Romania Country Strategy 2024-2028

Introduction

Romania is an upper-middle-income country with a population of about 19 million, including 3.64 million children, ranking 53rd out of 191 on the 2022 Human Development Index. Since joining the European Union in 2007, Romania’s economy has grown significantly, reaching an annual average growth rate of seven percent before the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite making significant progress on most of the Sustainable Development Goals and having a robust legislative framework, the annual budgets allocated to education, health, and social protection are among the lowest in Europe, while certain societal groups, including the Roma, face severe poverty and material deprivation. Rural-urban disparities are evident both in access to quality education and to health care services.

Children from communities affected by severe poverty suffer from inadequate nutrition, overcrowded housing, and poor sanitary conditions. Limited access to health education results in a high rate of teenage pregnancy and growing concerns about substance abuse among adolescents. Children left behind by migrating parents are particularly vulnerable from a child protection perspective, while violence against children—including bullying—is another area of concern, as the authorities lack the resources to prevent and respond adequately. As a frontline country in the humanitarian crisis triggered by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Romania is hosting a large number of refugees, which requires the additional mobilization of resources in the education, healthcare, and social services systems.

ERIKS has been operating in Romania since the early 1990s. During the 2019–2022 country program, ERIKS worked in three thematic areas (education, health, and protection), promoting an integrated approach to achieve the most sustainable results, although education was prioritized and viewed as a starting point for the other program components.

ERIKS continued to focus on Roma inclusion and improving the overall situation for Roma children in western Romania, in both rural and urban areas with compact settlements of Roma. Since the overall risk of a humanitarian crisis was considered low in Romania, this issue was not included in the country strategy until early 2022. This country strategy was developed by the ERIKS Regional Office team, drawing on recent research, government and alternative reports, direct consultations, and ongoing monitoring of partner interventions. The perspectives of boys and girls have been incorporated into the strategy through partner reports and by analyzing available child-informed reports.

ERIKS will continue to focus on Roma inclusion and four thematic areas—education, health, protection, and humanitarian assistance—with additional changes to further strengthen the child rights-based approach. First, there will be an increased focus on building the capacity of legal duty-bearers to prioritize resources and deliver quality services for the most affected populations, thereby better fulfilling their responsibilities under the UNCRC. Second, parents from marginalized communities who lack the life skills, capacity, and resources to provide adequate care for their children will be supported in understanding and accessing their own rights as a means to achieve outcomes in the realization of their children’s rights. Third, a limited humanitarian component has been added to the current strategy—in parallel with the development of long-term solutions—to enable a more intentional approach in communities affected by overlapping vulnerabilities, where urgent responses are needed to ensure children’s survival. Gender, environmental, religious, and conflict sensitivity, as cross-cutting issues, will be emphasized in all interventions and in the capacity development of partners.

ERIKS will continue to strengthen its partners’ capacity to better understand the child protection system in Romania, proactively prevent and report cases of abuse in their communities, and work with duty-bearers to increase their capacity to respond effectively.

Strategic Orientation

The Role and Contribution of ERIKS

With a long-standing presence in Romania, ERIKS is a reliable and consistent donor for local partners working on Roma inclusion programs. While these partners have a long history of grassroots work that began with a needs-based approach, ERIKS brings to Romania its focus on child rights programming and a strategic perspective on sustainable change.

By adding new partners with expertise in advocacy to its portfolio, ERIKS will expand its ability to influence policies and practices at the local and national levels. Although ERIKS does not intend to take on a more active role in advocacy on its own behalf, its contribution will primarily consist of facilitating networking and the transfer of data collected through current grassroots initiatives, thereby ensuring that advocacy efforts are more grounded in reality.

Through its network of partners and its ongoing presence in the country, ERIKS is gradually raising awareness of children’s rights and the challenges faced by children from the most marginalized communities. Based on its past and current work, ERIKS brings significant added value to fostering dialogue between Roma communities, legal duty-bearers, and the majority society in order to combat discriminatory structures and social norms.

Key Lessons from the Romania Country Program 2019–2022

Ensuring that Roma children have access to education, protection, and health services remains a complex challenge, despite the many efforts and models developed over time. Those with legal obligations find it difficult to take full responsibility for implementing interventions aimed at supporting the most vulnerable. As a result, residential and school segregation persists, access to services is limited, and Roma people face discrimination. At the same time, Roma civil society has limited resources and capacity to carry out campaigns for sustainable change. To address this, long-term support, flexible funding, and a combination of grassroots work and advocacy efforts are needed. Promoting a rights-based approach in collaboration with partners is a difficult task in an environment where charity and direct action have long been the predominant approaches. This transition requires gradual changes in understanding and practices that go beyond organizational policies.

