ALL-UKRAINIAN UNION OF NGOs “CONGRESS OF ROMA OF UKRAINE”

Council of Europe Monitoring Committee’s co-rapporteurs Mrs. Hanne Severinsen and Mrs. Renate Woihlwend took part in a meeting with representatives of national and ethnic minorities of Ukraine on March 3, 2007 in Kyiv, Ukraine.

The participants informed the co-rapporteurs of national minorities’ problems they face in Ukraine, and a special emphasis has been made on current national minorities’ legislation, which is far from being up to date.

President of the All-Ukrainian Union of NGOs “Congress of Roma of Ukraine” Mr. Petro Grygorichenko reported on present Roma situation in Ukraine and the organization’s initiatives. He also stressed on the necessity to consider shortly the Congress’s initiatives, including the following:

– Ukraine’s accession to the Decade of Roma Inclusion in Europe 2005-2015;
– development and adoption of a new national complex program on Roma of Ukraine and;
– entry of the Romani language into the list of languages protected by the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages.