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A Decade for Roma Inclusion 2005-2015
The Roma emancipation is developing with strong rhythm
From 21st to 23rd March in Skopje a conference was held titled “Continuous dialogue between the actors and the challenges for implementation”, organized in order to contribute to effective implementation of the Decade for Roma Inclusion in the countries of Western Balkans. It was organized by the civil society organization Association for Democratic Development of Roma “Sonce”, which, according to Aleksandra Bojadzieva, program manager for representing Roma rights and interests, actively contributes to civic and democratic integration, effective participation and equal practice of democratic rights and opportunities for Roma in the society, through capacity building, direct support and representing Roma.
“One of the priorities of Sonce is to contribute to planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the action plans for the Decade for Roma Inclusion and the national strategy for Roma in the Republic of Macedonia” – points out Bojadzieva.
Participants from the countries of Western Balkans took part at the conference – Croatia, Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo and Macedonia and the organized discussions were held on several topics that covered the methods for the Decade implementation, the so far results and experiences in the countries that took part at the conference.
Nazif Memedi was among the participants, a member of the Council for national minorities in the Republic of Croatia, formed to protect minority human rights in her country. “The Council was established in 2003, the Croatian government trusts it a lot as it allocates the funds from the state budget for financing minority communities. For the past two years the state budget has been increased for 41,1%, that is, 35 million kunas, or about 5 million Euro for all 22 national minorities in Croatia. About 1,5 million kunas or 200.000 Euro of it has been allocated to the Roma. The Council finances four fields: cultural manifestations, cultural-artistic associations, Roma publishing (history, dictionary) and informing (three magazines are published – Idnina, Romskata vistina and Mladi za mladi)” – says Nazif, talking about the situation in her country and pointing out that Croatia takes part in the Action Plan for Roma Decade with 30%, and she hopes that the conference in Skopje will direct other governments and states to follow the Croatian model. His message to all countries is to improve the Roma quality of living, providing housing issues, employment, education and health, the problems of Roma minority not to remain on paper only for entry into EU, but to be realistically solved, too.
Osman Balic from the JUROM center in Serbia stated that he was taking part at a really rare kind of a conference, as it had comparison of the results of the unique project, The Roma Decade. “Before the Decade, the question was whether we would succeed in changing anything. The second dilemma was whether the Balkans countries would manage to deal with a problem as the Roma poverty was and whether they would manage to accept those challenges in the period of moving closer to the EU. It happened here, in Skopje. The Balkans is a strange space and it makes us happy that the Roma emancipation started going with a strong rhythm and that the states have mobilized their institutions in realizing the Decade’s objectives”. According to Balic, the fact that the Roma started going on the road of their own prosperity on the basis of basic human principles, responsibility, humanity and solidarity, makes us happy. In the Decade’s method no violent method is mentioned, but on the basis of own responsibility and helped by the states, the Roma communities to integrate in the society.
Call for the Governments of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo
At the conference a call was directed to the governments of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo to get involved in the Decade. In Bosnia and Herzegovina the Action plan for entry in the Decade has not been prepared yet and on Kosovo they are waiting for solving the status issue.
“Roma are in the same position in all countries in the region, they have the same problems – employment, education, children are not registered, non-governmental organizations are insufficiently financed” – pointed out Indira Bajramovic, president of the Roma Women Association “Better future” from Tuzla and member of the Roma Assembly in Bosnia and Herzegovina. “In 2004 in Bosnia and Herzegovina a plan for Roma education was adopted by all ministries of education, but unfortunately, it has not been implemented yet to the projected extent. The Roma Decade is a contribution through mutual experiences and proposals for work to overcome the problems that press the Roma community in Bosnia and Herzegovina” – she stated.
Baskim Ibisi, president of the NGO “Center for international integration” and a member of the Executive Board of the NGO Network on Kosovo, pointed out that they had been invited to take part at such a meeting for the first time. He explained that Kosovo did not have a status and that for then it was not possible to become a member of the Decade, but at the conference an opportunity was given to exchange experiences and to find out more about the ongoing processes.
“In context of involvement in the Decade, the Roma did not take part in the Kosovo conflict, but they were victims, a collateral damage” – points out Ibisi, adding that on Kosovo a process would start for Roma integration in the system institutions. “The Roma from Kosovo have to be part of the Decade, as since the forming of the Decade, there has been a difference in the Roma position in the countries that are members of the Decade and those that are not”.
The Republic of Macedonia has been a member of the Decade for Roma Inclusion since it was formed. Before the Decade, a National Strategy for the Roma in the country was prepared, thus detecting the problems and solutions were proposed for overcoming the conditions with the Roma community in Macedonia. By overtaking the obligations from the Roma Decade, the authorities have been transferred to the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy, where a special body has been formed that works on implementing the Action plan of the Roma Decade.
The conference, held in Skopje, is an additional contribution to improving the conditions within the Roma community, not only in Macedonia, but in the wider region, too. After the conference had ended, a memorandum was prepared, that will be sent to all countries that participated at the conference and it contains the common conclusions by the Roma representatives in all countries from the region.
The Decade’s headquarters will be moved to Hungary
“The Decade for Roma Inclusion 2005-2015” is an international initiative for development of the socio-economic status and complete inclusion of Roma in the social life in the countries of Southeast Europe. It was formed by SOROS and the World Bank in Budapest in 2003 and by accepting a common declaration, nine countries from Southeast Europe joined it. Accession to the Decade is on the highest level, with signatures from the prime ministers of Hungary, the Czech Republic, Romania, Croatia, Bulgaria, Serbia, Montenegro and Macedonia. UNDP, the Council of Europe, OSCE and representatives of the Roma communities from all countries signatories of the Decade in the region take part with their activities. Accession to the Decade was on the basis of the action plan prepared by each of the countries participants and main priorities in the action plans are education, housing, employment and health. Issues in the realization of the Decade are also gender relations, discrimination, that is, human rights and poverty. The Decade functions on the basis of funds (Trust fund, Roma education fund) created by the international institutions and organizations that formed it, the funds that the countries signatories of the Decade allocate from their budgets, and by donations. The highest body in the structure of the Decade on international level is the International Managing Committee where members are representatives of the governments of the countries, representatives of the Roma communities and international institutions.
Although formed in Budapest, the Decade’s secretariat changes its headquarters every year.
By 30th June the headquarters of the Decade’s secretariat will be in Bulgaria, and from 1st July this year it will be moved to Hungary.
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