
 
CIVIL  SOCIETY  MONITORING  REPORT  ON  THE  QUALITY  OF  THE  NATIONAL  ROMA  STRATEGIC  FRAMEWORK 
in Italy  

conflict  and  protest”.29  In  the  absence  of  data  and  information,  the  pervasiveness  of 
antigypsyism  among  civil  servants,  among  teachers,  among  policy-makers  is  not 
adequately explored. 

Little  analysed  is  its  impact  within  Roma  and  Sinti  communities  –  especially  those  in 
conventional  housing  –  where  it  often  induces  defensive  strategies  of  concealment  and 
camouflage. 

To promote efforts to counteract it, a series of measures are reported in the text of the 
NRSF.  The  measures  range  from  strengthening  the  UNAR  Contact  Centre  to  training 
activities for the categories of public and non-public officials, from a specific survey on the 
level  of  antigypsyism  to  the  organisation  of  information  campaigns,  debates,  positive 
narratives. Specifically, the proposal is formulated, to be developed in the period 2021-
2030,  consisting  of  a  ‘National  Communication  Campaign  against  Antigypsyism’. 
Considering the importance of the issue, reference is also made to the future possibility of 
“establishing an autonomous strategic plan; the need is expressly recognised”.30 

According  to  some  of  those  interviewed,  the  proposals  put  forward  in  the  NRSF  “limit 
themselves to general campaigns and do not mark a change in perspective compared to 
the previous NRIS”,31 remaining very vague on the subject “because it does not provide 
for  specific  measures  and  actions  to  combat  antigypsyism”.32  Furthermore,  it  does  not 
provide for measures to fill the knowledge gap  to the extent of the phenomenon in the 
different areas of the public and private sphere, with information that is indispensable for 
clearly defining objectives and indicators. 

2.2.  Education 

The data available today from local surveys, project activities and case studies,33 although 
they cannot be considered statistically representative,34 highlight - in particular for Roma 
and  Sinti  citizens  who  live  in  mono-ethnic  settlements  –  a  relationship  with  the  school 
characterised  by  attendance,  occasional  and  irregular,  achievement  of  educational 
qualifications that generally do not exceed those of compulsory education, high rates of 
dispersion  and  early  dropouts  from  school,  especially  for  the  female  adolescent 
component. These challenges are recognised by the  NRSF, which considers schools and 
interventions  aimed  at  encouraging  the  participation  of  Roma  and  Sinti  in  all  levels  of 
school education (from pre-schooling to university) as strategic areas for the more general 
social inclusion of Roma and Sinti. 

School  in  different  parts  of  Italy,  especially  in some  southern  areas,  has  represented a 
laboratory  and  a  place  of  exchange  and  privileged  knowledge  between  Roma  and  non-
Roma groups.35 Where Roma have entered contexts where there has been an absence of 

29 Idem, pp. 31-32.  

30 NRSF, p. 32. 

31 Representative of Chi rom e chi no, 1 March 2022.  

32 Representative of Sucar Drom, 21 February 2022.  

33 See among others: Pasta S. (2020), Rom e sinti in Italia. Tra “tutela del nomadismo”, culture 

presunte, campi, disagio sociale e povertà educativa” Scholé. Rivista di educazione e studi culturali, LVIII, n. 
2., pp. 189-198. Ciniero A., (2021), Un progetto per l’inclusione di Rom e Sinti. Una sperimentazione 
importante e faticosa, Articolo 33 – Edizioni Conoscenza, Roma, pp. 47-52. See also the section dedicated to 
context analysis and schooling in the Eight Local Action Plans for the inclusion of Roma and Sinti developed 
within the ‘PAL’ project: https://pianiazionelocale-rsc.com/2021/11/25/here-are-8-cities-local-action-plans. 

34 One of the elements of low representativity is, as shown in the NRSF as well, an almost exclusive 

presence of children in settlements. 

35 See, among others: Pontrandolfo S., (2004). Un secolo di scuola. I rom di Melfi, Roma, CISU. 

Ciniero A., (2017), Mascarimirì, come legge! percorsi scolastici, identità e rielaborazione delle appartenenze 

14 

 
 
 RELEVANCE 

special  policies  reserved  for  them,  where  housing  policies  focusing  on  mono-ethnic 
settlements have not been developed, and where special ‘lacio drom’36 classes have not 
been established, there have been found, not only in relation to school inclusion, but also 
more generally better results in relation to the social inclusion of Roma groups and the 
positive interaction between them and the rest of the population. It is probably appropriate 
to start again from the experience that these cases teach to plan effective interventions 
aimed at supporting the paths of social inclusion. 

In the NRSF, regarding the Education area, the validity of the objectives of the NRIS37 is 
reaffirmed and the implementation of seven specific interventions is envisaged.38 Only two 
specific  objectives  not  clearly  linked  to  the  seven  actions  are  indicated.  Seven  outputs 
indicators and seven outcome indicators are identified. The methodology for calculating 
the indicators is not clearly explained, nor is the expected value of the indicators indicated. 

Even in the presence of these criticalities, the planned interventions are relevant  to the 
Italian national context. In Italy, as evidenced by the NRSF itself and as also reported in 
other contributions,39 there is a substantial absence of statistically reliable data related to 
the issue of school inclusion of Roma and Sinti. 

Carrying  out  surveys  is  therefore  certainly  a  positive  intervention  that  can  increase 
knowledge on  the phenomenon and support the development of more targeted actions. 
The other planned interventions are also potentially positive because they respond to the 
need to promote exchange opportunities between families and schools, linguistic mediation 
interventions,  teacher  training,  interventions  on  didactic  contents  that  can  facilitate 
knowledge on the history of Roma and Sinti groups and on the interaction processes that 
have taken place in the various territories. 

For educational interventions to be effective, they need to be planned and implemented in 
a  complex  and  multidimensional  way.  As stated by  one  of  the  interviewees,  one  of  the 
leading Italian scholars of the relationship between educational policies and social inclusion 
of Roma groups: “School education is a topic that is absolutely debated by the NRSF, but 
for it to be effective, actions are also needed to counter antigypsyism in society”.40 

2.3.  Employment 

In the  sections of the NRSF dedicated to the topic of employment, it is explicitly stated 
that  “access  to  employment  is  still  severely  limited  today  for  many  Roma  and  Sinti  of 

culturali nel racconto intergenerazionale di una famiglia rom dell’Italia meridionale. Note su un’indagine in 
corso. In Rivista di Storia dell’Educazione, [S.l.], v. 4, n. 1. 

36 Established in 1965 through a memorandum of understanding between the Ministry of Education 
and Opera Nomadi, these special classes, intended exclusively for Roma and Sinti children, were only finally 
abolished in 1982. 

37 The fact that the new NRSF still recognises the validity of the objectives set by the previous NRIS 

with respect to the axis of education is an element that, at least indirectly, recognises the fact that these 
objectives were not achieved by the NRIS. 

38 A national background research on the level of inclusion of Roma and Sinti in the school system; a 

sample survey on a territorial basis on the level of early school leaving of the Roma and Sinti communities; 
interventions on ‘families and school’; cultural and linguistic mediation interventions; interventions on 
educational content (as an opportunity to meet); positive actions that favour the permanence in the education 
and training path; training of teachers and school staff. 

39 See the chapter ‘Mancanza di dati affidabili su RSC’, edited by Antonio Ciniero, in the ‘Rapporto di 

monitoraggio della società civile sull’implementazione della Strategia nazionale di inclusione Rom, Sinti e 
Caminanti in Italia. Individuazione dei punti deboli della politica di inclusione’ (2020), pp. 23-27 
https://cps.ceu.edu/sites/cps.ceu.edu/files/attachment/basicpage/3034/rcm-civil-society-monitoring-report-3-
italy-2019-eprint-it.pdf. 

40 Expert in the area of Roma education, interviewed on the 22 February 2022.  

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CIVIL  SOCIETY  MONITORING  REPORT  ON  THE  QUALITY  OF  THE  NATIONAL  ROMA  STRATEGIC  FRAMEWORK 
in Italy  

working age by a generalised collective stigmatisation, low levels of education, low levels 
of  vocational  training,  poor  access  to  services,  socio-legal  precariousness,  housing  and 
high levels of social vulnerability”.41 

According to what was found in the second cycle (2018) of the Roma Civil Monitor 2017-
2020 pilot project, the area of employment in the 2012-2020 period is among those that 
recorded the lowest number of interventions aimed at removing the elements that hinder 
the  employment  of  Roma  and  Sinti.42  The  few  initiatives  were  developed  mostly  at  the 
local level, in a fragmented way and without a real direction of broader support that could 
effectively  combat  forms  of  discrimination,  promote  training  courses  in  line  with  the 
expectations  of  Roma  and  Sinti,  implement  interventions  capable  of  encouraging  the 
permanence  in  the  dependent  labour  market  and  the  birth  of  autonomous  activities. 
Likewise, few and uncoordinated interventions were aimed at supporting the employment 
empowerment of some specific categories, such as women and young people. These are 
critical issues which, as noted by one of the interviewees, also seem to characterise the 
current NRSF that in fact is entrusting everything to the will of local authorities. 

As known in the literature – and as underlined by at least three people interviewed for the 
preparation of this report43 - working to develop pathways for work inclusion is particularly 
complex. The effectiveness of these paths is likely to be undermined so much by some 
levels  of  schooling,  poor  professionalisation,  documentary 
characteristics  (low 
irregularities,  etc.)  that  characterise  the  background  of  a  large  part  of  Roma  and  Sinti 
people,  especially  those  who  live  in  settlements.  We  must  then  also  consider  some 
contextual elements that have to do, on the one hand, with forms of discrimination and 
the  widespread  antigypsyism,  on  the  other  hand,  with  the  characteristics  of  the  Italian 
labour  market  which,  as  happened  in  all  the  advanced  capitalist  countries,44  in  recent 
decades  has  experienced  significant  processes  of  the  precariousness  of  the  working 
condition.  Furthermore,  in  some  areas  of  the  Italian  territory,  these  critical  issues  are 
joined by others, such as those linked to the significant diffusion of irregular forms of work 
and high rates of exploitation, in particular for some economic sectors.45 All these critical 
issues, in the last two years have been exacerbated even more by the social fallout of the 
health crisis from Covid-19”.46 

41 NRSF, p. 42. 

42 See the chapter dedicated to employment edited by Antonio Ciniero, Employment, pp. 13-21: 

https://cps.ceu.edu/sites/cps.ceu.edu/files/attachment/basicpage/3034/rcm-civil-society-monitoring-report-2-
italy-2018-eprint-fin- 2.pdf.  

