Publication: Roma and Egyptians in Albania: From Social Exclusion to Social Inclusion
Loading...
Date
2005
ISSN
Published
2005
Author(s)
Editor(s)
Abstract
This report provides key insights into the social exclusion processes that affect Roma and Egyptian communities in Albania - two of the most vulnerable minority communities in Albania. It offers advice on the design of concrete actions to facilitate the inclusion of Roma and Egyptian communities into Albanian society, and also includes feedback from the Roma and Egyptian communities on the study findings and recommendations.
Link to Data Set
Citation
“De Soto, Hermine; Beddies, Sabine; Gedeshi, Ilir. 2005. Roma and Egyptians in Albania: From Social Exclusion to Social Inclusion. © World Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/7313 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”
Associated URLs
Associated content
Other publications in this report series
Publication Environmental Implications of a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC)(Washington, DC : World Bank, 2022-07)Two-thirds of central banks in the East Asia and Pacific (EAP) region have started researching or testing the implementation of a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC). At the same time, the region accounts for one-third of world CO2 emissions and is vulnerable to climate risks. As the Group of 7 (G7), European Central Bank (ECB), and Bank of England (BoE) have stated in their public statements, it is increasingly important to consider environmental impact when designing CBDC. However, only a few brief studies have been done on this subject, which will be crucial for the region. This Note explores the environmental implications of CBDC by comparing technical mechanisms and energy consumption within its distributed structure. It also illustrates differences in ecological footprint between CBDC and other payment methods (cryptocurrency, cash, and card networks). As the legitimacy of CBDC is backed by the trust of central banks, CBDC does not need to prove its legitimacy through its technological structure. Therefore, CBDC does not require the energy-intensive consensus or mining mechanisms used by a cryptocurrency, so its energy consumption is lower (comparable to that of a credit card system). CBDC can be designed to use various systems, such as Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS), Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT), or a mixture of both. Careful deliberation to meet the objectives and implications will be important as CBDC can be a catalyst for financial innovation.Publication Assessing Incentives to Increase Digital Payment Acceptance and Usage(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2022-01-18)An important step to achieve greater financial inclusion is to increase the acceptance and usage of digital payments. Although consumer adoption of digital payments has improved dramatically globally, the acceptance and usage of digital payments for micro, small, and medium-sized retailers (MSMRs) remain challenging. Using random forest estimation, The authors identify 14 key predictors out of 190 variables with the largest predictive power for MSMR adoption and usage of digital payments. Using conditional inference trees, they study the importance of sequencing and interactions of various factors such as public policy initiatives, technological advancements, and private sector incentives. The authors find that in countries with low point of sale (POS) terminal adoption, killer applications such as mobile phone payment apps increase the likelihood of P2B digital transactions. They also find the likelihood of digital P2B payments at MSMRs increases when MSMRs pay their employees and suppliers digitally. The level of ownership of basic financial accounts by consumers and the size of the shadow economy are also important predictors of greater adoption and usage of digital payments. Using causal forest estimation, they find a positive and economically significant marginal effect for merchant and consumer fiscal incentives on POS terminal adoption on average. When countries implement financial inclusion initiatives, POS terminal adoption increases significantly and MSMRs’ share of person-to-business (P2B) digital payments also increases. Merchant and consumer fiscal incentives also increase MSMRs’ share of P2B electronic payments.Publication A Novel Tobacco Market Diversification(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2022-04-27)In this working paper, an exploration of available data and information is conducted and findings presented, to support the view that the dichotomous business model and related harm reduction narrative promoted nowadays by the tobacco industry, merits scrutiny by the international community. The promotion of e-cigarettes as welfare enhancing in rich countries, particularly because they are posited to help adult smokers quit, tends to obfuscate a dire reality. The same tobacco industry that promotes (e-cigarettes as harm reduction in rich countries, derives the bulk of its profits by selling cigarettes in lower income countries.Publication Structured Lesson Plans for Literacy Instruction(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2022-03-31)Literacy is the cornerstone of education, and a driver of human economic, social, and civic wellbeing. Despite its importance, far too many children fail to become literate. The World Bank uses a measure called learning poverty to indicate when a child cannot read and understand an age-appropriate text by age ten. The best available data showed that more than two-thirds of children in low- and middle-income countries suffer learning poverty. The World Bank is committed to helping countries achieve the learning target: to cut learning poverty by at least half by 2030. Achieving better outcomes in literacy requires a comprehensive effort in many domains. One of the most important is ensuring that students and teachers have and use high-quality instructional materials, especially textbooks, for reading instruction. As countries and systems review their literacy teaching and learning materials, they will want to compare them to the materials from other countries and systems. The purpose of the compendium is to allow such reviews and comparisons by grouping a critical mass of structured pedagogy lesson plans and related materials in one place.Publication WBG COVID-19 Crisis Response Operational Update(Washington, DC, 2022-03-31)This note provides an update on the WBG’s COVID-19 Crisis Response, outlined in June 2020 to help developing countries address the impacts of the pandemic while maintaining a line of sight to long-term development goals. It comprises five short sections: (I) the impacts of COVID-19 and compounding crises on developing countries, (II) an update on the WBG’s operational crisis response and priorities moving forward, (III) the critical role of international coordination, (IV) WBG financing framework for GRID, and (V) concluding remarks.
