Newsroom
Success for first meeting on Roma issues in Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
BELGRADE 12 March 2002
BELGRADE, 12 March 2002 - Effective inclusion of the Roma community into the political and social life in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY) were among the issues handled in the first joint meeting between officials of the Federal Ministry for National and Ethnic Communities and representatives of the Roma community, co-organized by the OSCE Mission to the FRY.
The meeting, held in Novi Sad on 10 March, was organized with the assistance of Roma contact points Stevan Nikolic and Srdjan Sain and funded by the Council of Europe. It was a result of the recently adopted Law on the Protection of Rights and Freedoms of National Minorities which provides measures for ensuring the quality of national minorities, and more specifically aims to improve the position of persons belonging to Roma minority.
The OSCE Head of Mission, Ambassador Stefano Sannino, called the meeting "a definite success", indicating that more than 50 participants attended the meeting, including students and women. "The quality of the discussion is a testament to the new Law on the Rights and Freedoms of National Minorities and the timely decision to specifically include Roma as a national minority in Serbia", he said.
Participants in the meeting raised critical issues such as the effective inclusion of Roma in the upcoming nationwide census, employment opportunities for Roma in civil service and within the private sphere and long term education programmes for Roma children as an important means in the fight against discrimination.
The representative of the Ministry for National Communities, Goran Basic, presented an overview of the Law which was followed by a discussion covering such topics as the contribution of the Law to the efficient participation of Roma in public life and decision-making.
Meetings on the same issue are planned to be held in Nis, Bujanovac, Podgorica and Belgrade.
The meeting, held in Novi Sad on 10 March, was organized with the assistance of Roma contact points Stevan Nikolic and Srdjan Sain and funded by the Council of Europe. It was a result of the recently adopted Law on the Protection of Rights and Freedoms of National Minorities which provides measures for ensuring the quality of national minorities, and more specifically aims to improve the position of persons belonging to Roma minority.
The OSCE Head of Mission, Ambassador Stefano Sannino, called the meeting "a definite success", indicating that more than 50 participants attended the meeting, including students and women. "The quality of the discussion is a testament to the new Law on the Rights and Freedoms of National Minorities and the timely decision to specifically include Roma as a national minority in Serbia", he said.
Participants in the meeting raised critical issues such as the effective inclusion of Roma in the upcoming nationwide census, employment opportunities for Roma in civil service and within the private sphere and long term education programmes for Roma children as an important means in the fight against discrimination.
The representative of the Ministry for National Communities, Goran Basic, presented an overview of the Law which was followed by a discussion covering such topics as the contribution of the Law to the efficient participation of Roma in public life and decision-making.
Meetings on the same issue are planned to be held in Nis, Bujanovac, Podgorica and Belgrade.