43 Interviews with a Roma education area expert carried out on 22 February 2022; Representative of 

ERRC, 1 March 2022; Representative of Chi rom e chi no on 1 March 2022.  

44 The literature on these issues is now very extensive, for a quick reconstruction of these dynamics 
see, among others, Sennet R., 1999, The Corrosion of Character: The Personal Consequences of Work in the 
New Capitalism, Norton & Co. 

45 Think of the case of seasonal agricultural work which, in some Italian geographical areas, 
represents a significant labour allocation basin for Roma, especially of foreign and community origin 
(Bulgarians and Romanians in particular). For further information on this aspect, in addition to the 
aforementioned Employment of the second RCM, see Ciniero A., 2019, Analisi dei processi di 
esclusione/inclusione sociale dei gruppi rom. Un caso studio in Palaver, n. 8, pp. 103 – 156. Available at:  

http://siba-ese.unisalento.it/index.php/palaver/article/view/20297. 

46 To the social effects of the health crisis generated by Covid 19, particularly those that directly 

affected the work of many Roma and Sinti, several moments of discussion and study were dedicated as part of 
the activities of the project called “PAL: Local Action Plans” that involved stakeholders engaged in social 
inclusion processes for Roma and Sinti in eight Italian metropolitan cities For further information, see the 
sections dedicated to the topic of work in the eight Local Action Plans available at this 
link:  https://pianiazionelocale-rsc.com/2021/11/25/ecco-i-piani-di-azione-locale-delle-8-citta/. 

16 

 
 
 RELEVANCE 

Again, regarding the employment issue, the  NRSF, while underlining the fact that work 
represents “the cornerstone of the success of any inclusion policy, capable of definitively 
countering any prejudicial attitude towards Roma and Sinti,47 does not indicate clear and 
measurable  objectives  but  confines  itself  to  uttering  some  auspices.48  Two  specific 
objectives are identified in this section. Ten outputs indicators and five outcome indicators 
are identified. The methodology for calculating the indicators is not reported, nor is  the 
expected value of the indicators indicated. 

The planned measures are certainly interesting and useful, but the NRSF does not clearly 
define  objectives  and  implementation  methods,  which  makes  it  difficult  to  assess  their 
feasibility.  

The  section  dedicated  to  the  topic  of  employment  closes  with  the  publication  of  two 
different proposals drawn up by civil society organisations.49 It is not specified how these 
proposals will be implemented. 

2.4.  Healthcare 

The  NRSF  addresses  the  issue  of  health  protection  for  Roma  and  Sinti  starting  from  a 
context  analysis  in  which,  to  identify  the  main  health  problems  and  access  to  health 
services of Roma and  Sinti, it refers to the  ‘Plan  of Health Action for and with the RSC 
Communities’50  produced  in  2015  by  a  panel  set  up  at  the  Ministry  of  Health,  for  the 
implementation of the previous NRIS, and the ‘Health Project – Promotion of  Strategies 
and  Tools  for  Equity  in  Access  to  the  Health  Care  of  Roma,  Sinti,  and  Caminanti’, 
coordinated  by  the  UNAR  and  the  National  Institute  for  Health,  Migration  and  Poverty 
(INMP) and funded under the PON Inclusion 2014-2020. 

While  declaring  the  Health  Action  Plan  “a  still  valid  tool,  whose  intervention  indicators, 
appropriately  updated,  can  help  respond  to  the  health  needs  of  Roma  and  Sinti  in  the 
perspective of the new  NRSF”,51 it is not in line with the underlying spirit of the Health 
Action  Plan,  which  pursued  the  promotion  of  a  non-welfare,  participatory  model  of 
intervention, and develops the measures to be implemented around four areas: 

1.  Research and data collection; 
2.  Training of socio-health personnel and system mediation (socio-health integration); 
3.  Mediation and cultural facilitation; 
4.  Outreach and health education interventions. 

In  addressing  the  identified  areas,  it  offers  few  references  to  justify  the  problems 
identified,  it  has  little  internal  consistency  between  the  problems  indicated,  the  actions 
identified  and  the  indicators  proposed,  and  above  all,  it  does  not  consider  some 
indispensable assumptions, which constitute its main criticalities. 

47 NRSF, p. 42. 

48 In fact, the text states that “UNAR, in the context of the Labour Axis of the NRSF, hopes to expand 

job placement opportunities, both through access to employment and from an entrepreneurial point of view, 
with an improvement of the employability of the recipients and a consequent “normalisation” of their presence 
in the formal economy”.  

49 The first, titled ‘Ecological Transition and Circular Economy’, developed by the Kethane – Roma and 

Sinti Movement for Italy, focuses on enhancing the market sector that caters to second-hand. The second, 
titled ‘Job & Enterprise Creation’, developed by the Associazione Cittadinanza e Minoranze, focuses on an 
individual training course based on the ‘balance of skills’ of each person to detect their propensities, aspirations 
and potential to then compare them with the job opportunities to look for. 

50 Available at: 

https://www.salute.gov.it/portale/documentazione/p6_2_2_1.jsp?lingua=italiano&id=2451 

51 NRSF, p. 58. 

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CIVIL  SOCIETY  MONITORING  REPORT  ON  THE  QUALITY  OF  THE  NATIONAL  ROMA  STRATEGIC  FRAMEWORK 
in Italy  

No  definition  of  the  target  population  of  the  interventions  is  made,  limiting  itself  to  a 
generic Roma and Sinti. Yet the NRSF itself, in point 1.4, while highlighting the “reduced 
availability  of  scientifically  reliable  socio-demographic  and  economic  statistical 
information”,52  describes  an  extreme  variety  of  living  conditions  and  insertion  into  the 
educational,  housing  and  economic  pathways  of  Roma  groups  and  Sinti,  which  require 
completely different reasoning regarding health pathways. On the other hand, reading the 
paragraph  shows  an  identification  of  the  Roma  and  Sinti  with  those  who  live  in  the 
settlements, both formal and informal, in conditions of marginalisation and often misery, 
which is declared, again in point 1.4, to be calculated as 30,000 people out of the 120,000-
150,000 present in Italy. 

Apart from the need to justify such a choice, it follows from this that the data collection 
and  the  definitions  of  indicators  can  be  distorted,  since  the  reference  population  is  not 
clear. 

In close connection with this last point, we can see the danger of identifying the socio-
cultural  characteristics  of  the  Roma  and  Sinta  population  with  the  conditions  of 
marginalisation and misery in which some groups live, more specifically those who are in 
the settlements. This assumption may be the basis of some prejudices suffered by Roma 
and  Sinti  as  they  are  often confused  behaviours  and  survival  strategies  due to  poverty 
with cultural characteristics.53 

In  health,  this  aspect  is  obviated  by  working  from  the  perspective  of  explicit,  but  not 
exclusive  Rome  targeting,  which  translates  into building  social  and  health  services  that 
pursue equity, so that each individual is offered opportunities to protect their own health, 
commensurate  to  its  initial  objective  situation,  both  health  and  socio-economic.  This 
requires, in addition to the training of social and health personnel, which is considered in 
the NRSF, the reorganisation of services as well with a view for the mediation of the system 
to be considered in the Business Plans and in the internal protocols of the structures. 

The need, identified in the NRSF, for the National Health Service to support the drafting 
and  adoption  of  local  implementation  protocols  for  the  Health  Action  Plan,  capable  of 
translating  the  indicators  contained  in  the  national  guidance  documents  into  the 
organisational reality of the services, is not supported by governance measures at central 
level. Finally, to remedy the lack of knowledge of the health needs of the Roma population, 
it  is  necessary  to  pursue  the  participation  of  the  Roma  themselves  in  the  choices  that 
involve them, so that the communities are not passive objects but participate with equal 
dignity  in  the  definition  and  implementation  of  adequate  interventions  in  promoting 
health.54  Only  by  pursuing  a  constructive  dialogue  between  health  workers  and  Roma, 
aimed at recovering mutual trust, listening to the priorities identified by those in a situation 
of fragility, promoting mutual knowledge, transparency in communication and assistance 
paths, will it be possible to build paths of effective and shared health protection. 

2.5.  Housing, essential services, and environmental justice 

In  the  Italian  public  and  political  debate,  the  issue  of  residential  segregation  of  Roma 
communities in housing emergency has been consolidated for 30 years as “a fundamental 

52 NRSF, p. 13. 

53 Remember A., Motta F., Geraci S. 2014. saluteRom. Itinerari possibili. Pendragon, Bologna. 

54 National ‘Health’ panel for the implementation of the NRSF: ‘Health Action Plan for and with the 

Roma, Sinti, and Caminanti Communities’. May 2015. 

18 

 
 
 
 RELEVANCE 

hub in the process of overcoming social unease and harmonious integration into society, 
for the contrast and fight against poverty extreme”.55 

In Italy, defined since 2000 as ‘The Country of the Camps’, around 13,000 Roma and Sinti 
live in mono-ethnic settlements, marked by poor security, severe sanitary conditions, and 
lack  of  ownership  security,  where  the  inhabitants  are  excluded  from  the  processes  of 
environmental democracy. 

For  this  reason,  the  past  NRIS  had  indicated  among  the  priorities  the  “definitive 
overcoming of the emergency logics and large mono-ethnic settlements” through “a wide 
range of housing solutions”.56 In reality, these recommendations were followed by “a poor 
adherence  at  the  local  level  to  both  principles  and  objectives”  due  to  the  recognised 
“weakness of governance and interinstitutional cooperation”57 inherent in the NRSF itself 
with  the  result,  in  some  contexts,  of  “reiteration  of  evictions,  the  practice  of  assisted 
repatriation and  ‘temporary’ relocation to  structures that are not suited to the needs of 
people”.58 

Despite the centrality recognised by all of these problems, Italy has never fully understood 
in the past years the importance of punctually mapping the extent of the phenomenon of 
mono-ethnic settlements and only the recent surveys conducted by the National Institute 
of Statistics (ISTAT) made it possible to estimate, as reported in the  NRSF, a presence 
within  a  range  of  between  15,000  and  30,000  people.  A  survey  conducted  by  the 
Associazione  21  luglio  and  presented  in  the  Senate  on  7  April  2022  reports,  through  a 
special  website,59  the  updated  numbers  of  Roma  and  Sinti  in  housing  emergency.  The 
current  picture  indicates  a  total  presence  of  Roma  and  Sinti  within  mono-ethnic 
settlements outdoors and indoors equal to about 20,000 units.60 

The following measures to be implemented are reported in the NRSF: a) the promotion of 
research  activities  through  mapping,  research  and  analysis;  b)  strengthening  the 
intervention  capacities  of  local  authorities  by  offering  technical  support  and  promoting 
training  courses;  c)  mediation,  information  and  awareness  raising;  d)  interinstitutional 
activities for the promotion of access to housing; e) the promotion of guidelines on how to 
access public buildings, cohousing and self-construction measures. 

