EU Funding for Roma integration
For the 2014-2020 period, Latvia will be allocated a total of €4.2 billion of funding, out of which €3 billion will come from the European Social Fund (ESF) and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). Of this amount, at least 21.75% will be spent on the ESF with at least 20% of that going towards the promotion of social inclusion and combating poverty.
Contacts
The managing authority for projects funded by the ESF, ERDF and the Cohesion Fund is the Ministry of finance of the Republic of Latvia, 1 Smilsu Street, LV-1919 Riga
For more on Latvia's operational programmes, see ESF and ERDF.
Facts and figures
The Council of Europe estimates that there are approximately 5,600 Roma living in Latvia (0.3% of the population). For more data on the situation on Roma in this country, please see the overview published by the European Agency for Fundamental Rights.
National Roma Integration Strategy
Latvia’s national Roma integration strategy is not a strategy as such, but rather an integrated set of policy measures within Latvia’s social inclusion policies (National identity, civil society and integration policy guidelines 2012 – 2018, linked to the Europe 2020 strategy). In addition, the action plan provides for general activities to foster inter-cultural dialogue, such as training professionals on cultural diversity and encouraging civic participation.
Latvia's integrated set of policy measures
Assessment of Latvia’s strategy implementation
In 2014 the Commission adopted its assessment on the progress made in the implementation of the national Roma integration strategies in the 4 key areas of education, employment, healthcare and housing, as well as in the fight against discrimination and the use of funding.
- The Commission's assessment of Latvia's national strategy (2014)
- The Commission's assessment of Latvia's national strategy (2012)
The European Union and the Roma – factsheet Latvia
National contact point
The contact Point for the national Roma inclusion strategy in Latvia is the Ministry of Culture, Social Integration Department.
Contact person: Mrs Ilona Jekele – Ilona [dot] Jekele
km [dot] gov [dot] lv