On 8th April, on the occasion of International Romani Day, Ombudsperson presented the conclusions from the “Report on Implementation of the Strategy for Improvement of the Status of Roma with Recommendations” at a media conference.

Ombudsperson Sasa Jankovic said that education and health protection were the greatest problems that Roma population faced. As he stated, since the adoption of the Strategy in 2009, no by-laws had been adopted in relation to education apart from the positive enrolment in primary and secondary schools, which again led to abuses. In relation to health protection, he stated changes were visible but insufficient.

Goran Basic, Deputy Ombudsperson in the period from 2008 to 2013, stated that no one was in charge of managing the Strategy, that there were no precise data in the system about education, health care, housing needs, which had been stated as priorities in the document.

Ivana Stankovic, Praxis Programme Coordinator, pointed to the problems in the exercise of status and socio-economic rights by the Roma. She spoke about complicated procedures for the exercise of the right to cash social assistance, particularly emphasizing the obligation to file a lawsuit against relatives for support. She also added that the practice showed that the service providers were often not sensitized, that no one could guarantee that the Roma would not be discriminated against in school or that they would not be discriminated against every time they tried to find employment.

“If you go and visit an informal settlement and try to assess what has been done from the aspect of everyday life of people in the settlements, you will see that we all have to work harder,” she concluded.

See the news at the website of Media Center
See the news at the website of the Ombudsperson
Download: Report on Implementation of the Strategy for Improvement of the Status of Roma with Recommendations (Serbian only)