OSCE Forth Status Report on Roma and Sinti was presented in Vienna

Representatives of OSCE – ODIHR and other OSCE institutions, delegations of several  member states and NGOs took part in the launching event of the Forth Status Report Implementation of the Action Plan on Improving the Situation of Roma and Sinti within the OSCE Area. The event took place in Vienna on December 8th. Center Amalipe was one of the few national Roma organizations presented there – by its chairman Deyan Kolev.

“Since the countries of the OSCE committed to ensuring positive change for the Roma and Sinti across the region over 20 years ago, real progress has been made,” said ODIHR First Deputy Director Tea Jaliashvili. “But deep disparities between the lives of the Roma and the general population remain in a number of places, and anti-Roma racism and discrimination are still a fundamental challenge. We must continue working to improve their situation and increase Roma participation in public and political life”.

As an important asset could be stressed the development of Roma targeted policies by the members states. The involvement and participation of civil society and the Roma and Sinti comunities should be extended, pointed from OSCE – ODIHR.

“This is an occasion to be proud on behalf of the OSCE, and a good example of the difference our organization, despite its limited resources, has been able to make over the years for people on the ground. But as this report also makes clear, much, much more needs to be done,” said Hilda Kolevska, Minister Plenipotentiary, OSCE Chairpersonship of North Macedonia. “The lack of access to equal quality education and economic opportunities makes it all the more important to finally break the cycle of the generational “reproduction of inequality” that is still negatively impacting and hampering the lives of Roma and Sinti in so many of our countries,” she added.

The participants pointed several comments and remarks during the event.  Deyan Kolev agreed with the conclusion that there is an remarkable advance in the field of education. Employing educational mediators and using ESF funds for Roma educational integration are good and promissing steps.  Nevertheless, national governments invest efforts only on reducing early school leaving and dropout rate. Few political steps for desegregation and introducing intercultural education are applied. He insisted for stronger OSCE and EU pressure on these  „hot topics”.

The inlolvement and participation of civil society organizations is still verry problematic, because of three reasons. Firsts one, the national institutions with mandate to organise consultation with CSOs in most of the countries lack real responsibilities. Kolev provided an example from Bulgarian where Roma organisations left the National Council on Ethnic and Itegration Issues asking for its profound reform. Second one, only few funds  are provided for development of civil society. ESF provides small ammounts that are smaller, compared to EEA Grants. The national state budgets completely miss this topic. And third reason is linked with the unproper use of the “state aid/de minimis” for NGOs projects directed at Roma and other vulnarable groups. In Bulgaria this is one of the biggest obstacles that disturb NGOs participation.

The Fourth Status Report on Roma and Sinti could be downloaded here