Discrimination Some basic management guidelines on getting involved in the "Gypsy Business" Return to the Discrimination list It is all about money... current standard 25-50% of base funding What is the "Gypsy Business" The "Gypsy Business" is a range of activities which use Roma, of any age, as an excuse for generating money or status for non-Roma. It is perhaps the "service activity" with the highest profit generation in the world. Normally those benefiting do not outlay funds but reap generous income. Everyone knows about the very successful government sector "Gypsy Businesses" such as the "Special Schools". These guidelines however cover the private sector opportunities for participating in the "Gypsy Business". There are two basic points of reference as sources of funding for anyone wishing to participate in the "Gypsy Business". committed racists and neo-Nazis with money international funding agencies such as the EU, bilaterals and World Bank Committed racists and neo-Nazis with money Committed racists and neo-Nazis litter administrations and governments throughout Europe. You cannot recognise them by what they say but rather by what they do. They are skilled at not putting their own cash forward to support their creed but rather they have become, since the 1920s, amazingly adept at dipping their hand into the public purse (national budgets) and elaborating a range of schemes to fund actions which provide a good kick back. Besides obtaining a good living for themselves, and others, they proactively harm minorities and, almost always, the Roma. Managers should not lose sight of the fact that this is the objective of doing anything concerned with the Roma Identify to whom kick-backs go but do not become personally involved in "negotiations", in some environments you can expect to pay up to 50% of the funds you receive at any level of funding (programme management, lead consultant, secondary subcontractor etc) in kick backs. Control your consultant costs by cramming the project with people interested in some money but not serious work You may have to involve and pay some "nominal Roma", to add "respectability" or "credibility" to your project, but funding agencies normally let you get off with paying them less than 20% of what you pay normal consultants. Some Roma are so stupid and naive they even volunteer to help without asking for any money in exchange! You can perhaps buy them a beer or chewing gum for their children, they are very appreciative of anything and this will keep them happy. Get them to fill in monthly "work" sheets and then fill in some daily amount and then attach this to your invoices to the main contractor!! It's all so easy. The individuals concerned are intelligent in a bizarre and thoroughly perverse sort of way. If any consultancy group were so rash as to approach them on the basis that they wanted to get into the "Gypsy Business" and help sustain the dependency of Roma, they would risk a day in court. The people who allocate funds to racist-inspired initiatives using national funds can be leading advocates for "integration" and "tolerance" while, out of sight, they are shovelling money into their bank accounts at the expense of minorities. All the consultancy company has to do is apply to open competitive tenders for Roma initiatives but make sure they have national contacts who can inform, off the record, what the kick-back is to the "decision makers" or to a "political party" who has influence on the "selection committee". We expand on this below. International funding agencies such as the EU, bilaterals and World Bank Increasing amounts of funds are being made available from the "aid" community. The trick here is to become known to the desk officers of these agencies. Inviting them to lunch or dinner is quite a good idea. Make sure you take along a member of the Roma community, two would be better. Most consultancy companies entering the Roma area have absolutely no previous experience or they are old hands at the Gypsy business. Many don't even care for the Roma, is it is just "business". Model for finance management Profitability for "Gypsy Business" projects depends upon minimizing the costs. It is necessary to reduce any payments to subcontracted consultants to a level which generates at least a respectable looking report. There are lots of consultants around who can, for a reasonable fee, absorb and then regurgitate previous studies into what looks like a current report. It is essential to keep the product or deliverable as paper work. Paperwork normally leads nowhere in terms of helping the Roma so those funding the projects, especially national elements, will remain satisfied with that sort of output. Generating paper does not need much travel nor any investment in equipment and nothing which might provide direct assistance to the Roma. Staffing If a project involves employment generation or economics, avoid making use of problem-solving practitioners and field experienced development economists.They have the embarrasing habit of coming up with transparent, and sometimes workable solutions. To avoid that sort of upset, make a liberal use of educators, educational psychologists, sociologists and sometimes recently-graduated business people or lawyers. This way you are guaranteed not to come up with anything which could make the Roma free of the enforced dependency culture. It is worth taking some care to justify just why your staffing is the way it is. You can justify this little cabaret on the basis that this is a "multi-disciplinary team approach". If the work is funded by a World Bank loan or grant, make sure you refer to this as a "holistic" approach. There are plenty of references to this fuzz on the World Bank web site so you can download a few as an appendix or as "references" to your proposal. This gives your proposal that "professional" and "researched" look about it. Involving Roma Unfortunately it is sometimes necessary to involve a nominal number of Roma in a project. On the costs side, national, bilateral and international agencies can be very helpful in not expecting consultants to pay any Roma participants much money. Sometimes you can get off with paying them less than 20% what a normal consultant would get. Believe it or not, some experienced Roma are so pleased to be given the opportunity to contribute to something to help their people, they don't even ask for any payment! You can normally get these individuals to sign monthly work sheets, tell them it is a requirement. They are so trusting they will fill these sheets in. You can then use these sheets as costs claims by filling in a daily rate and submitting them to the contractor (those funding the project). Some things you can do To help the "Gypsy Business" and your future income it is well worthwhile lobbying for Roma initiatives. Be sure to insist that the Roma issue is "such a complex issue" that in-depth studies and plans will be required. Try and emphasise things like their complex "culture" or even "language" difficulties. Although such issues are groundless, the desk officers don't know this. In any case it all sounds plausible to officials who have been fed the Roma stereotype rubbish since they were kids. Remember, it is always in your interest to keep this mumbo-jumbo dialogue going to sustain the confusion. The objective, you must understand, is to justify the production of more and more paper work and a sound sustained future income for the consultants. In general terms never tell jokes which are racist, even although you might thoroughly enjoy them in private. Always appear to be sincere when discussing how you are solving the Roma problem. If you are criticised for the obvious failure to solve the Roma problem do not become defensive but feign concern, even appear to hurt and even emotional. This weakens the attack of well-meaning people since they become confused at your reaction and assume that you are, after all, innocent of any cynicism and in fact you are doing the "best you can". Things you should not do At all times avoid trying to solve the problem for the Roma. Their problem is easily solved. All they need is investment funds orientated to marketable products or services. The Roma have always proven themselves to be adept at cash self-employed business. So you need to avoid any mention of this sort of solution. If the Roma are given this sort of opportunity they will become independent, looking after their children and old folk better than we do and becoming prosperous into the bargain! This would result in their being able to improve their diet and health and they would even be able to send their children to private schools! You must never forget that if this happens the consultancy "Gypsy Business" would collapse and, with this, the future income of all of those contented consultants currently locked in to this business. It would also undermine the objectives of the neo-Nazis who have become skilled at allocating national budgetary funds to support this lucrative activity. To assist the Roma in a practical fashion would be a slap in the face for these resourceful and generous neo-Nazis. Indeed, it would be an abuse of trust and this would not be acceptable in a civilized society such as ours.