"Romanian Ngos’ Efforts to Advocate on Behalf of Marginalized Groups and Prevent Social Turbulence"

Abstract

While Romania has undergone huge progress during the last 30 years, the situation of marginalized groups hasn’t progressed as well as the country’s rapid economic development. The plight of vulnerable groups such as unhoused people, persons with disabilities, and the LGBTQ community continues to be a source of social turbulence, as they are consistently facing exclusion. Authorities do not prioritize their integration within society and there is a lack of policies to deal with these issues, leading to the appearance of extremely polarizing movements such as the 2018 referendum initiative to ban same-sex unions. This paper aims to analyze three case studies where advocacy organizations championed the cause of the above-mentioned groups, in order to increase visibility, representation, and integration, and pinpoint best practices for organizations advocating on behalf of disadvantaged groups. The three main best practices we have learned regarding advocacy projects targeting public policy for marginalized groups are: a. always put a local group at the center of the project, b. bring outside partners or mentors who can bring advocacy skills to the project, c. look for other, supplemental, positive outcomes, that usually tend to come up in the work with marginalized groups.