Journal
Journal Volume
Journal Issue
Collections
Related items
Showing items related by metadata.
Publication Gender Dimensions of Roma Inclusion : Perspectives from Four Roma Communities in Bulgaria(Washington, DC, 2014-01)This study employs a qualitative approach to inform the development of effective Roma inclusion policies and programs in Bulgaria. The Roma are currently among the least integrated minority group in Bulgaria. This study investigates the key factors and mechanisms that promote or inhibit social inclusion of the Roma with the wider Bulgarian society by examining their social norms, agency, and strategic life choices from a gender perspective. The study pursues three research questions to deepen the understanding of Roma communities and their inclusion. These are: (i) what are the key gender-related social norms that influence agency in the Roma communities included in the research, and how do they vary across and within these communities?; (ii) what does agency mean in respect to making strategic life choices, and how does if differ in terms of women and men, and across the communities?; and (iii) what can be drawn from understanding of norms, agency, and life choices that can inform stakeholders in developing policies that will support their inclusion, and thereby the implementation of Bulgaria's national strategy for Roma integration? The study uses the European Union's (EU's) working definition of social inclusion as a lens to analyze Roma communities. This study brings to the fore Roma perspectives while focusing on gender roles that are shaped by their social norms. Further, this study looks at how these norms (and roles) are changing as they encounter the values and practices of the modernization of Bulgaria. This study is organized as follows: chapter one gives introduction and background; chapter two depicts the framework of the study and the methodological approach. Chapter three discusses the findings of the study in terms of gender roles and social norms. Chapter four delves into understanding how social norms and agency influence the strategic life choices of Roma men and women, and consequently if these aid in integrating with the broader Bulgarian society. Chapter five concludes the study by pointing to areas that may be explored further for the development of inclusive policies that will benefit the Roma in Bulgaria.Publication Poverty and Welfare of Roma in the Slovak Republic(Bratislava, 2002-04)Poverty among Roma is closely linked to four main factors: (i) regional economic conditions; (ii) the size and concentration of the Roma population in a settlement; (iii) the share of Roma in a settlement; and (iv) and the degree of geographic integration or segregation of the settlement and its proximity to a neighboring village or town. The situation of Roma in more economically developed regions is generally more favorable. Within regions, the level of poverty in a Roma settlement seems to be closely connected to the level of ethnic integration and segregation. Conditions in settlements which consist only of Roma are significantly worse off than more integrated communities. The most segregated and geographically isolated settlements are the most economically and socially disadvantaged. In almost all of the completely segregated settlements formal unemployment was close to 100 percent. This report aims to address the gaps in information on Roma in Slovakia by bringing together existing information on the living conditions and welfare of Roma and documenting the conditions of Roma living in settlements. It draws from quantitative data sources, including data on the labor market from the Ministry of Family and Social Affairs. In order to provide a more comprehensive picture of Roma living in settlements, a qualitative study of Roma was commissioned for this report. The report is intended to improve understanding of the situation of Roma in Slovakia and to facilitate the development of policies and programs to address their needs.Publication Roma in an Expanding Europe : Breaking the Poverty Cycle(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2005)This publication brings together original sociological research, evaluations of programs, and the first comparative cross-country household survey on ethnicity and poverty. It finds that Roma poverty is multi-faceted and can only be addressed by a comprehensive policy approach that attends to all dimensions of Roma social exclusion. It proposes an inclusive policy approach which would expand and promote Roma involvement and participation in mainstream society, while maintaining cultural and social identity and autonomy. Policy mechanisms include those which make existing policies more accessible to Roma and identifying areas where targeted initiatives are needed.Publication Poverty and Ethnicity : A Cross-Country Study of ROMA Poverty in Central Europe(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2002-11)ROMA are the main poverty risk groups in many of the countries of Central and Eastern Europe. However, information on their living conditions, and the characteristics of their poverty is scarce, fragmented, and often anecdotal. This paper analyzes data from a new cross-country household survey, conducted by the Center for Comparative Research, at Yale University. The survey is the first of its kind which addresses the ethnic dimension of poverty across countries, covering Roma in Hungary, Bulgaria, and Romania. The paper finds that welfare among Roma households is significantly lower than that of non-Roma, in terms of both material deprivation (consumption and income), and other measures of deprivation, including housing status, education levels, and employment opportunities. Multivariate analysis confirm that, controlling for other household characteristics, there is a strong negative association between Roma ethnicity, and welfare. A large part of this association appears to be due to differences in endowments, and opportunities, but there is also an important component that is "structural". This component may reflect the influence of past, and present discrimination, exclusion, and cultural factors which may affect access to public services, e.g., through language barriers.Publication "They Are Not Like Us" : Understanding Social Exclusion(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2014-02)Negative attitudes toward groups in society are widespread and underpin systematic processes of social exclusion that marginalize people and deny them opportunities and dignity. This paper looks at the processes underlying social exclusion. It uses data covering Eastern Europe and Central Asia to study the responses to a simple hypothetical survey question about which specific groups respondents would not like to have as neighbors. Unwelcoming attitudes toward groups such as immigrants, ethnic minorities, the poor, HIV+ individuals, and others are surprisingly common. These attitudes fall into three distinct clusters: intolerance for the poor and for different lifecycle stages; intolerance toward stigmatized attributes and behaviors; and intolerance toward specific identity groups. An empirical analysis of the determinants of attitudes shows that country-specific factors are far more important than socio-economic characteristics. These findings could have important implications for theories about exclusion and for the design of appropriate social inclusion policies. The authors argue that strategies to address social exclusion need to consider ways to change social norms, attitudes, and behaviors toward disadvantaged groups. The paper explores potential entry points for change within formal and informal institutions.
