Ivanka Kostic, Praxis Executive Director, took part in the Expert meeting on Improving access to Civil Registration and Identity Documents for Roma in Ukraine that was organized by ODIHR in co-operation with the State Migration Service of Ukraine, Ministry of Justice of Ukraine, Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights and United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Representation in Ukraine.

Ivanka presented Serbia’s significant improvements relating to birth registration, statelessness, residence registration and access to identity documents following 10 years of intensive advocacy by Praxis, UNHCR and other CSOs and international agencies. She also shared Praxis’ experience in its active participation in the Technical Working Group (established by the Ministry of State Administration and Local Self-government, UNHCR and the Ombudsperson institution) and its close cooperation with the relevant government institutions in the Technical Working Group on individual cases, but also on problems and gaps in the implementation of the newly adopted regulations. Through the Technical Working Group, Praxis also advocated for changes and documented the remaining systemic gap relating to birth registration of children of undocumented parents, immediately after birth. 

The expert meeting built on the recommendations of the 2017 Odessa Declaration, developed to overcome obstacles in access to civil registration and identity documents by Roma in Ukraine. The participants discussed the possibility of establishing a joint technical working group of state and non-state stakeholders to co-ordinate efforts in addressing the issue.

The participants expressed their belief that the meeting was a significant step towards addressing the lack of personal documents among Roma in Ukraine.