Without  additional  details,  these  actions  are  likely  to  remain  good  intentions,  failing  to 
generate the desired impact. Several interviewees, therefore, judged them to be of little 
incisiveness,  aimed  at  maintaining  the  current  situation,  and  probably  insufficient  to 
generate a real discontinuity from the past. 

Two major issues  were  highlighted by  representatives of the  civil society: the failure to 
take  into  account  the  housing  conditions  of  Roma  of  Italian  nationality  of  ancient 
settlements and of the families present in informal settlements; the scarce attention paid 
to the issue of the involvement of the Roma and Sinti communities in the decision-making 
processes related to the escape from the settlements. 

55 NRSF, p. 49. 

56 NRIS, p. 51. 

57 NRSF, p. 50. 

58 Ibid. 

59 www.ilpaesedeicampi.it 

60 Specifically: about 8,400 Roma present in 70 formal settlements; about 5,000 Sinti present in 73 

formal settlements; about 200 Roma present in two collection centres; about 1,000 Roma present in five 
mono-ethnic residential areas represented by public housing; about 5,500 Roma living in informal settlements 
(see: www.ilpaesedeicampi.it). 

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CIVIL  SOCIETY  MONITORING  REPORT  ON  THE  QUALITY  OF  THE  NATIONAL  ROMA  STRATEGIC  FRAMEWORK 
in Italy  

 “The NRSF does not take into consideration the Italian Roma of ancient settlements who, 
among  other  things,  are  much  greater  in  number  than  the  others”,61  argues  the 
representative of a Roma movement. Indeed, the NRSF does not seem to focus attention 
on  the  ghetto  housing  conditions  experienced  for  several  decades  by  ancient  Romani 
communities present above all in the Abruzzo Region and the Calabria Region. 62 At the 
same time, there are no traces, neither in the territories but not even within the text of 
the  NRSF  –  of  public  policies  to  support  the  approximately  5,500  people  residing  in 
extreme housing conditions in informal settlements other than those implemented through 
forced  eviction  actions.  “Effective  public  policies  for  overcoming  informal  settlements  - 
acknowledges a UNAR representative  – are not yet seen. The team has not been found 
neither in small towns nor in large cities”.63 

On  the  second  aspect,  that  is  linked  to  the  involvement  of  Roma  communities,  the 
interviews show the lack of importance recognised  by the NRSF of the need to  “build a 
path that must necessarily be done together with the Roma and Sinti communities”,64 that 
is  to  say  promoting  “a  shared  planning  that  allows  the  community  [resident  in  the 
settlements]  to  relate  with  the  available  solutions;  because  otherwise,  if  they  are  not 
involved in the processes, a clash is created that also interrupts the attempt to implement 
policies that are truly positive for them too”.65 A shared  opinion is that of participatory 
planning, unexplored in the NRSF, that can and must represent a model to be taken as a 
leading reference in the processes of overcoming mono-ethnic settlements. 

2.6.  Social protection 

The  main  instrument  of  social  protection,  only  recently  inaugurated  by  the  Italian 
Government, is represented by the ‘Citizenship Income’, introduced by Decree Law No. 4 
of 28 January 2019, as a measure to combat poverty through economic support aimed at 
reintegration into the labour market and social inclusion. This instrument appears to have 
been adopted by many Roma and Sinti families residing in the settlements, even though 
a  portion  of  them  were  excluded  due  to  the  absence  of  the  basic  requirement  of  civil 
registration. 

In the NRSF, too little emphasis is given to this latter issue, which deprives hundreds of 
families,  some  of  whom  have  been  present  in  Italy  for  several  decades,  of  a  series  of 
benefits aimed at socio-economic inclusion. 

2.7.  Social services 

For  some  Roma  and  Sinti  communities,  the  use  of  ordinary  welfare  services  is  often 
hindered at local level by the lack of correct information, by the isolation of the settlements 
in  which  they  live,  which  makes  it  difficult  to  reach  them,  by  isolated  phenomena  of 
discrimination, by the lack of legal regularity.66 

61 Representative of the Roma movement, 14 March 2022. 

62 In the Abruzzo region, there are entire neighbourhoods inhabited by Roma communities, especially 
in the peripheral areas of some cities. In that of Calabria, we find two examples of mono-ethnic public housing 
in the city of Gioia Tauro - where there are about 300 people - and in Cosenza, where since 2002, about 540 
people have been concentrated in via degli Stadi. We also find similar situations in three other municipal 
contexts (see www.ilpaesedeicampi.it). 

63 Contact Point Delegate for the NRSF, 24 February 2022. 

64 Expert in the area of the Roma education, 22 February 2022 

65 Ibid. 

66 This information is highlighted in the results elaborated within the survey reports edited within the 

project: ‘Pilot Interventions for the Creation of Panels and Networks of Stakeholders Involved in Various 
Capacities with the RSC, Roma, Sinti, Caminanti Communities’, to encourage the participation of Roma in the 

20 

 
 
 RELEVANCE 

When in the implementation of inclusive policies to escape from mono-ethnic settlements, 
the aim is to tackle these problems, too often there is a tendency to favour interventions 
based  on  the  belief  that  we  are  dealing  with  homogeneous  communities  rather  than 
favouring personalised interventions tailored to the particular situation.67 In some contexts 
there  is  also  the  serious  problem  related  to  the  nonregistration  of  third  and  fourth 
generation Roma citizens, which precludes access to any welfare service. 

The  most  fragile  and  marginalised  categories  –  among  which  the  Roma  and  Sinti 
communities in housing emergency must certainly be included – were those most affected 
by the socio-economic consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic, putting them at risk  of 
full  participation  in  the  social  life  of  the  Country  and  excluding  them  from  the 
implementation of essential levels of social, health and economic benefits. 

Within  the  NRSF,  it  is  repeatedly  reiterated  that  the  issue  of  equitable  and  non-
discriminatory  social protection must fall within the principle of equal treatment. At the 
same time, it is emphasised that social support can be effective insofar as it is based on 
an  integrated  approach  that  combines  actions  ranging  from  job  inclusion  to  access  to 
education, from professional training to business creation. 

It is, therefore, necessary to intervene - and on this, the NRSF is limited to a few hints68 
– towards the removal of the main obstacles through the introduction of cultural mediators 
to  improve  access  to  welfare  services;  the  removal  of  housing  desegregation  by 
overcoming  mono-ethnic  settlements;  the  organisation  of  permanent  training  for  social 
workers to remove prejudices and stereotypes, too; the activation of processes aimed at 
legal regularisation; the activation of personalised social policies linked to individual and 
family  characteristics.  Regarding  the  lack  of  registration,  “it  would  be  necessary  to 
seriously  address  the  issue  at  the  central  level  [of  government]  in  order  to  definitively 
resolve some problems”.69 

These  actions,  formulated  in  a  purely  proactive  manner  and  with  extremely  generic 
objectives, do not seem sufficiently adequate to address the problems encountered in a 
clear and explicit form. 

2.8.  Child protection 

In  particularly  deprived  contexts,  the  issue  of  child  protection  should  be  a  top  priority, 
because of the problems related to the lack of recognition of fundamental children’s rights 
enshrined in the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Despite this, within the text of the 
NRSF, with regard to the Roma and  Sinti communities in housing emergency situations 
and, therefore, belonging to these groups, there is no section specifically dedicated to the 
topic.  It  should  be  transversal  to  the  different  areas  addressed  within  the  text,  but  in 
reality, it is given very little consideration by the authors of the text and relegated to mere 
general considerations. 

Within the NRSF, generic references on the subject of the protection of minors are found 
above all in the introductory section of the text, where it is made explicit, that “the fight 
against multigenerational poverty [...] develops through measures for the protection  of 
minors;  resources  for  early  childhood  education  and  care  […],  nutrition,  personal 
development, and work with families. Participation in early childhood education and care 
is  also  accompanied  by  the  protection  of  women,  children  and  young  people  through 

social, political, economic and civic life (https://pianiazionelocale-rsc.com/) implemented in eight Italian 
metropolitan cities.’ 

67 See in this regard: Associazione 21 luglio, Oltre il campo, Roma, 2021. 

68 The NRSF includes some actions involving the introduction of socio-health mediators, the 

overcoming of mono-ethnic settlements, the training of socio-health workers, and legal regularisation. 

69 Academician, 4 March 2022. 

21 

 
CIVIL  SOCIETY  MONITORING  REPORT  ON  THE  QUALITY  OF  THE  NATIONAL  ROMA  STRATEGIC  FRAMEWORK 
in Italy  

strategies to combat crimes, such as trafficking in human beings, including any form of 
exploitation”. 

Studies carried out in recent years have shown how the issue is of particular importance, 
especially  for  two  critical  reasons  that  are  little  dealt  with  by  political  decision-makers, 
poorly  addressed  by  the  press,  and  sometimes  denied  or  supported  within  the  Roma 
communities themselves: the practice of forced marriages70 and the problems related to 
the nonrecognition of legal status.71 On the latter issue, as also reported by the UNHCR, it 
is necessary to start as soon as possible:  “measures aimed at the regularisation  of the 
legal  status  and  the  protection  of  stateless  persons  or  persons  at  risk  of  statelessness 
belonging to the Roma communities [...] which envisage the involvement of the various 
relevant  counterparties,  such  as  local  administrations,  police  headquarters,  prefectures 
and foreign representations in Italy”.72 

In the paragraph of the NRSF referring to the ‘Evolution of the Statelessness Issue’, the 
absence of specific actions is noted, especially about the conditions of Roma children. For 
this  reason,  some  interviewees  underline  the  importance  of:  “seriously  addressing  the 
issue at the central level and resolving some problems definitively”,73 highlighting how “it 
would  be  desirable  that  the  NRSF  succeeds  in  providing  for  the  first  time  a  table  on 
statelessness that finally brings in the results”.74 

2.9.  Promoting (awareness of) Roma arts, culture, and history 

According to the NRSF for the fight against discrimination and antigypsyism, “the theme 
of  promoting  knowledge  of  Romani  art,  music,  history  and  culture  becomes  a  key 
element”75 on condition of avoiding the risk of falling into a process of ‘folklorisation’ “which 
in the past has fuelled already existing stereotypes”. 

