International conference seeks changes to Roma support system

An international conference held in Budapest on Monday titled “Structural challenges – EU and national development policies and the Roma”, has called for changes to the current system of assistance available to the Roma minority.

Politics.hu reported yesterday that the conference was organised by VATI, a think-tank of regional development and urban studies. An expert at the conference noted how the current system cannot ensure sustainable development for the Roma.

Bela Rascz from VATI said that “the efficiency of European programmes was difficult to measure and neither experts nor civil groups were given enough opportunity to participate in the monitoring of such schemes”. Another experted noted how some community funds were left unused.

Chief of VATI, Zoltan Vereczkey expressed his hope that the government’s plan to create a million new jobs in the next decade would contribute to the employment of poorly skilled Roma.

The conference was organised for Central and Eastern European experts.