Newsroom
OSCE Mission, Roma Women's Network organize visit of young Roma people to Serbian Parliament
BELGRADE 16 December 2006
BELGRADE, 16 December 2006 - A group of 80 young people from Roma settlements in western Serbia visited the National Assembly today.
The visit was part of the OSCE Mission's to Serbia project "Empowerment of Roma Women for Decision-Making" and was organized in co-operation with the NGO Roma Women's Network.
"The visit symbolically presented the Assembly as a open door institution whose work is transparent to all citizens," said Hannelore Valier, Head of the OSCE Mission's Democratization Department. "We wanted to let the young Roma know that they are also welcome here and that one day they might be elected as national representatives to the Assembly."
The Roma visitors asked legislators to support those who had interrupted their primary school education and are thinking of completing it at a later stage in life.
Assistance to Roma is a priority area for the OSCE Mission and is in line with its mandate and the Decade of Roma Inclusion, an initiative of nine Central and South-Eastern European countries to improve the socio-economic status and social inclusion of the Roma minority across the region.
Last month, the Mission also helped organize a visit by Serbian Assembly members and representatives of several Ministries to Roma settlements near Valjevo and Sabac.
The visit was part of the OSCE Mission's to Serbia project "Empowerment of Roma Women for Decision-Making" and was organized in co-operation with the NGO Roma Women's Network.
"The visit symbolically presented the Assembly as a open door institution whose work is transparent to all citizens," said Hannelore Valier, Head of the OSCE Mission's Democratization Department. "We wanted to let the young Roma know that they are also welcome here and that one day they might be elected as national representatives to the Assembly."
The Roma visitors asked legislators to support those who had interrupted their primary school education and are thinking of completing it at a later stage in life.
Assistance to Roma is a priority area for the OSCE Mission and is in line with its mandate and the Decade of Roma Inclusion, an initiative of nine Central and South-Eastern European countries to improve the socio-economic status and social inclusion of the Roma minority across the region.
Last month, the Mission also helped organize a visit by Serbian Assembly members and representatives of several Ministries to Roma settlements near Valjevo and Sabac.