It  should  not  be  forgotten  that  Italy  is  characterised  by  a  strong  fragmentation  of  the 
Roma and Sinti communities. Conventionally, in the light of the different migratory flows, 
22 communities attributable to the Roma ‘galaxy’ are indicated.76 

In the light of this composite framework – within which each group, and sometimes even 
each subgroup, is linked to different traditions, speaks a different dialect, practices art in 
various forms, and even fails to recognise other communities as part of a single population 
– and to the various processes of cultural hybridisation, it remains extremely complex to 

70 Research carried out among the inhabitants of the Roma settlements in the city of Rome in 2017 
found that in contexts where the presence of families from specific urban areas of Romania is significant, the 
rate of the phenomenon of early marriages reaches 77%, even exceeding the negative world record held by 
Nigeria. See Associazione 21 luglio, Mia madre era rom (My mother was Roma), Roma, 2017.  

71 A national report showed that in Italy the number of minors, children of citizens of former 
Yugoslavia born in Italy, at high risk of statelessness, is about 500. The first condition of such minors, without 
citizenship and without a country, is to find themselves from birth in the absence of any constitutionally 
recognised right. See Associazione 21 luglio, Fantasmi Urbani (Urban ghosts), Roma, 2020.  

72 UNHCR, Recommendations on the Protection of Stateless Persons in Italy, Rome, 2021. 

73 Academician, 4 March 2022. 

74 Representative of ERRC, 1 March 2022. 

75 NRSF, p. 60. 

76 The Italian Roma of ancient migration, divided into five groups (Roma from Abruzzo, Roma 
Celentani, Roma basalisk, Roma from Puglia, Roma from Calabria); the Sinti, which include  nine macro groups 
(Piedmontese Sinti, Lombard Sinti, Sinti Mucini, Sinti Emiliani, Sinti Veneto, Sinti Marche, Sinti Gàckanè, Sinti 
Extremekhària, Sinti Kranària); the recently immigrated Balkan Roma, including at least five macro groups 
(Roma harvati, Roma Kalderasha, Roma Xoraxanè, Roma Sikhanè, Roma Arlija / shiptaira); recently 
immigrated EU Roma (Romanian Roma and Bulgarian Roma). Within this ‘galaxy’, walkers must also be 
included, a group originally from Noto, in the province of Syracuse. 

22 

 
 
 
 RELEVANCE 

determine artistic aspects that can be clearly traced back to the Romani culture. In Italy, 
for  example,  in  the  absence  of  a  standardised  Romanes  language,  the  use  of  different 
dialects prevails and, in more and more cases, the exclusive use of the Italian language is 
privileged  within  the  new  generations.  According  to  the  representative  of  a  national 
movement made up of ancient Roma: “If the Roma culture disappears, we will remain a 
social  problem.  We  have  a  cultural  identity  as  we  speak  a  language,  we  cultivate 
traditions.”77 

Too often, as denounced by some interviewees, the Roma issue in Italy is placed on the 
level of a mere social emergency, forgetting the valuable contribution, also cultural, made 
by Roma and Sinti communities in history.78 

On this topic, the objectives envisaged in the  NRSF are two: “the promotion of artistic-
cultural  initiatives”  and  “the  knowledge  and  promotion  of  the  Romani  language”,79 
initiatives which, in the light of the aforementioned criticalities, run the risk of remaining 
on  the  surface,  without  really  affecting  the  Italian  cultural  context.  For  this  reason,  a 
highlighted  priority  could  become  that  of  strengthening  historical  research  through 
adequate  funding.  “In  Italy,  in  fact,  we  should  work  to  raise  awareness  of  the  cultural 
contribution given by Roma and Sinti in history to European culture”.80 

77 Representative of UCRI, 14 March 2022.  

78 Representative of Sucar Drom, 21 February 2022.  

79 NRSF, p. 61. 

80 Contact person for Sucar Drom, 21 February 2022. 

23 

 
 
3.  EXPECTED EFFECTIVENESS 

3.1.  Coherence with related domestic and European policies  

The  NRSF  is  formally  consistent  with  the  framework  of  European  policies.  Indeed,  the 
document  implements  the  ‘EU  Roma  Strategic  Framework  for  Equality,  Inclusion  and 
Participation ‘, including among its priorities the three pillars of the ten-year Plan: equality, 
inclusion, and participation. 

In the NRSF these three pillars are declined, giving centrality to these three issues: 

1.  Fight against antigypsyism; 
2.  Fight against multigenerational poverty; 
3.  Promotion of Roma and Sinti participation. 

Furthermore,  the  NRSF  is  coherent  with  the  following  European  policy  documents  also 
adopted at the national level by Italy: 

•  The Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union; 
•  EU Anti-racism Action Plan 2020-2025; 
•  Union of Equality: LGBTIQ Equality Strategy 2020-2025. 

3.2.  Responsibility for NRSF coordination and monitoring 

Responsible for the Coordination of the Italian NRSF is the UNAR, established within the 
Department for Equal Opportunities of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers. The fact 
that  the  Italian  NRCP,  unlike  what  happens  in  other  countries,  is  established  within  a 
department  directly  under  the  Italian  Government,  represents  a  critical  point  since,  at 
least potentially, its freedom of action and independence could be compromised. 

Although the Decree establishing the UNAR Office (2003), in Article 2, specifies that “the 
Office  has the  function  of  ensuring,  in  full  autonomy  of  judgement  and  in  conditions  of 
impartiality,  the  effectiveness  of  the  principle  of  equal  treatment  between  people,  to 
monitor  the  effectiveness  of  the 
force  against 
discrimination”,81 the appointment of the Director who coordinates the office is of political 
competence; the General Director, in fact, is appointed by the President of the Council of 
Ministers or a Minister delegated by him.82 

instruments  of  protection 

in 

3.3.  Quality of the plan 

The NRSF for each axis of intervention defines specific measures to be implemented. Each 
of  them  is  presented  the  objectives  set  by  the  Council  Recommendations,  but  the 
objectives are not always defined taking into account the specificities of the Italian context. 
For each axis, there are specific interventions or measures to be defined according to the 
objectives set by the Council Recommendations. 

The planned interventions, in all cases, are described only in their general characterisation, 
without making any reference to the time frame to be followed for the implementation of 
the interventions, or the implementation methods of individual interventions. 

Furthermore, although in the description of each axis (Section no. 3 of the NRSF) there is 
a paragraph titled ‘Measures and Indicators’, the indicators are not always identified, and 

81 Decree of the President of the Council of Ministers of 11 December 2003 (the constitution and 

internal organisation of the UNAR). 

82 https://www.UNAR.it/portale/struttura 

24 

 
 
 EXPECTED EFFECTIVENESS 

where  they  are  (Health  and  Cultural  Promotion),83  it  is  not  made  clear  whether  those 
indicated  are  process,  structure  or  result  indicators,  nor  is  the  expected  value  of  the 
indicator mentioned, nor, again, the methodology to be followed in estimating the value 
of the indicator. In this regard, it should be noted that in the NRSF reference is made to 
“a  dynamic  appendix  containing  a  focus  on  process  and  result  indicators”,84  but  in  the 
document provided for this analysis, the appendix is not included. 

3.4.  Funding 

The NRSF does not foresee a specific budget for its implementation. It only lists possible 
financing channels. In the paragraph dedicated to ‘Financing the Strategy’ (4.5), the types 
of financing channels that contribute to the implementation of the actions and intervention 
objectives are listed. The financing channels are distinguished by level; national funds and 
regional  or  local  funds  are  mentioned.85  In  addition,  there  is  a  focus  on  Community 
Programming 2021-2027. 

No reference is made in the paragraph to the quantification of resources to be used. When 
the measures and interventions to be implemented are described, no indication is given 
of the possible channels that can be used to finance interventions from those listed in the 
paragraph on financing. 

3.5.  Monitoring and evaluation 

The NRSF specifies that this activity will be coordinated by the NRCP, envisaging the use 
of  a  standardised  structure,  process  and  result  indicators,  and  tools  for  collecting  and 
measuring activities and results. In this regard, it is specified that data collection systems 
will be set up for each axis and each programme/project implementing the axes will be 
obliged to collect and transmit periodic surveys of the set indicators. 

In  addition,  it  is  also  specified  that  the  public  administrations  and  private  social 
associations  involved  in  the  implementation  of  the  measures  of  the  NRSF  will  have  to 
provide the Monitoring and Evaluation Unit (M&E) of the NRCP, on a quarterly basis, with 
statistical surveys of the outputs and outcomes of the projects. In order to achieve this, 

83 The indicators identified for the ‘Health’ Axis are: National pilot survey on the gap between life 

expectancy of Roma and Sinti groups, and the general population; Surveys on the level of relevant and 
perceived discrimination in access to social-health services by Roma and Sinti groups; Implementation of a 
Web platform dedicated to the dissemination of materials of social-health interest to Roma and Sinti; Training 
courses for operators of the NHS, municipal social services and private social services; Support the local 
implementation of the RSC Health Action Plan, through the elaboration of corporate protocols; Make a stable 
and systematic - on a national scale - educational pathway for local health authorities for Roma and Sinti 
mediators/facilitators in health care; Information tools (also visual) for orientation to social-health services and 
materials for health education activities in favour of hard-to-reach groups, also in Romanes language. The 
indicators identified for the ‘Culture Promotion’ Axis are: The provision of budgets and co-funding - both at the 
central and local level - for initiatives related to these issues; Training and information paths related to art, 
culture and identity issues to be proposed to the public administration and various stakeholders (or proposed 
independently by the same); The participation of the ‘gagé’ population in artistic-cultural Romani events; The 
presence of cultural initiatives promoted by Roma and Sinti in the calendar of national cultural events; 
Increased awareness and knowledge of Romani and Sinti historical and linguistic elements among institutions, 
territories, and the general population; Experiments and innovative proposals for teaching elements of Romani 
history and cultures in schools; Definition and support of memorial spaces, monuments and other 
commemorative works in places not previously valued, accompanied by initiatives and events. 

84 NRSF, p. 4. 

85 Among the state funds, are listed those already allocated to the chapters of respective competence 

of the central Administrations; national and community funds related to national operational programmes 
financed by the European Social Fund and managed by the central Administrations; national and community 
funds related to national operational programmes financed by the European Regional Development Fund; 
additional resources that are made available for specific chapters of competence of the Department for Equal 
Opportunities. Among the funds at regional or local level, are listed: funds related to the Regional Operational 
Programmes (POR), individual for each region and managed by the regional administrations; national, regional 
and local funds independently managed by the regions and the system of local autonomies. 

