Western Balkans Governments Urged to Take Action on Decade of Roma Inclusion

Roma activists from the Western Balkans met in Skopje, Macedonia, on March 21-23 to express their support for the Decade of Roma Inclusion. The Roma Democratic Development Association Sonce organized the conference “Western Balkan Decade of Roma Inclusion: Continuous Dialog among Actors and Challenges for Implementation,” which brought together more than 80 Roma activists from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia. International donors, government representatives and other Decade stakeholders also attended the final day of the conference.

While recognizing the activities of governments in the region to improve the situation of Roma, the activists underlined the need of more concrete government actions to achieve the goals of the Decade. Nadir Redzepi, Executive Director of Sonce, said that “governments must switch the approach from project to policies with allocation of adequate financial resources and mechanisms.

Roma from the Western Balkans urge the European Commission to assume an active role in the Decade process. The Decade of Roma Inclusion should be the basis of a Europe-wide comprehensive policy on Roma, and the Commission could respond to the European Parliament’s resolutions on Roma by developing its own action plan for the Decade.

Kosovo Roma were a special subject of discussion, and the conference participants urged the international community to pay attention to the difficult situation of Roma in Kosovo and to respect the international human rights standards regarding asylum seekers. “The administration of Kosovo must find arrangements that will allow Roma and other minorities to take part in its institutions,” said Mr.Bashkim Ibishi, “regardless of any future decision on the status of Kosovo.”

The activists also called for the government of Bosnia and Herzegovina to join the Decade of Roma Inclusion 2005-2015. Information on the Decade is available at www.romadecade.org.