ERIKS’ Strategic Choices for the Romania Country Program 2024–2028

A. Geographical Focus

ERIKS will continue to focus on the northwestern part of Romania, where the current partners are working with compact Roma communities. Although the south and east of Romania are traditionally considered poorer, the gap between Roma and non-Roma neighbors is wider in the wealthier northwestern parts of the country, making Roma inclusion even more difficult to achieve. Priority will be given to predominantly rural communities—which are more prone to social exclusion—and those where multiple vulnerabilities overlap. This geographical concentration will also facilitate networking and knowledge-sharing among partners.

B. Thematic Focus and Target Rights-Holders/Duty-Bearers

ERIKS will support partners in adopting an integrated approach to all thematic areas in their programs—education, health, protection, and humanitarian assistance—to achieve the most sustainable results.

Local legal duty-bearers will be encouraged to understand their responsibilities and take accountability for what happens in their communities. Since, during previous strategic periods, Roma parents were given a great deal of responsibility for ensuring their children’s rights were fulfilled—without always having the necessary resources—the current strategy approaches parents primarily from the perspective of their moral duty. In this regard, the partner organizations will focus on building parents’ capacity to understand and exercise their own rights, so they can care for and provide for their children.

Working with the non-Roma population and addressing the attitudes of authorities toward the Roma are increasingly important for their integration and will be emphasized in the coming strategy period. In the areas of education and leisure, ERIKS will encourage partners to advocate for schools—as entities with legal obligations—to take greater responsibility for ensuring quality education for vulnerable children. Compared to the previous period, the focus of after-school programs developed by partners will shift toward complementing school curricula and offering children the opportunity to develop life skills, exercise their rights, prevent bullying and discrimination, and engage in meaningful leisure activities in a safe environment.

At the same time, partners will work to strengthen schools’ capacity to provide appropriate instruction and tailored support for vulnerable children. Special attention will be given to preschool-aged children and their inclusion in educational programs that ensure a smooth start to their school life.

The health sector will be strengthened by incorporating elements of health education, sexual and reproductive health and rights, and mental health for vulnerable adolescents. Access to healthy food and nutrition education will be prioritized for young mothers and infants, with the goal of giving children a good start in life. Awareness-raising activities related to the right to decent health services will continue, including ensuring adequate sanitation facilities and access to safe drinking water for families in the most vulnerable communities.

Partners will receive support to better understand the child protection system in Romania and to proactively prevent and report cases of child abuse. Work with legal duty-bearers will be prioritized to ensure an efficient approach to addressing cases of abuse and strengthening the application of the best interests of the child.

Parents, as those who bear a moral responsibility, will be supported in developing parenting skills and creating a nurturing environment for their children.

Humanitarian programs will focus on communities affected by multiple, overlapping vulnerabilities and will include gap-filling components with direct actions to ensure children’s right to survival. Humanitarian assistance will also be provided when unexpected crises or threats, such as floods, fires, or other natural disasters, affect these communities.

C. Partners

ERIKS will seek to expand its country portfolio by adding at least one additional partner with experience in implementing advocacy programs and building the capacity of duty-bearers. This partner will complement the other partner organizations in this area and provide valuable input, while using the results of the existing partners’ grassroots programs to advocate for long-term structural changes.

At the same time, ERIKS will expand its reach in extremely vulnerable communities in northwestern Romania by adding to its portfolio new organizations working at the grassroots level that have a proven understanding of the rights-based approach. During this strategic period, ERIKS will evaluate the possibility of phasing out certain intervention components—implemented by its long-term partners—that are not aligned with ERIKS’ approaches.

D. Aid Efficiency

Most interventions in ERIKS’ portfolio are program-based, recognizing the need for continuous, long-term support to bring about sustainable change in vulnerable communities.

To prevent the risk of creating dependency, ERIKS will encourage partners to focus on empowering communities and developing appropriate exit strategies. During the 2024–2028 period, ERIKS will explore the possibility of providing core funding to at least one partner organization as a way to increase aid efficiency.

E. Implementation Strategies and Approach

In relation to ERIKS’ theory of change and strategic approaches, there will be an increased focus on developing the capacities of legal duty-bearers to prioritize resources and deliver quality services in the areas of education, health, and protection for the most affected areas and populations, thereby better fulfilling their responsibilities under the UNCRC. At both the local and national levels, ERIKS will take a more active role in advocating for children’s rights by engaging new partners with expertise in advocacy and policy reform and by participating in joint initiatives and relevant networks focused on children’s rights and Roma issues.

