Nearly half of the roughly 402,000 Roma living in Slovakia live between the majority of the non-Roma population, according to a survey on Roma communities undertaken by the Ministry of Social Affairs and the University of Prešov.
More than 95,000 Roma live at the edges of villages, 74,000 live in segregated settlements, and approximately 46,000 live in ghettos within cities and villages. However, the number of such settlements fell over the last decade by nearly fifty. For undertaking this survey the Ministry of Social Affairs has requested €809,000 from the UN Development Programme (UNDP), with the results being available for officials, NGOs and experts. The survey also offers information on the extent of poverty in Slovakia and in which areas the greatest action is needed, such as employment projects and in requesting support from EU funds. As an example, as many as 42 percent of Roma settlements lack sanitation, with 14 settlements having no infrastructure such as water, electricity, or gas.
