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The Roma housing situation as reflected in the data
Despite the rich support framework on Roma and their housing rights, as described in the previous chapters, the actual housing conditions of many Roma households and settlements, throughout the region, remain woefully inadequate. According to both EU agencies and NGOs, disproportionate numbers of Roma, compared to non-Roma population, live in substandard housing conditions, facing obstacles in access to basic infrastructural provisions. The results of the UNDP/WB/EC Regional Roma Survey 2011, unfortunately, provide additional arguments for these claims. A presentation of the key findings of the survey follows. It is structured around the content of the right to housing, as described by the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and focuses on the areas of access to public services, affordability, habitability, accessibility, security of tenure, and location.
Access to public services and infrastructure Adequate housing, inter alia, encompasses the enjoyment of various public utilities and public services, such as access to drinking water, electricity, facilities for washing and sanitation, and to other infrastructure. The results of the UNDP/WB/EC Regional Roma Survey, nevertheless, clearly indicate that notable gaps, between the housing conditions of Roma and non-Roma, relate to this particular area. For instance, improved water sources, defined as having piped water inside the dwelling, are not available to almost one third of Roma households surveyed throughout the region. The diversity within the region is very broad, depending on the specific circumstances of the individual survey locations and countries, ranging from only 3 per cent of surveyed Roma households without indoor piped water in FYR Macedonia, to as much as 66 per cent in Moldova and 72 per cent in Romania; in both these countries, nevertheless, the share of non-Roma households, without indoor potable water, are also high: 49 per cent and 52 per cent respectively. With the exception of the Czech Republic, where the share of Roma and non-Roma respondents without this amenity are equal (15 per cent), in all the other countries surveyed the respective share of Roma is higher than that of their non-Roma neighbours. In a similar vein, improved sanitation – defined as having a toilet or bathroom inside the dwelling – is also unavailable to a disproportionate share of Roma households throughout the region. The data for Moldova and Romania indicate the highest inci-
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