25 

 
CIVIL  SOCIETY  MONITORING  REPORT  ON  THE  QUALITY  OF  THE  NATIONAL  ROMA  STRATEGIC  FRAMEWORK 
in Italy  

an  M&E  unit  will  be  set  up  to  coordinate  the  collection  and  analysis  of  statistical  data 
coming from the Administrations and existing statistical sources related to the thematic 
areas. 

The actual implementation of monitoring activities presents at least the following critical 
points that may negatively affect monitoring activities: 

•  The  methodologies  (concerning  definition,  sources  of  data,  and  other  important 
details)  are  not  defined.  It  would  have  been  appropriate  to  define  before  the 
implementation  of  the  NRSF  the  expected  value  of  the  indicator  and  the 
methodologies with which to estimate the indicator. 

•  At present, the sources to be used to collect the data necessary for monitoring have 
not yet been defined, nor have the data collection tools or the operational methods 
with which the data will be collected. The absence of operational methods for data 
collection is a particularly relevant criticism  of the data to be provided by Public 
Administrations. The definition of data to be collected and the transmission of the 
same is, in fact, a process that generally requires a long period of time for an Italian 
public  administration,  a  time  that  could  hardly  be  compatible  with  an  ongoing 
monitoring activity on the implementation of the NRSF. 

These critical points were also underlined by several interviewees.86 

3.6.  Assessment of the expected effectiveness and sustainability 

Critical issues already highlighted in the chapter are related to: 

•  Absence or poor implementation commensurate with the specificity of the Italian 
context of the objectives that each axis aims to achieve through the implementation 
of the NRSF; 

•  Description of measures and interventions to be implemented that are not anchored 

• 

to a precise timetable; 
Inadequate definition of indicators where foreseen (Health and Cultural Promotion) 
and absence of indicators (Anti-poverty, Education, Employment, Housing); 

•  Lack  of  definition  of  data  sources  and  methodologies  to  be  used  for  estimating 

indicators; 

•  Non-definition of data collection methods, in particular, the data to be provided by 

public administrations 

These risk undermining or weakening the effectiveness of interventions because they do 
not allow for adequate ongoing monitoring of planned measures. 

In addition to these critical points, there are also those derived from the legal nature of 
the NRSF which, being a soft law instrument, has no binding capacity, leaving in fact to 
the free initiative of local authorities (regional authorities and municipal authorities) the 
possibility  of  implementing  or  not  the  planned  measures.  In  fact,  no  sanctioning 
mechanisms are foreseen for local authorities that decide not to implement the activities 
or that put in place interventions in clear contrast with what has been foreseen. 

A further possible criticality could derive from the fact that the budget that will be used 
for the implementation of measures and interventions is not defined and allocated with 
respect to the interventions. Moreover, in many cases, given the nature of the financing 
channels foreseen, the possibility of identifying a specific budget for the implementation 
of interventions is left to the autonomous initiative of the local authorities. The latter may 
provide  or  not  budget  shares  to  be  used  for  the  implementation  of  activities  aimed  at 

86 See interviews with: Sucar Drom, 21 February 2022; UCRI, 14 March 2022; ERRC, 1 March 2022.  

26 

 
 
 EXPECTED EFFECTIVENESS 

inclusion and participation of Roma and Sinti or, even if provided, may then decide to use 
that budget for different actions. 

This  is  far  from  being  a  hypothesis,  given  that  in  the  last  decade  several  Italian 
Metropolitan  Cities  (see  for  example  the  case  of  Catania,  Messina,  and  Bari)87  have 
significantly reduced shares of funds from the PON Metro initially allocated for activities of 
inclusion of Roma communities or have allocated these sums to other activities. 

87 In 2018, the Municipal Administration of Messina has allocated to other social inclusion activities the 

sum of approximately 1.5 million EUR originally allocated for the ‘Roma Empowerment’ project. In 2020, the 
Municipal Administration of Catania halved the amount originally allocated to finance the project called Fuori 
Campo (Outside the settlement). In 2019, the Municipal Administration of Bari has allocated the sum of 
approximately 150,000 EUR to finance micro-entrepreneurship projects also from the Roma population on 
other projects. 

27 

 
 
4.  ALIGNMENT WITH THE EU ROMA STRATEGIC 

FRAMEWORK 

4.1.  Reflecting diversity among Roma  

Italy is characterised by a strong fragmentation of the Roma and Sinti communities.88 The 
socio-economic conditions between and within the different groups are different, as are 
the  housing  conditions  enclosed  in  a  range  that  includes,  in  its  extremes,  families  in 
housing  emergency  characterised  by  transnational  mobility  and  those  of  ancient 
settlement, rooted for centuries on the same territory. 

As  recognised  in  the  NRSF  itself,  Italy  counts  on  a  “reduced  availability  of  scientifically 
reliable  socio-demographic  and  economic  statistical  information  on  the  Roma  and  Sinti 
population”89 and this contributes “to making it difficult to identify the problems affecting 
the life conditions of part of this heterogeneous group of citizens”.90 

The  official  statistical  data  collected  periodically  cannot  be  disaggregated  by  ethnicity. 
“These are the limits imposed by the law. The data we have are therefore the data that 
photograph the discomfort and unfortunately, we have this limit”.91 

The  consequence  is  that  the  only  quantitative  and  qualitative  data  are  almost  always 
exclusively referred to communities that can easily be classified as Roma or Sinti because 
from  the  housing  point  of  view,  they  are  located  in  a  mono-ethnic  settlement  and, 
therefore,  in  a  condition  of  serious  socio-economic  fragility.92  Within  them,  there  is  a 
minority component of some of the 22 communities present on the national territory. The 
NRSF pays the price for this cognitive deficit with the consequence that  “it manages to 
take very little interest in those groups that pass through Italy from Eastern Europe”;93 
inside “the Sicilian walkways we dealt with in the past NRIS are missing”,94 and “all people 
who do not live in large cities are not considered, with the consequence that many people 
have been excluded”.95 

Therefore, starting from an initial little known, extremely partial and sectoral framework 
that includes only small portions  of some  of the  22 communities present on the Italian 
territory, it does not promote actions that guarantee the “recognition of the diversity and 
needs of specific groups within the Roma population”, as recommended in the EU Strategic 
Framework.96 

As explored in the previous chapters, the  NRSF also shows little attention to the gender 
issue, to child protection measures, to the rights of the elderly and people with disabilities, 
and to those experiencing seasonal mobility, subjects marked by multiple discrimination. 

88 On the different groups, see Associazione 21 luglio, L’esclusione al tempo del Covid (Exclusion in 

the time of Covid), Roma, 2021. 

89 NRSF, p. 13. 

90 Ibid. 

91 Employee in the National Statistical Institute, 8 March 2022. 

92 With regard to these housing models, inhabited by less than 20,000 people, the following should be 

noted: formal and informal outdoor settlements, some residential areas, Roma collection centres. See 
www.ilpaesedeicampi.it  

93 Expert in the area of the Roma education, 22 February 2022. 

94 ERRC, 1 March 2022.  

95 Representative of Sucar Drom, 21 February 2022.  

96 European Commission 2020, EU strategic Framework for Roma for Equality, Inclusion and 

Participation, Brussels, p. 3. 

28 

 
 
 ALIGNMENT WITH THE EU ROMA STRATEGIC FRAMEWORK 

One chapter of the NRSF is related to the development of the statelessness issue, where, 
especially in relation to Roma children, the measures taken are particularly weak. 

4.2.  Combining mainstream and targeted approaches 

The NRSF, following the indications reported in the EU Strategic Framework,97 repeatedly 
mentions the need to promote actions “marked by a combined mainstream approach with 
explicit  but  not  exclusive  target  groups”98  and  its  approach  promotes  this  virtuous 
combination. 

However,  the  text  does  not  mention  the  phenomenon,  rooted  in  some  Italian  cities, 
according to which access to ordinary services is hindered by municipal structures of social 
assistance reserved on an ethnic basis,99 which promote forms of support for Roma and 
Sinti communities parallel to those provided for  ordinary citizens, accentuating, despite 
themselves,  disparities  in  the  form  of  service  provision.  It  is,  therefore,  necessary  to 
discourage  local  target-based  interventions  based  on  an  ethnic  vision,  strengthening 
instead the ordinary chain of services, providing investments and reforms that strengthen 
the field of welfare policies. 

4.3.  Usage of instruments introduced by the Council Recommendation 

The  EU Strategic Framework for Roma for Equality, Inclusion  and Participation provides 
that the following are guaranteed: significant participation of Roma in all decision-making; 
empowering and strengthening the capacities of Roma, civil society and public authorities, 
building  trust  among  stakeholders  and  between  Roma  and  non-Roma  communities; 
promoting the political, economic and cultural commitment of the Roma. To facilitate the 
achievement of these objectives, the framework indicates a series of actions including the 
promotion of a reform of the European Roma Platforms to make them more representative 
for  the  national  Roma  population,  extending  them  to  new  realities  and  exploiting  the 
potential of social innovation. 

In addition, to encourage the active involvement of women and young people, it provides 
for the election of a platform representative to ensure transnational networking between 
national  and  European  Roma  platforms,  offering  young  Roma  internships  or  junior 
positions in national structures linked to the implementation of the Roma Platforms. 

Consistently with the EU guidelines, the NRSF promotes the strengthening of the role and 
functioning  of the  Platform and the  Forum in terms of active participation of Roma and 
Sinti in consultative and decision-making processes, also in terms of representation and 
representativeness. 

Still, in line with the European strategic framework, the following proposals are placed: 
promoting the participation of young Roma and  Sinti people involved by associations in 
empowerment and training courses in thematic subgroups; guaranteeing the financing of 
the  functioning  of  the  Platform  and  the  Forum  with  national  and  European  resources; 
promote  the  capacity  building  of  civil  society;  apply  a  bottom-up  methodology  to 
encourage  active  participation  in  the  monitoring  of  national  strategies;  encourage  the 

97 “In the NRSF, mainstreaming and explicit but not exclusive targeting should be combined, ensuring 
that mainstream services are inclusive and providing targeted and additional support to promote effective and 
equal access of Roma to rights and services”, p. 7. 

