The right to a decent life! How the lives of the most disadvantaged community in Cluj-Napoca started to change with the help of Norway Grants

Pata-Rât, one of the most disadvantaged areas in Cluj-Napoca

The Pata-Rât area, located next to Cluj-Napoca`s waste landfill, is a place marked by social and environmental problems, even abroad, as reported by the BBC and Channel 5.

The marginalized population and Roma community living there have long faced a lack of access to decent housing, poor health services and limited opportunities for education and employment. The majority of homes in Pata-Rât are cobbled together, most without access to water and sanitation.
More than 1,500 people live in the spatially segregated and socially, economically and access to public services deprived urban settlement, in about 400 households.

More than half of the population (52%) is made up of children and young people under 18. The percentage of declared Roma population is 75.7%. The relative poverty rate is 45.7% and the depth of poverty (median poverty gap) is 44.1% below the poverty line.
The Cluj Metropolitan Area Intercommunal Development Association (ADI ZMC) has identified a solution to solve community problems through a long-term integrated approach that has influenced real change, facilitating inclusion in society and ensuring a decent living for some of the vulnerable people.

Pata-Rât is next to Cluj`s waste landfill

With the support of Norway Grants, more than 3.4 million euro were used in the first intervention of ADI ZMC in Pata-Rât in 2014-2017. The pilot project "Social interventions for the desegregation and social inclusion of vulnerable groups in the Cluj Metropolitan Area, including marginalized Roma communities" meant a comprehensive, multidisciplinary intervention that prepared the area for the desegregation and, subsequently, the social inclusion of its inhabitants.

The results of this first initiative were soon accomplished, and its impact profoundly transformed the lives of an important part of the Roma community and set the stage for a second project to continue and create an even more lasting footprint in the community.
While in the pilot project the objectives achieved included, among others, the provision of social assistance, the relocation of 35 families from marginalized areas to Cluj, the construction of 12 apartments in Apahida, the purchase of 23 others and, perhaps most importantly, the creation of a participatory methodology for social housing, the new project has raised the stakes, setting even more complex outcomes.

Thus, in order to cover some of the urgent needs of the community, ADI ZMC, together with its partners, the Social and Medical Assistance Department Cluj-Napoca, the Babeș-Bolyai University and the Bergen City Hall in Norway, implemented the Pata 2.0 project.

Pata 2.0 project fights social exclusion

The overall objective of the project was twofold. First, it aimed to reduce the residential, social and economic disparities between the Pata-Rât community, made up of severely deprived families, most frequently Roma, and the majority population of Cluj-Napoca.

Secondly, it aimed to fight the risk of social exclusion among other poor families in the Metropolitan Area of Cluj, targeting in particular Roma families, who, in the absence of the support provided by the project, might be forced by their economic and social circumstances to move to the Pata-Rât area or to other marginalized areas of Cluj.

Alex "Pepe" Fechete, one of the beneficiaries of the Pata-Rât 1 project has become a facilitator for his community, his work being highlighted in the Pata 2.0 project

"My work as a facilitator started in 2010, when the houses on my street were demolished and we had to move in the middle of winter to Pata-Rât, on a 16 square meter area. We were 76 families then, of which only 40 got living space.
That was the moment I realized I had to be part of the change. I volunteered for the community, for free, and the difference was felt when the first project, Pata 1, also financed with Norwegian funds, was implemented. It was the life ticket for me and my family and also the moment when we started to live normally.

After moving in decent housing, I came back to the community to help my people have a life like mine, and Pata 2.0 meant the right to a normal life for many Roma families, with a success rate of almost 100%, with Roma families integrating into society and keeping their homes and jobs", said Alex Fechete, aka Pepe, beneficiary and facilitator.

Pata 2.0 had a funding of over 8.76 million euro

Improving the quality of life through new housing and social services has brought about major changes for the better for the residents of the Pata-Rât area, giving them a safer and more stable environment in which to live and thrive.
Further, by promoting social inclusion and access to services, the project has helped to reduce marginalization and stigmatization of the community, facilitating their integration into society.

"The impact of the Pata 2.0 project has been extremely relevant, continuing to transform the lives of people in the Pata-Rât community, either by moving them into social housing or by providing access to comprehensive social, health and educational services", revealed Mrs. Olah Emese Olah, Deputy Mayor of Cluj-Napoca.

The achievements of the project are significant. 75 apartments have been purchased, by 2024, for Pata-Rât families, of which 73 have been social housing and 2 have become housing of need. 

