Closing conference of the Decade of Roma Inclusion

Details

Friday, 11 September 2015 11:17

The Decade of Roma Inclusion 2005 - 2015 has officially closed with the final conference and 28th meeting of the International Steering Committee in Sarajevo, 10 - 11 September. The meeting was attended by representatives of governments, NGOs and international organizations, as well as with attendance of all those who have made significant contribution to the Decade.

The agenda included: 1) a round-table discussion on the achievements and shortfalls of the Decade; 2) a presentation of the Roma Inclusion Index, a comparable quantitative overview of the level of inclusion/exclusion of Roma in the priority areas of the Decade across countries and time; and 3) the launch of a publication that aims to take stock and reflect on the developments of Roma inclusion since 2005. 

Special emphasis at the conference was placed on the presentation of new regional initiative  Roma Integration 2020 which is going to be under jurisdiction of the Regional Cooperation Council (RCC). The new initiative will be financially supported by the Directorate for Neighbourhood Policy and accession negotiations of the European Union (DG NEAR) and the Open Society Foundation (OSF).

The final conference was attended by representatives of the Roma civil society organizations from Montenegro, Samir Jaha and Dženita Brčvak (NGO Young Roma) and Veselj Beganaj (NGO Coalition "Roma Circle").

Samir Jaha, executive director of NGO Young Roma, was a panelist at a round-table which discussed the achievements and shortcomings of the Decade. Mr. Jaha argued that the Decade greatly contributed to the development of the Roma civil sector and the opening of many Roma issues, and that it is necessary to initiate the second Decade, to ensure the achievement of results which were set out at the beginning of this process.

During the conference, particularly significant was the presentation of the Declaration of the Regional Roma Council, whose members are Roma NGOs helm of a coalition of Roma and pro-Roma NGOs in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Croatia, Macedonia and Serbia, which require the opening of the second cycle of the Decade. The Declaration can be found here.