98 NRSF, p. 43. 

99 In some Italian cities, for decades, there have been municipal structures that provide social services 

reserved exclusively for people identified as Roma and Sinti because they are registered in mono-ethnic 
settlements. Among them, Naples, with the Ufficio Rom e Patti di Cittadinanza (Roma Office and Citizenship 
Pacts); Rome, with the Ufficio Scolarizzazione Alunni Rom (Roma Pupil Schooling Office); Turin, with the Ufficio 
Servizio Nomadi (Nomad Service Office); Latina, with the Area Nomadi (Nomad Area); Trescore Balneario, with 
the Ufficio Campi Rom (Roma Settlements Office); Asti, with the Sportello Stranieri e Nomadi (Foreigners and 
Nomads Desk).  

29 

 
CIVIL  SOCIETY  MONITORING  REPORT  ON  THE  QUALITY  OF  THE  NATIONAL  ROMA  STRATEGIC  FRAMEWORK 
in Italy  

participation of Roma and Sinti communities in the political activities of territorial and local 
institutions; promote exchange with other European participatory models. 

With reference to the guarantee of funding the Platform and the Forum with national and 
European resources, however, we note the lack of a reference to the adoption of a plan 
aimed at providing regular support for strengthening the capacities of local civil society. 

As regards the linguistic-cultural aspects, the NRSF provides for a concrete involvement 
of the Roma and Sinti communities in the consultation for the resolution of critical issues 
on the territories, favouring their inclusion in decision-making and co-programming and 
co-planning  mechanisms.  However,  there  is  a  lack  of  specific  references  regarding  the 
adoption of a plan to involve more Roma professionals as mediators, which would  help 
overcome the persistent lack of trust between Roma and non-Roma communities. 

Finally,  as  indicated  by  the  contact  person  of  ERRC  interviewed100  and  by  the 
representative  of  Chi  rom  e  chi  no,101  we  note  the  scarce  attention  paid  to  the  active 
participation of women, who play a central role within the Roma communities in terms of 
connection with institutions (schools, services, etc.) and with the civil society. From this 
point of view, the empowerment of Roma women is fundamental and specific measures 
should have been envisaged in this regard. 

100 See Interview with a representative of ERRC, 1 March 2022.  

101 See Interview with a representative of Chi rom e chi no, 1 March 2022.  

30 

 
 
 
CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS  

On the one hand, the NRSF seems to confirm some structural limits that in the past have 
severely limited its effectiveness; on the other hand, it does not seem to give adequate 
answers to critical issues already highlighted in the past NRIS; lastly, it marks elements 
of discontinuity, making significant leaps in quality in some areas. 

It  should  be  remembered  that  the  NRCP,  responsible  for  drafting  and  coordinating  the 
NRSF,  unlike  what  happens  in  other  countries,  is  placed  directly  under  the  Italian 
Government  and  this  could  potentially  compromise  its  freedom  of  action  and 
independence. The NRSF also contains a structural weakness dictated by its legal nature: 
it has no binding capacity - leaving the possibility of implementing or not implementing 
the planned actions to the free initiative of the local authorities – and it does not provide 
for a budget specifically intended for the implementation of the planned actions. Finally, 
compared to the past NRSF, which was approved on 24 February 2012 by the Council of 
Ministers at the proposal of Minister Andrea Riccardi, it appears to be a politically weak 
document, having been adopted by a simple administrative act signed by the Director of 
UNAR. 

In  the  current  NRSF,  the  demands  of  communities  experiencing  extreme  housing 
exclusion,  the  female  component  –  for  which  specific  empowerment  actions  are  not 
considered – and minors, regarding whom a specific chapter dedicated to their protection 
is absent, are not adequately taken into account. 

Another  criticality  is  linked  to  the  method:  the  objectives  established  by  the  Council 
Recommendations  are  not  inclined  to  take  into  account  the  specificities  of  the  Italian 
context. 

Positive elements of discontinuity with respect to the past NRIS concern: the effort, in the 
drafting  phase,  of  the  NRCP  to  have  tried  to  ensure  the  activation  of  consultation  and 
participation processes by expanding, compared to the past, the audience of stakeholders 
and opening up to the possibility of greater exchange of information and contributions; 
the emphasis given to antigypsyism as a transversal key to all actions; the multiplicity of 
educational interventions, some with an innovative character. 

Recommendations to national authorities 

1.  The Italian Government should intervene to ensure the total independence of the 
Anti-Racial  Discrimination  Office  from  the  executive  power,  as  well  as  the 
consolidation and strengthening of its competences, providing it with the resources 
and powers necessary to finance actions foreseen within the NRSF. 

2.  The NRCP, in the context of actions aimed at overcoming mono-ethnic settlements, 
should take into consideration not only the formal open-air settlements, commonly 
referred  to  as  ‘Roma  camps’  or  ‘Sinti  camps’,  but  also  informal  settlements  and 
residential  areas  created  by  public  authorities  and  with  a  strongly  mono-ethnic 
character  that  insist  on  the  national  territory,  drawing  up,  by  2024,  specific 
intervention guidelines for overcoming them. 

3.  It  is  recommended  that  the  NRCP  develops  by  2024  specific  operational 
methodologies,  listening  campaigns  and  forms  of  active  participation  within  the 
Roma and Sinti communities present in the formal and informal settlements with 
the aim of promoting the empowerment of female component. 

4.  It is recommended that the national government follows up the directorial decree 
signed  by  the  Director  General  of  the  UNAR  with  approval  of  the  NRSF  by  the 
Council of Ministers by the end of 2022. 

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CIVIL  SOCIETY  MONITORING  REPORT  ON  THE  QUALITY  OF  THE  NATIONAL  ROMA  STRATEGIC  FRAMEWORK 
in Italy  

5.  The NRCP is recommended to deal with the problem of early marriages in the Forum 
and the Platform in 2023 and 2024 in order to draw up, in agreement with the two 
bodies, guidelines to guarantee the protection of children’s rights on the issue. 

6.  Define  an  expected  value  for  each  quantitative  indicator  and  explain  the 
methodologies  with  which  to  estimate  the  indicator  (for  example:  carrying  out 
surveys and analysis of available data sources). Immediately define, by preparing 
the appropriate protocols, how the public administrations and other bodies will have 
to provide useful data for monitoring the implementation of the NRSF. 

7.  It  is  recommended  that  the  NRCP  promote  by  2024  the  creation  of  a  legal  task 
force  that  offers  legal  support  to  municipal  administrations  to  heal  conditions  of 
statelessness risk encountered in its territory. 

8.  The  NRCP  is  recommended  to  promote  by  2024  a  synergistic  action  with  the 
Ministry  of  Education,  University  and  Research,  the  Ministry  of  Health  and  the 
Ministry of the Interior so that the school support interventions that affect minors 
present  in  formal  and  informal  settlements  are  structured  in  a  multidimensional 
way, guaranteeing, in addition to the right to education, the fundamental rights of 
children enshrined in the Convention on the Rights of the Child and Adolescent. 

32 

 
 
REFERENCES 

List of interviews 

-  Alessandro Pistecchia, NRCP delegate for the NRSF, 24 February 2022 (Video) 

-  Antonio Ciniero, Academician, 15 March 2022 (Telephone) 

-  Carlo Berini, Representative of Sucar Drom, 21 February 2022 (Video) 

-  Emma Ferulano, Representative of Chi rom e chi no, 1 March 2022 (Video) 

-  Gennaro Spinelli, representative of UCRI, 14 March 2022 (Video) 

-  Luca Bravi, Roma education expert, 22 February 2022 (Video) 

-  Nadia Nur, Researcher in National Institute of Statistics, 8 March 2022 (Telephone) 

-  Paolo Ciani, Councillor of the Lazio Region, 3 March 2022 (Telephone) 

-  Roberto Bortone, NRCP delegate for the NRSF, 24 February 2022 (Video) 

-  Rosi Mangiacavallo, Representative of ERRC, 1 March 2022 (Video) 

-  Sandro Palmieri, Representative of Communità di Sant’Egidio, 1 March 2022 (Video) 

-  Stefano Pasta, Academician, 4 March 2022 (Telephone) 

Key policy documents and reports 

Associazione 21 luglio. Fantasmi urbani (Urban Ghosts). Roma, 2020. 
https://www.21luglio.org/2018/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/fantasmi-urbani-edit.pdf  

Associazione 21 luglio. Il paese dei campi (The Country of the Settlements). Accessed 8 
April 2017. https://www.ilpaesedeicampi.it  

Associazione 21 luglio. L’esclusione nel tempo del Covid (The Exclusion in the Time of 
Covid). Roma, 2021. https://www.21luglio.org/2018/wp-
content/uploads/2021/10/Rapporto_2021_web_con_indice.pdf  

Associazione 21 luglio. Mia madre era Rom (My mother Was Roma). Roma, 2017. 
https://www.21luglio.org/2018/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Rapporto-Mia-madre-era-
rom_Associazione-21-luglio.pdf  

Associazione 21 luglio. Oltre il campo (Outside the Settlement). Roma: Tau Editrice, 
2021. 

Ciniero, Antonio. Analisi dei processi di esclusione/inclusione sociale dei gruppi Rom. Un 
caso studio (Analysis of Social Exclusion/Inclusion Processes of Roma Groups. A case 
Study). Palaver, 2019. http://siba-
ese.unisalento.it/index.php/palaver/article/view/20297  

Ciniero, Antonio. ’Employment’. In: Rapporto di monitoraggio della società civile 
sull’implementazione della Strategia Nazionale di inclusione Rom, Sinti e Caminanti in 
Italia. Individuazione dei punti deboli della politica di inclusione (Civil Society Monitoring 
Report on the Implementation of the National Strategy for Roma, Sinti, and Caminanti 
Inclusion in Italy. Identification of Weaknesses in Inclusion Policy), edited by Casa della 
Carità, Consorzio Nova, Fondazione Romanì, Associazione 21 luglio, Associazione Sinti 
Italiani Prato, Arci Solidarietà, 13-21. 2018. 
https://cps.ceu.edu/sites/cps.ceu.edu/files/attachment/basicpage/3034/rcm-civil-
society-monitoring-report-2-italy-2018-eprint-fin-2.pdf  

33 

 
 
CIVIL  SOCIETY  MONITORING  REPORT  ON  THE  QUALITY  OF  THE  NATIONAL  ROMA  STRATEGIC  FRAMEWORK 
in Italy 

Ciniero, Antonio. Mancanza di dati affidabili su RSC (Lack of Reliable Data on RSC). In: 
Rapporto di monitoraggio della società civile sull’implementazione della Strategia 
Nazionale di inclusione Rom, Sinti e Caminanti in Italia. Individuazione dei punti deboli 
della politica di inclusione. (In: Civil Society Monitoring Report on the Implementation of 
the National Strategy for Roma, Sinti and Caminanti Inclusion in Italy. Identifying the 
Weaknesses of Inclusion Policy), edited by Casa della Carità, Consorzio Nova, 
Fondazione Romanì, Associazione 21 luglio, Associazione Sinti Italiani Prato, 23-27. 
2020. https://cps.ceu.edu/sites/cps.ceu.edu/files/attachment/basicpage/3034/rcm-civil-
society-monitoring-report-3-italy-2019-eprint-it.pdf  

Ciniero, Antonio. Mascarimirì, come legge! percorsi scolastici, identità e rielaborazione 
delle appartenenze culturali nel racconto intergenerazionale di una famiglia Rom 
dell’Italia meridionale. Note su un’indagine in corso, Rivista di Storia dell’Educazione 
(Mascarimirì, as Law! Schooling Paths, Identity, and the Reworking of Cultural Belonging 
in the Intergenerational Narrative of a Southern Italian Roma Family. Notes on an 
Ongoing Investigation, Journal of Educational History), v. 4, n. 1. (2017). CIRSE. 