Users also downloaded
Showing related downloaded files
Publication Breaking the Conflict Trap : Civil War and Development Policy(Washington, DC: World Bank and Oxford University Press, 2003)Most wars are now civil wars. Even though international wars attract enormous global attention, they have become infrequent and brief. Civil wars usually attract less attention, but they have become increasingly common and typically go on for years. This report argues that civil war is now an important issue for development. War retards development, but conversely, development retards war. This double causation gives rise to virtuous and vicious circles. Where development succeeds, countries become progressively safer from violent conflict, making subsequent development easier. Where development fails, countries are at high risk of becoming caught in a conflict trap in which war wrecks the economy and increases the risk of further war. The global incidence of civil war is high because the international community has done little to avert it. Inertia is rooted in two beliefs: that we can safely 'let them fight it out among themselves' and that 'nothing can be done' because civil war is driven by ancestral ethnic and religious hatreds. The purpose of this report is to challenge these beliefs.Publication World Bank Group Publications Editorial Style Guide 2020(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2020-03-04)The World Bank Group Publications Editorial Style Guide is an essential reference for manuscript editors (substantive and mechanical editors), proofreaders, and production editors. It is a supplement to other editorial references, in particular, The Chicago Manual of Style (annual subscription available online), 17th edition, and Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, 11th edition. It focuses on issues specific to the World Bank/International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) or for which Chicago provides multiple options. The professional recommendations made in the guide are designed to meet the following objectives: • To ensure that every publication achieves a standard of professionalism appropriate for the World Bank and on par with the publications of similar organizations, • To ensure stylistic consistency, primarily within individual publications and secondarily across all World Bank publications, • To increase efficiency by eliminating the need to repeatedly address the same stylistic details for every publication.Publication Kyrgyz Republic : Overview of Climate Change Activities(Washington, DC, 2013-10)This overview of climate change activities in the Kyrgyz Republic is part of a series of country notes for five Central Asian countries that summarize climate portfolio in a number of sectors, namely agriculture, forestry, water, health, energy, and transport. Recognizing the nature and significance of climate change contribution to an increase in disaster risk, the note also looks into the development partners' approaches and measures in this area. This note further provides a brief overview of the Kyrgyz Republic climate context in terms of observed impacts and historical trends as well as climate projections specific to sectors that are considered to be essential to the country's economic development. Finally, the note assesses national policy and institutional context related to climate change as well as suggests potential ways forward that can help the Kyrgyz Republic mainstream climate considerations into development activities and planning and create public demand for climate actions.Publication China Country Climate and Development Report(World Bank Group, Washington DC, 2022-10)The China Country Climate and Development Report (CCDR) provides analysis and recommendations on integrating the country’s efforts to achieve high-quality development with the pursuit of emission reduction and climate resilience. Without adequate mitigation and adaptation efforts, climate risks will become a growing constraint to China’s long-term growth and prosperity, threatening to reverse development gains. Conversely, if efforts to tackle climate risks lead to a significant decline in growth and rising inequality, they would deprive millions of people of development and likely erode support for the reforms necessary to achieve a lasting economic transformation. Hence, China will need to grow and green its economy at the same time. This report offers policy options to achieve these dual objectives by easing inevitable trade-offs and maximizing potential synergies between China’s development and climate objectives.Publication The Evolution of Agricultural Trade Flows(2010-05-01)Earlier research showed that during the 1980s and 1990s most of the global agricultural trade expansion took place among the industrial countries and among countries within trade blocs. These were also periods of declining agricultural prices. These prices increased during the 2000s, there were continuous trade reforms, and many developing countries started to support their agricultural sectors. This paper analyzes trade flows during the past two decades, and tries to measure whether all these developments have changed the trade balances and the share of different groups within the global trade flows. In addition, it looks at the trade balances on food to see the impact of these changes on net food importing countries. In conclusion, unlike the case with manufacturing, developing countries have not been able to increase their export shares in agriculture as significantly. They have maintained their trade shares by primarily expanding exports to other developing countries.