MINELRES: ERRC Welcomes OSCE Action Plan on Roma

[MINELRES moderator]

Original sender: European Roma Rights Center <errc@errc.org> 


OSCE Ministerial Council Adopts Action Plan on Improving the Situation
of Roma and Sinti in the OSCE Area

The European Roma Rights Center (ERRC) welcomes the adoption by the
Ministerial Council of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in
Europe (OSCE) on the 2nd of December, in Maastricht, of an Action Plan
on improving the situation of Roma and Sinti in the OSCE area. Speaking
on the occasion of the adoption of the Action Plan, ERRC Executive
Director Dimitrina Petrova said: "The adoption this week of one
comprehensive document on Roma rights issues significantly improves the
chances that the OSCE states will implement human rights-based policies
on Roma". 

The elaboration and implementation of national policies addressing the
situation of Roma -- designed with the active participation of Roma and
Sinti -- is among core elements of the Action Plan. The Action Plan
includes detailed recommendations to states of the OSCE region aimed at
ensuring that Roma and Sinti are able to play a full and equal part in
society, as well as at eradicating discrimination against them. 

In the field of education, the Action Plan commits OSCE participating
states to addressing the current emergency of racially segregated
education by developing and implementing comprehensive desegregation
programs and other policies aimed at integrating Roma and Sinti children
into mainstream education. It also recommends that legislation include
provisions explicitly banning racial segregation and discrimination in
education. 

As regards housing, the Action Plan suggests that OSCE states should
institutionalise mechanisms and procedures to clarify property rights,
resolve questions of ownership, and regularise the legal status of Roma
and Sinti living in circumstances of unsettled legality. It also calls
on states to combat racial segregation in the field of housing. 

The Action Plan further recommends that states should ensure that Roma
and Sinti have access to health care services on a non-discriminatory
basis. 

The Action Plan affirms the pressing need to adopt and implement
effective anti-discrimination legislation to combat direct and indirect
racial and ethnic discrimination in all fields. The creation of
specialised bodies to ensure the implementation of such legislation, as
well as monitoring and reporting mechanisms on the progress achieved in
implementing comprehensive anti-discrimination law, is also recommended. 

The Action Plan further includes detailed sections addressing issues
related to police, media, employment, public and political
participation, and the situation of Roma in crisis and post-crisis
situations. It moreover exhorts states to ensure that Roma and Sinti
have all necessary documents, including birth certificates, identity
documents and health insurance certificates.  The situation of Roma and
Sinti women is stressed as an area in need of particular action. 

The ERRC welcomes the collaborative process of drafting the Action Plan,
involving Roma and Sinti experts extensively in the elaboration of
drafts. The ERRC provided suggestions and comments on various drafts
circulated. 

The ERRC believes the Action Plan can play an important role in the
improvement of the situation of Roma and Sinti in the OSCE states, and
their full empowerment. It is now up to OSCE participating states to
ensure effective and full implementation of the Action Plan.  The full
text of the Action Plan is available on:
http://www.osce.org/odihr/cprsi/.



_____________________________________________

The European Roma Rights Center is an international public interest law
organisation which monitors the rights of Roma and provides legal
defence in cases of human rights abuse. For more information about the
European Roma Rights Center, visit the ERRC on the web at
http://www.errc.org. 

European Roma Rights Center
1386 Budapest 62
P.O. Box 906/93
Hungary


Phone: +36 1 4132200
Fax:   +36 1 4132201

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