Ciniero, Antonio. Un progetto per l’inclusione di Rom e Sinti. Una sperimentazione 
importante e faticosa (A Project for the Inclusion of Roma and Sinti. An Important and 
Arduous Experimentation), Articolo 33, (2021): 47–52. Edizioni Conoscenza. 

European Commission. EU Strategic Framework for Roma for Equality, Inclusion and 
Participation. Accessed 1 March 2022. 
https://ec.europa.eu/info/sites/default/files/eu_roma_strategic_framework_for_equality
_inclusion_and_participation_for_2020_-_2030_0.pdf  

Ministero della Salute. Piano d’Azione Salute per e con le comunità Rom, Sinti e 
Caminanti (Ministry of Health. Health Action Plan for and with Roma, Sinti, and 
Caminanti Communities). Accessed 3 March 2022. 
https://www.salute.gov.it/portale/documentazione/p6_2_2_1.jsp?lingua=italiano&id=24
51  

Nova Onlus. Progetto P.A.L. Piani di Azione Locale. (P.A.L. Project. Local Action Plans) 
Accessed 8 March 2017. https://pianiazionelocale-rsc.com/2021/11/25/ecco-i-piani-di-
azione-locale-delle-8-citta/  

Pasta, Stefano. Rom e Sinti in Italia. Tra tutela del nomadismo, culture presunte, campi, 
disagio sociale e povertà educativa, (Roma and Sinti in Italy. Between Protection of 
Nomadism, Assumed Aultures, Camps, Social Distress, and Educational Poverty). Scholé. 
Rivista di educazione e studi culturali, LVIII, n. 2 (2020): 189–198. Editrice Morcelliana 

Pontrandolfo, Stefania, Un secolo di scuola. I Rom di Melfi (A Century of Schooling. The 
Roma of Melfi). Roma: CISU, 2004 

Presidenza del Consiglio dei Ministri. Costituzione e organizzazione interna dell’UNAR 
(Presidency of the Council of Ministers. Constitution and Internal Organisation of UNAR). 
Accessed 11 March 2022: 
https://www.unar.it/portale/documents/20125/51075/Decreto-del-Presidente-del-
Consiglio-dei-Ministri-11-dicembre-20031.pdf/9d2c6e23-47fd-d279-aa45-
09eeee64a011?t=1619792872055  

Ricordy, Alice, Motta, Fulvia, Geraci, Salvatore. saluteRom. Itinerari possibili. (Health 
Rom. Possible Itineraries). Bologna: Edizioni Pendragon, 2014. 

Sennet, Richard, The Corrosion of Character: The Personal Consequences of Work in the 
New Capitalism. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1999. 

Ufficio Nazionale Antidiscriminazione Razziale. Strategia Nazionale d’Inclusione dei Rom, 
dei Sinti, e dei Caminanti 2012/2020. Attuazione Comunicazione Commissione Europea 
n. 173/2011. (National Anti-Racial Discrimination Office. National Strategy for the 

34 

 
REFERENCES 

Inclusion of Roma, Sinti, and Caminanti 2012/2020. Implementation European 
Commission Communication No. 173/2011). Roma: UNAR, 2012. 
http://www.Unar.it/Unar/portal/wpcontent/uploads/2014/02/Strategia-Rom-e-Sinti.pdf  

UNHCR. Raccomandazioni sulla protezione degli apolidi in Italia. (Recommendations on 
the Protection of Stateless Persons in Italy). Roma, 2021. https://www.unhcr.org/it/wp-
content/uploads/sites/97/2021/11/Advocacy-Paper-
Statelessness_Italy_ITA_Nov21_def.pdf  

35 

 
ANNEX: LIST OF PROBLEMS AND CONDITIONS 

Fighting antigypsyism and discrimination 

Problems and 
conditions: 

Significance: 

Identified by 
strategy: 

Measures to 
address: 

Targets defined: 

Antigypsyism not 
recognised as a 
specific problem in 
national policy 
frameworks 

significant problem 

identified and 
analysed 
sufficiently 

adequate but 
with room for 
improvement 

some targets but 
not relevant 

Prejudice against 
Roma 

critical problems 

Hate crimes against 
Roma 

minor problems 

mentioned but 
not analysed 
sufficiently 

mentioned but 
not analysed 
sufficiently 

present but 
insufficient 

some targets but 
not relevant 

present but 
insufficient 

some targets but 
not relevant 

Hate speech towards 
and against Roma 
(online and offline) 

significant 
problems 

understood with 
limitations 

adequate but 
with room for 
improvement 

some targets but 
not relevant 

Weak effectiveness of 
protection from 
discrimination 

significant 
problems 

irrelevant 

absent 

absent 

Segregation in 
education, housing, or 
provision of public 
services 

Forced evictions and 
demolitions leading to 
homelessness, 
inadequate housing, 
and social exclusion 

critical problems 

understood with 
limitations 

adequate but 
with room for 
improvement 

some targets but 
not relevant 

critical problems 

mentioned but 
not analysed 
sufficiently 

present but 
insufficient 

some targets but 
not relevant 

Statelessness, missing 
ID documents 

minor problems 

understood with 
limitations 

present but 
insufficient 

some targets but 
not relevant 

Misconduct and 
discriminatory 
behaviour by police 
(under-policing/under-
policing) 

Barriers to de facto 
exercise of EU right to 
free movement 

irrelevant 

irrelevant 

absent 

absent 

irrelevant 

irrelevant 

absent 

absent 

36 

 
 ANNEX: LIST OF PROBLEMS AND CONDITIONS 

Education 

Problems and 
conditions: 

Lack of available and 
accessible preschool 
education and ECEC 
services for Roma 

Lower quality of 
preschool education 
and ECEC services for 
Roma 

Significance: 

Identified by 
strategy: 

Measures to 
address: 

Targets defined: 

critical problems 

minor problems 

present but 
insufficient 

some targets but 
not relevant 

irrelevant 

irrelevant 

absent 

absent 

High drop-out rate 
before completion of 
primary education 

critical problems 

mentioned but 
not analysed 
sufficiently 

present but 
insufficient 

some targets but 
not relevant 

Early leaving from 
secondary education 

critical problems 

mentioned but 
not analysed 
sufficiently 

present but 
insufficient 

some targets but 
not relevant 

Secondary 
education/vocational 
training disconnected 
from labour market 
needs 

Misplacement of Roma 
pupils into special 
education 

irrelevant 

irrelevant 

absent 

absent 

irrelevant 

irrelevant 

absent 

absent 

Education segregation 
of Roma pupils 

significant 
problems 

mentioned but 
not analysed 
sufficiently 

absent 

some targets but 
not relevant 

Increased selectivity of 
the educational system 
resulting in 
concentration of Roma 
or other disadvantaged 
pupils in educational 
facilities of lower 
quality 

Limited access to 
second-chance 
education, adult 
education, and lifelong 
learning 

significant 
problems 

irrelevant 

absent 

absent 

critical problems 

understood with 
limitations 

adequate but 
with room for 
improvement 

adequate but with 
room for 
improvement 

37 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
CIVIL  SOCIETY  MONITORING  REPORT  ON  THE  QUALITY  OF  THE  NATIONAL  ROMA  STRATEGIC  FRAMEWORK 
in Italy 

critical problems 

irrelevant 

absent 

absent 

critical problems 

irrelevant 

absent 

absent 

critical problems 

irrelevant 

absent 

absent 

Limited access to and 
support for online and 
distance learning if 
education and training 
institutions close, as 
occurred during the 
corona virus pandemic 

Low level of digital 
skills and competences 
and limited 
opportunities for their 
development among 
pupils 

Low level of digital 
skills and competences 
and limited 
opportunities for their 
development among 
adults 

Employment 

Problems and 
conditions: 

Significance: 

Identified by 
strategy: 

Measures to 
address: 

Targets defined: 

Poor access to or low 
effectiveness of public 
employment services 

significant 
problems 

mentioned but 
not analysed 
sufficiently 

present but 
insufficient 

some targets but 
not relevant 

Youth not in 
employment, 
education or training 
(NEET) 

critical problems 

understood with 
limitations 

adequate but 
with room for 
improvement 

some targets but 
not relevant 

Poor access to (re-) 
training, lifelong 
learning and skills 
development 

significant 
problems 

mentioned but 
not analysed 
sufficiently 

present but 
insufficient 

some targets but 
not relevant 

Discrimination on the 
labour market by 
employers 

significant 
problems 

mentioned but 
not analysed 
sufficiently 

absent 

some targets but 
not relevant 

Risk for Roma women 
and girls from 
disadvantaged areas of 
being subjected to 
trafficking and forced 
prostitution 

Primary labour market 
opportunities 
substituted by public 

minor problems 

irrelevant 

absent 

absent 

minor problems 

irrelevant 

absent 

absent 

38 

 ANNEX: LIST OF PROBLEMS AND CONDITIONS 

significant 
problems 

irrelevant 

absent 

absent 

work 

Barriers and 
disincentives to 
employment (such as 
indebtedness, low 
income from work 
compared to social 
income) 

Lack of activation 
measures, 
employment support 

significant 
problems 

mentioned but 
not analysed 
sufficiently 

present but 
insufficient 

some targets but 
not relevant 

Healthcare 

Problems and 
conditions: 

