prijava
MOSTAR, Feb 21 (FENA) - Organized by the OSCE Mission to BiH, a workshop was held on Wednesday in Mostar on the topic "How and why to draw up an action plan for Roma people in the Herzegovina-Neretva Canton".
On the occasion, Head of the Department for the Protection of National Minorities Rights at the BiH Ministry of Human Rights and Refugees, Zelimir Lalic, told reporters that today's meeting was aimed at supporting activities related to drawing up a local action plan for Roma, reminding that BiH has joined a major project - Decade of Roma Inclusion, after which two action plans were drafted, the latest being valid from 2017 to 2020.
- Such documents are needed for the implementation of the plans at the local level, which will also be the legal basis for municipal and city councils to allocate funds and actively participate in the implementation of inclusion measures - Lalic said.
He added that, as it was known, Roma people were the most numerous and socially most vulnerable minority in BiH, for which ll the means and activities that would make their life easier should be found.
- In the last 4 years the BiH Ministry has allocated nearly KM 3 million, and through the latest Action Plan KM 2 million, for the Roma issues - Lalic said.
He underlined that Roma issues could not be resolved in the short term, which is why EUR 12 million of funds were requested from the Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance - IPA II and donors.
- If all the funds are received, the status of Roma in BiH will be significantly improved - said Head of the Department for the Protection of National Minorities Rights at the BiH Ministry of Human Rights and Refugees.
Senior Adviser for pre-school and inclusive education of the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports of the HNC, Nefiza Dautovic, assessed that this was an opportunity to jointly open the question - how to improve the quality of life of Roma people in the HNC.
She pointed out that the Ministry could mention with pride a series of achievements over the last three years when it comes to Roma, by increasing the participation and inclusion of Roma children in the first grade of primary school, then reducing their exclusion from the regular education system, increasing success and reducing absenteeism.
Dervo Sejdic, Haed for Roma Issues at the OSCe Mission to BiH, sad that the position of Roma in BiH was not at an expected level, adding that implementation of strategic documents and public policies aimed at the development of the Roma community in certain local communities is very slow.
- Through drawing uplocal action plans, we are trying to concretize and make a review of the situation, and on that basis create activities and measures for the achievement of certain goals, by directing donor funds and state grants for Roma integration to the final beneficiary. Only then will we see more substantial and better changes in the field - Sejdic explained.
As for the Western Balkans, he added, Bosnia and Herzegovina had done most in the area of housing for Roma, which did not mean that there were no needs left .
According his words, on the one hand, the enrollment of Roma children in elementary schools increased, while on the other hand, the percentage of their quitting of regular education increased.
This is because of insufficient quality of the Action Plan on Roma educational needs, he added.
In his opinion, health care policy is on "clumsy legs", and some cantons including the HNC, failed to harmonize their legislation with the FBiH Health Care Act.
He also warned of the great problem related to begging by Roma children, adding that some of the children are hired by "employers" to beg for them, not for their poor families.
(FENA)
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