Our mandate on Roma and Sinti

Already the Copenhagen Document 1990 recognized the “particular problems of Roma (gypsies)” in the context of the proliferation of racial and ethnic hatred, xenophobia and discrimination, the first intergovernmental body to do so.

In 1999, the OSCE participating States returned to the issue in the Istanbul Document, in which they recognized “the particular difficulties faced by Roma and Sinti and the need to undertake effective measures in order to achieve full equality of opportunity, consistent with OSCE commitments, for persons belonging to Roma and Sinti.”

In 2003, the OSCE’s key document driving its activities on Roma and Sinti, the Action Plan on Improving the Situation of Roma and Sinti within the OSCE Area, was adopted at the Ministerial Council meeting in Maastricht.

Five years later, the OSCE States enhanced the Action Plan’s provisions in Helsinki by committing “to provide for equal access to education and to promote early education for Roma and Sinti children”.

In 2009, a further step was taken when the foreign ministers assembled for the Ministerial Council meeting in Athens urged the participating States “to address the rise of violent manifestations of intolerance against Roma and Sinti”.

Another decision on the issue, taken in Kyiv in 2013, focused on the situation of Roma and Sinti women, youth and children.