Deputy Prime Minister Atanas Zafirov, Deputy Minister of Education Em. Lazarova, MPs, the Ambassadors of Germany, Austria and Denmark, diplomats from the Embassies of France, UK, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Ireland, Switzerland, Belgium, representatives of the European Commission, civil society organizations, Roma teachers and student leaders discussed the current challenges to policies for equality, inclusion and participation of Roma. This happened during the forum “Successful practices and models for overcoming discrimination in education”, organized by Center Amalipe on April 8 (International Roma Day) in Sofia.
The conference started with a short video prepared by young people of Amalipe Center “What is April 8th for me?”. Watch it here.
The moderator of the panel, Maria Metodieva from the Trust for Social Alternative, emphasized the key importance of the International Roma Day, marking the beginning of the international Roma movement.
We are doing the conference with two main messages, said in his welcoming words the chairman of Amalipe Deyan Kolev:
1. The Roma issue must remain at the top of the agenda at European and national level. We are concerned about the tendency of politicians at national and European level to delude themselves that what has been achieved is enough and to neglect the Roma issue because of the current challenges related to the war in Ukraine and the need for more active EU intervention.
2. Cohesion funds and their support for Roma policies is key for Bulgaria. We cannot and should not deprive ourselves of this opportunity. D. Kolev stressed that Roma organisations are in favour of a strong European Union, including the rearmament of Europe, but this should not be at the expense of cohesion funds and their support for Roma integration and better education.
In his introduction, the President of Amalipe made several proposals for Bulgaria: a change in the National Council for Cooperation on Ethnic and Integration Issues (NCCEII), the adoption of an annex to the National Roma Strategic Framework (NRSF) “Action Plan against segregation and discrimination against the Roma community”, the adoption of the NRSF by a decision of the National Assembly, targeted actions to create a favorable public environment for Roma integration policies, targeted actions to support civil society organizations: financial, institutional and public.
Deputy Prime Minister and Chairman of the National Council for Cooperation on Ethnic and Integration Issues Atanas Zafirov pointed out that Roma integration is a long-term priority and the Executive power confirms its commitment to it. He agreed with the need for a change in the NCCEII and the approval of the National Strategy by a decision of the National Assembly. Discrimination and stereotypes against Roma exist and overcoming them and creating a favourable social and political environment is key to the success of Roma policies. Mr Zafirov stressed the importance of education, also highlighting the positive role of sport. As the President of the National Sambo Federation, he pointed out that he has been able to prepare many Roma youth for a successful start not only in sports, but in their entire professional careers.
Deputy. Director General of DG Employment of the European Commission Andriana Sukova stressed that in the programming period 2021-2027 in 15 Member States are programmed funds amounting to 1.5 billion euros from the European Social Fund plus in measures for social inclusion. Education is the first step towards the successful realisation of every child and leads to equal inclusion in the labour market, she added. Andriana Sukova pointed out that the Education Programme, through the measures it supports, covers all educational levels – from kindergarten to university and continuing education. She stressed that DG Employment defends the continued support of ESF+ for Roma policies.
Н. E. Irene Maria Plank, Ambassador of Germany and Co-Chair of the Group of Ambassadors on Roma Issues, stressed that the task of the Group of Ambassadors is to ensure that the Roma community has a deserved place in policy-making at European and national level. The role of civil society organisations is key, which is why the diplomats support Amalipe and other advocacy organisations. She reiterated her belief that much has been achieved but important challenges remain. Together, institutions, civil society organisations and the Roma community can achieve success. Opening remarks by H. E. Plank’s remarks can be found here.
Christina de Bruin, UNICEF Representative for Bulgaria, stressed that the right to education is a fundamental right for every child. Legislation in Bulgaria addresses this appropriately, but challenges remain in its implementation. The Committee on the Rights of the Child has consistently made two key recommendations to Bulgaria: to address inequalities in educational achievement for large groups of children (including Roma) and to address segregation in the education of ethnic minorities. Ms. de Bruin pointed out the directions in which UNICEF is working together with the Bulgarian government, and the involvement of civil society organizations is important. See Unicef’s remarks here.
Georgi Stoychev, Executive Director of the Open Society Institute, donor of the project “Human Rights: Educate, Inspire, Change”, also made a statement. He shared the results of a national survey, according to which:
✅ 77% of Bulgarian citizens approve of more Roma becoming students
✅ 62% agree that it is good to have more Roma to become teachers and journalists
✅ 80% support the state encouraging more Roma students to take matriculation exams – key to higher education
Other data that Mr. Stoychev presented was on non-completion of secondary education: 1 in 5 students who reach grade 12 do not graduate – that is about 10,000 people a year for whom the door to higher education remains closed, employment and income remain about twice as low and unemployment twice as high.
The subsequent discussion was attended by MPs Elisaveta Belobradova, Tsvetan Predov, representatives of Roma and pro-Roma organizations, university professors. They stressed the need to overcome educational segregation, manifestations of discrimination in the classroom, and to engage the legislature power in integration policy. The overall message was that the participation of such a wide range of stakeholders – the Deputy Prime Minister, representatives of the Ministry of Education and the Managing Authorities of the main operational programmes, ambassadors, the European Commission, civil society organisations, MPs (from the ruling parties and the opposition) gives hope that Roma integration will remain high on the agenda of national and European institutions.
The conference continued with a panel on the contribution of the European Funds, the EEA Financial Mechanism and the Swiss contribution to the implementation of policies for equality, inclusion and participation of Roma. The third panel was dedicated to discrimination and segregation in school education, and was attended by dozens of Roma teachers from all over the country.
See Deyan Kolev’s presentation here.
The opening remarks of H. E. Plank see here.
See Christina de Bruin’s opening remarks here.
Watch the video “What is April 8th to me?” here.
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