OSCE Mission to Skopje supports Roma Decade activities

SKOPJE, 7 October 2008 - A project to revise the existing national action plans on education, employment, housing and healthcare with the aim of improving the situation of country's Roma population was launched today in Skopje.

The project, initiated by the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy, and supported by the OSCE Spillover Monitor Mission to Skopje and the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute of Human Rights, is part of activities under the Roma Decade initiative.

"The OSCE is committed to the Roma Decade and the improvement of the condition of Roma and Sinti in the region. But to make progress on Roma integration, it takes a true commitment of leaders for the implementation of effective policies and projects for the years to come," said Ambassador Natalya Drozd, Acting Head of the OSCE Mission to Skopje.

Filippo Unterhofer, a representative of the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute in the country, added: "The activity promotes dialogue and facilitates the creation of a network among ministries responsible for the Decade. It is a step forward in the identification of concrete measures to fight exclusion."

Alongside the project, a new unit under the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy, the Sector for the National Strategy for Roma and the Decade of Roma Inclusion, has been established to fight social exclusion of Roma in the country.