Exclusion from public 
health insurance 
coverage (including 
those who are 
stateless, third country 
nationals, or EU-
mobile) 

Poor supply/availability 
of healthcare services 
(including lack of 
means to cover out-of-
pocket health costs) 

Limited access to 
emergency care 

Limited access to 
primary care 

Limited access to 
prenatal and postnatal 
care 

Significance: 

Identified by 
strategy: 

Measures to 
address: 

Targets defined: 

significant 
problems 

understood with 
limitations 

adequate but 
with room for 
improvement 

some targets but 
not relevant 

minor problems 

irrelevant 

absent 

absent 

irrelevant 

irrelevant 

absent 

absent 

irrelevant 

irrelevant 

absent 

absent 

irrelevant 

irrelevant 

absent 

absent 

Limited access to 
health-related 
information 

significant 
problems 

understood with 
limitations 

adequate but 
with room for 
improvement 

some targets but 
not relevant 

Poor access to 
preventive care 
(vaccination, check-
ups, screenings, 
awareness-raising 
about healthy 

significant 
problems 

mentioned but 
not analysed 
sufficiently 

present but 
insufficient 

some targets but 
not relevant 

39 

CIVIL  SOCIETY  MONITORING  REPORT  ON  THE  QUALITY  OF  THE  NATIONAL  ROMA  STRATEGIC  FRAMEWORK 
in Italy 

lifestyles) 

Poor access to 
sexual/reproductive 
health care and family 
planning services 

Specific barriers to 
better healthcare of 
vulnerable groups such 
as elderly Roma 
people, Roma with 
disabilities, LGBTI and 
others 

Discrimination/ 
antigypsyism in health 
care (e.g., segregated 
services, forced 
sterilisation) 

Unrecognised historical 
injustices, such as 
forced sterilisation 

Inequalities in 
measures for 
combating and 
preventing potential 
outbreaks of diseases 
in marginalised or 
remote localities 

minor problems 

irrelevant 

absent 

absent 

irrelevant 

irrelevant 

absent 

absent 

irrelevant 

irrelevant 

absent 

absent 

irrelevant 

irrelevant 

absent 

absent 

irrelevant 

irrelevant 

absent 

absent 

Housing, essential services, and environmental justice 

Problems and 
conditions: 

Significance: 

Identified by 
strategy: 

Measures to 
address: 

Targets defined: 

Poor physical security 
of housing (ruined or 
slum housing) 

critical problems 

understood with 
limitations 

adequate but 
with room for 
improvement 

some targets but 
not relevant 

Lack of access to 
drinking water 

significant 
problems 

irrelevant 

absent 

absent 

Lack of access to 
sanitation 

significant 
problems 

mentioned but 
not analysed 
sufficiently 

present but 
insufficient 

some targets but 
not relevant 

Lack of access to 
electricity 

minor problems 

irrelevant 

absent 

absent 

40 

 ANNEX: LIST OF PROBLEMS AND CONDITIONS 

critical problems 

irrelevant 

absent 

absent 

minor problems 

irrelevant 

absent 

absent 

Limited or absent 
public waste collection 

Restricted heating 
capability (families 
unable to heat all 
rooms/all times when 
necessary) or solid 
waste used for heating 

Lack of security of 
tenure (legal titles are 
not clear and secure) 

critical problems 

mentioned but 
not analysed 
sufficiently 

absent 

absent 

Lacking or limited 
access to social 
housing 

minor problems 

irrelevant 

absent 

absent 

Overcrowding 
(available space/room 
for families) 

significant 
problems 

mentioned but 
not analysed 
sufficiently 

absent 

absent 

Housing-related 
indebtedness at levels 
which may cause 
eviction 

minor problems 

irrelevant 

absent 

absent 

Housing in segregated 
settlements/ 
neighbourhoods 

significant 
problems 

mentioned but 
not analysed 
sufficiently 

present but 
insufficient 

some targets but 
not relevant 

Housing in informal or 
illegal settlements/ 
neighbourhoods 

significant 
problems 

irrelevant 

absent 

absent 

Exposure to hazardous 
factors (living in areas 
prone to natural 
disasters or 
environmentally 
hazardous areas) 

significant 
problems 

mentioned but 
not analysed 
sufficiently 

present but 
insufficient 

some targets but 
not relevant 

Limited or lacking 
access to public 
transport 

significant 
problems 

irrelevant 

absent 

absent 

minor problems 

irrelevant 

absent 

absent 

Limited or lacking 
internet access (e.g., 
public internet access 
points in deprived 
areas, areas not 
covered by broadband 
internet) 

41 

CIVIL  SOCIETY  MONITORING  REPORT  ON  THE  QUALITY  OF  THE  NATIONAL  ROMA  STRATEGIC  FRAMEWORK 
in Italy 

minor problems 

irrelevant 

absent 

absent 

critical problems 

irrelevant 

absent 

absent 

critical problems 

irrelevant 

absent 

absent 

critical problems 

irrelevant 

absent 

absent 

Limited or lacking 
access to green spaces 

Roma excluded from 
environmental 
democracy 

A poor adherence at 
the local level to both 
principles and 
objectives of the 
National Strategy 

Ghetto housing 
conditions experienced 
for several decades by 
ancient Romani 
communities present 
above all in the 
Abruzzo Region and 
the Calabria Region 

Social protection 

Problems and 
conditions: 

Significance: 

Identified by 
strategy: 

Measures to 
address: 

Targets defined: 

minor problems 

irrelevant 

absent 

absent 

minor problems 

irrelevant 

absent 

absent 

minor problems 

irrelevant 

absent 

absent 

minor problems 

irrelevant 

absent 

absent 

High at-risk-of-poverty 
rate and material and 
social deprivation 

Income support 
programmes fail to 
guarantee an 
acceptable level of 
minimum income for 
every household 

Limited access to 
income support 
schemes (low 
awareness, barrier of 
administrative 
burdens, stigma 
attached) 

Ineffective eligibility 
rules (well-designed 
means-testing ensures 
that those who need 
support can get it; job-
search conditions 
ensure the motivation 
for returning to work) 

42 

 ANNEX: LIST OF PROBLEMS AND CONDITIONS 

significant 
problems 

irrelevant 

absent 

absent 

irrelevant 

irrelevant 

absent 

absent 

irrelevant 

irrelevant 

absent 

absent 

Low flexibility of 
income support 
programmes for 
addressing changing 
conditions of the 
household 

Discrimination by 
agencies managing 
income-support 
programmes 

Risk of municipalities 
misusing income 
support to buy votes 

Social services 

Problems and 
conditions: 

Significance: 

Identified by 
strategy: 

Measures to 
address: 

Targets defined: 

Limited quality, 
capacity and 
comprehensiveness of 
help provided by social 
services 

significant 
problems 

mentioned but 
not analysed 
sufficiently 

absent 

absent 

significant 
problems 

Limited access to 
social services: low 
awareness of them, 
low accessibility, (e.g., 
due to travel costs) or 
limited availability 

Services providers do 
not actively reach out 
to those in need 

significant 
problems 

irrelevant 

absent 

absent 

irrelevant 

absent 

absent 

Limited ability of social 
services to effectively 
work together with 
other agencies (e.g., 
public employment 
service) to help clients 

Discrimination by 
social service providers 

minor problems 

irrelevant 

absent 

absent 

irrelevant 

irrelevant 

absent 

absent 

significant 
problems 

Lack of adequacy of 
programmes for 
addressing 
indebtedness 
(providing counselling 
and financial support) 

irrelevant 

absent 

absent 

43 

CIVIL  SOCIETY  MONITORING  REPORT  ON  THE  QUALITY  OF  THE  NATIONAL  ROMA  STRATEGIC  FRAMEWORK 
in Italy 

Child protection 

Problems and 
conditions 

Significance: 

Identified by 
strategy: 

Measures to 
address: 

Targets defined: 

Child protection not 
considered in the NRSF 

critical problems 

irrelevant 

absent 

absent 

Specific vulnerability of 
Romani children as 
victims of violence not 
considered 

significant 
problems 

irrelevant 

absent 

absent 

Segregated or 
discriminatory child-
protection services 
provided to Roma 

Activities aimed at 
strengthening parental 
responsibility and skills 
not available or not 
reaching out to Roma 
parents 

Illegal practices of 
child labour 

Large-scale and 
discriminatory 
placement of Romani 
children in early 
childhood care 
institutions 

Persistence of large-
scale institutions 
rather than family-type 
arrangements 

irrelevant 

irrelevant 

absent 

absent 

critical problems 

mentioned but 
not analysed 
sufficiently 

absent 

absent 

minor problems 

irrelevant 

absent 

absent 

minor problems 

irrelevant 

absent 

absent 

minor problems 

irrelevant 

absent 

absent 

Early marriages 

critical problems 

irrelevant 

absent 

minor problems 

irrelevant 

absent 

absent 

absent 

Barriers to children’s 
registration; 
statelessness 

Biased treatment of 
Roma youth by 
security and law 
enforcement 

Inadequate child/ 
adolescent 

irrelevant 

irrelevant 

absent 

absent 

critical problems 

irrelevant 

absent 

absent 

44 

 ANNEX: LIST OF PROBLEMS AND CONDITIONS 

participation 

Promoting (awareness of) Roma arts, culture, history 

Problems and 
conditions: 

Significance: 

Identified by 
strategy: 

Measures to 
address: 

Targets defined: 

significant 
problems 

understood with 
limitations 

adequate but 
with room for 
improvement 

some targets but 
not relevant 

Poor or lacking 
awareness of the 
general population of 
the contribution of 
Roma art and culture 
to national and 
European heritage 

Exclusion of Roma 
communities from 
national cultural 
narratives 

significant 
problems 

irrelevant 

absent 

absent 

significant 
problems 

mentioned but 
not analysed 
sufficiently 

present but 
insufficient 

some targets but 
not relevant 

minor problems 

mentioned but 
not analysed 
sufficiently 

present but 
insufficient 

some targets but 
not relevant 

minor problems 

understood with 
limitations 

present but 
insufficient 

some targets but 
not relevant 

Romani history and 
culture not included in 
school curricula and 
textbooks for both 
Roma and non-Roma 
students 

Lack of inclusion of 
Romani language in 
schools, and 
development of 
necessary educational 
materials and 
resources for Romani 
language preservation 
and teaching 

Lack of 
memorialisation of 
Roma history through 
establishing 
monuments, 
commemorative 
activities, and 
institutionalising dates 
relevant to Roma 
history 

45 

 
 
 
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ISBN 978-92-68-00867-6  doi: 10.2838/81769