At the same time, strengthening the capacity of rights-holders to understand and access their rights will continue to be prioritized as a strategy to improve the position of the Roma in society. Examples of meaningful participation, as demonstrated during the previous strategic period, will be promoted, expanded, and complemented with approaches that facilitate the inclusion of the Roma in surrounding communities and prevent
segregation.

In addition to working with duty-bearers and rights-holders, ERIKS will support limited direct actions to address gaps in service provision and violations of children’s rights in areas affected by high levels of poverty and/or multiple vulnerabilities. These activities will focus on responding to children’s immediate needs in cases where a relevant response from duty-bearers cannot be expected within a reasonable period of time.

F. Sustainability

ERIKS’ country priorities are very much in line with the objectives set by the National Strategy on Children’s Rights 2023–2027 and the National Strategy for the Inclusion of Romanian Citizens Belonging to the Roma Minority 2022–2027 in the areas of education, health, and protection. By increasing its advocacy efforts, ERIKS, together with its partners, will raise the profile of the interventions implemented in these vulnerable communities and draw the government’s attention to areas not covered by the strategies.

More active participation in relevant networks working on children’s rights and Roma issues, regular dialogue with other international NGOs, and increased efforts to identify additional sources of funding for partners’ interventions will strengthen ERIKS’ efforts to achieve greater sustainability.

Country Results

The following outcomes have been defined for ERIKS’ work in Romania during this strategy period, based on the country analysis and ERIKS’ role and contribution:

1:1:1

Partner organizations adhere to the Child Rights-Based Approach. They integrate, in a context-specific manner, gradually and organically, elements of the Child Rights-Based Approach and the principles of the UNCRC into their organizational strategies, staffing policies (institutional ownership), and program development.

1:1:2

Partner organizations are always open to learning from their own experiences and those of others, as well as from new approaches. This enables them to be responsive to the context, emerging risks, and changes, and to plan and adapt their strategies accordingly.

1:1:3

Partner organizations integrate elements of a gender-transformative approach into their organizational strategies and programmatic work.

1:1:4

ERIKS and its partner organizations have appropriate governance structures and systems for management and internal control.

1:1:5

ERIKS and its partner organizations participate in relevant networks and have the skills and opportunities to advocate for children’s rights.

2:1:1

Girls and boys enjoy their rights to a quality and inclusive education at all levels of compulsory schooling. They learn about their rights and develop life skills and self-esteem through meaningful leisure activities.

2:1:2

Newborn and infant girls and boys have access to healthy food, quality care, and medical services to ensure a good start in life.

2:1:3

Adolescent girls and boys enjoy their right to health, including sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR), menstrual health, and mental health.

2:1:4

Girls and boys understand their right to be protected from violence, neglect, and exploitation. They know how and where to report child abuse and take part in preventing abuse and discrimination.

2:1:5

Girls and boys have the right to receive assistance in humanitarian situations.

2:2:1

Local authorities, school administrators, and school staff ensure inclusive, high-quality education for all children at all levels. They understand their responsibilities and the specific challenges faced by children from vulnerable communities, and therefore allocate the necessary resources and cooperate effectively to ensure that all children have access to high-quality education.

2:2:2

Health care units, social protection agencies, and educational institutions work together to ensure adequate health care for mothers and children from the most vulnerable communities. They take a proactive approach to reaching out to the most vulnerable girls and boys and prevent discrimination on any grounds when providing health services.

2:2:3

Local authorities work to ensure that girls and boys from the most vulnerable communities are
protected from abuse, neglect, and exploitation. The social housing and resettlement programs are designed and implemented in accordance with the principles of the CRC, including the best interests of the child.

2:3:1

ERIKS’ partner organizations develop after-school activities that complement school programs and offer
girls and boys from the most vulnerable communities the opportunity to develop life skills, exercise their rights, and prevent bullying and discrimination in a safe and inclusive environment.

2:3:2

ERIKS’ partner organizations develop health programs for the most vulnerable girls and boys, as a complement to public services.

2:3:3

ERIKS’ partner organizations are working to prevent abuse, neglect, and exploitation and to protect girls and boys from them.

2:3:4

Parents understand their role and take appropriate action to ensure an environment conducive to children’s development, in accordance with children’s rights.