342 people (73 families) have already moved into the new apartments located in Cluj-Napoca, Florești, Apahida, Baciu and Gilău, paying a modest monthly rent to ADI-ZMC under the lease contract. The purchased apartments were equipped with household appliances and furniture.
All the people moved into the new apartments benefit from psycho-social assistance designed to support families in order to facilitate the transition from Pata-Rât to the majority community, to adapt and integrate into new communities, to comply with contractual obligations, the long-term aim of the intervention being to maintain the housing in good conditions, preventing their abandonment and return to Pata-Rât.

At the same time, education had its place of honor. Individual work was done with 93 pupils to prevent them dropping out of school, with tutoring, mentoring and guidance for 30 other pupils, alongside other interventions.

Babeș-Bolyai University organized more than 230 non-formal educational activities (cultural, artistic, tourist, etc.) and 100 pupils received shoes and clothing so that they could attend school properly.

Over 350 other people benefited from free medical consultations, while the Cluj-Napoca Social and Medical Assistance Department delivered 70 "baby boxes" for mothers in the community.

At the same time, intervention methodologies were created, including a replicable and scalable resettlement methodology developed by UBB.

876 students and 63 teachers from ten schools in the metropolitan area benefited from social-emotional development sessions (combating bullying, social cohesion and combating discrimination), and the community received free food packages during the pandemic and during periods of low temperatures, as well as over 350 bundles of firewood delivered to each household in March 2023, amid persistently low temperatures.

"I believe that the initiative`s aim of desegregating vulnerable communities should be applied in all areas of the country where Roma face poverty, lack of education or access to health. All the results have been possible with Norwegian funding and I hope that the number of such projects will increase", said Alex Feteche, a beneficiary of the Pata 1 pilot project, who became a facilitator in the Pata-Rât community and a contributor to Pata 2.0.

Stoica Maria, relocated beneficiary from Pata-Rât

"It`s a worldwide difference between how I live now and how I lived in Pata. We had no drinking water, nor toilets, the rain would seep through the walls every time and any stronger wind would take the roof off. I lived with my family in difficult conditions and now I can say that we are happy and peaceful. I appreciate the whole project for what it has given to me and my family, but also for what it offers to the other Roma in the community," said Maria Stoica, also a beneficiary of the initiative.
Disadvantaged community needs remain pressing

"The needs of the Pata-Rât community remain pressing, despite the extremely important results achieved in the Pata 2.0 project. The community there still needs the support of specialists in order to have access to services and a normal lifestyle", believes the Deputy Mayor of Cluj, Mrs. Olah Emese.

Deputy Mayor of Cluj, Mrs. Olah Emese Olah, involved in the project

In order to adequately respond to the needs of marginalized groups, an increased institutional training capacity of 30 professionals, including relevant staff from the public social welfare service, was called upon to implement the methodology, learn from Norwegian good practices, and develop a set of public policy recommendations in the field of housing.

Norwegian grants were the engine of transformation

The initiative "Replicable integrated interventions for inclusive housing and combating marginalization in the Cluj Metropolitan Area" has demonstrated its merits also at international level being considered a success story at the World Family Summit 2022, an event organized by the UN, through UNITAR agency.

The funding of this project was provided by the Program "Local Development, Poverty Reduction and Roma Inclusion" (Local Development), being supported by Norwegian Grants and operated by the Romanian Fund for Social Development. More details about the project can be found here:  www.desegregare.ro/.

The Local Development Program came in response to the pressing needs of local communities, contributing to increased social inclusion and cohesion. The results of this program are tangible and impressive. At the end of 2023, the 111 projects funded have significantly contributed to improving the lives of many vulnerable groups: more than 17,000 people from disadvantaged groups benefited from personalized social services, and more than 8,000 Roma from 24 counties had access to educational and integrated services that helped them develop their skills and better integrate into society. Furthermore, 15,000 children and young people at risk of dropping out of school benefited from specific support services and 3,600 public administration staff and politicians were trained in good governance principles. Through the program, 6 recommendations of the European Court of Human Rights for Romania have been implemented at national level, strengthening the principle of respect for human rights.

The EEA and Norway Grants are the contribution of Iceland, the Principality of Liechtenstein and the Kingdom of Norway to reducing economic and social disparities in the European Economic Area and to strengthening bilateral relations with the 15 beneficiary countries in Eastern and Southern Europe and the Baltic States. These funding mechanisms are established on the basis of the European Economic Area Agreement, which brings together the EU Member States and Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway as equal partners in the internal market. In total, the three countries have contributed 3.3 billion euro between 1994 and 2014 and 2.8 billion euro for the 2014-2021 funding period.