prijava
SARAJEVO, March 20 (FENA) - The ROMACTED Program "Promoting Good Governance and Empowerment of the Roma Community at the Local Level" was promoted today in Sarajevo as a joint program of the European Union and the Council of Europe, which is being implemented in Serbia, Albania, Montenegro, Macedonia, Turkey, Kosovo and Bosnia and Herzegovina.
This is the largest project involving Roma at the local level and it is being implemented in BiH from 8 December 2017 to 30 April 2020 in 10 municipalities - Bijeljina, Brčko, Donji Vakuf, Gradiška, Kakanj, Prnjavor, Visoko , Vukosavlje, Tuzla and Travnik.
The EU representative Gianluca Vannini said that this program will help municipalities to provide easier access to healthcare, social inclusion and integration of the Roma population, adding that since 2007, the EU has invested 7.5 million euros in the integration of Roma communities at the local level.
"We dealt with the sectors such as education, employment and social housing," Vannini said, adding that the EU supports the efforts of local authorities to integrate Roma communities, as well as Roma rights, and other minorities.
Ambassador of the Council of Europe in BiH Drahoslav Stefanek pointed to the efforts made by the Council of Europe to combat discrimination through various projects, and that the overall budget for the ROMACTED Program amounts to 3.7 million euros.
He said that the goal of the project is to strengthen the Roma communities on an individual and collective level, to help people to use their basic rights and to improve their personal capacities and skills, and to participate in solving the problems of entire communities.
Vannini and Stefanek explained that the specificity of the project is to assist local authorities in integrating new dimensions into their local policies, budgets and services, and introducing special measures for the Roma, with increased participation of Roma in the creation, implementation and monitoring of policies and activities.
Given that the goal of the program is also strengthening the commitment of institutions, their capacities, knowledge and skills in the work on Roma inclusion and the application of the concept of good governance, the Council of Europe will implement the ROMACTED Program with the support and cooperation of the BiH Ministry of Human Rights and Refugees, which is responsible for the implementation of the BiH Strategy for resolving the problems of the Roma population.
Given that the target groups of the project are local public administrations, elected representatives and relevant officials, and Roma communities, today the representatives of the municipalities of Bijeljina, Brčko, Donji Vakuf, Gradiška, Kakanj, Prnjavor, Visoko, Vukosavlje, Tuzla and Travnik signed a Memorandum of Understanding and thus confirmed their engagement in the project.
(FENA) S. R.
