Among the representatives of national minorities of Ukraine, in particular Roma, there is a large number of activists and NGOs who want and could be included in the reform process of the country, but instead they face the constant cases of discrimination and human dignity. The meeting "Approaches to Roma’s integrating and human rights protecting, and the participation of local governments and civil society", organized by the ICO Chirikli in Kyiv was dedicated to these topics.
Among the representatives of national minorities of Ukraine, in particular Roma, there is a large number of activists and NGOs who want and could be included in the reform process of the country, but instead they face the constant cases of discrimination and human dignity. The meeting “Approaches to Roma’s integrating and human rights protecting, and the participation of local governments and civil society”, organized by the ICO Chirikli in Kyiv was dedicated to these topics.
The meeting was attended by representatives of the Ministry of Health, Ministry of Regional Development, Construction and Housing and Communal Services of Ukraine, Ministry of Culture, Ministry of Social Policy, the Parliamentary Commissioner for Human Rights, the International Renaissance Foundation, Roma NGOs, including the Coalition of Roma NGOs of Ukraine.
The issue that provoked the liveliest discussion was decentralization reform in Ukraine, which started in 2014. Uzhgorod City Council’s deputies Yuri Mandych and Myroslav Horvat noted that the handling of this reform has not considered the interests of national minorities and hasn’t taken into account the political features of the electoral system in the formation of communities, and this in turn could adversely affect the plan for the integration of Roma national minority into the Ukrainian society.
As deputies explained, it could trigger a reduction or even total lack of funding provisions that were laid down by the Decree of the previous president in 2013. Therefore, there is a problem of responsibility, because some public authorities are responsible for the implementation of policies promoting the integration of Roma through a reform that does not discern the particular characteristics of national minorities and will be put on the newly created municipalities.
And Mykola Rubchak, Head of Department for administrative and territorial structure of the Ministry of Regional Development, Construction and Housing and Communal Services of Ukraine, said, “We call on civil society, including Roma organizations to be more active, to participate in community’s life, to promote their interests in the reform process. Since the decentralization reform, it is not a matter of increased funding, but also efficiency, capacity of communities. They need to run in local elections and represent the interests of the community in local authorities.”
The discrimination which Roma face constantly was also discussed at the meeting. Key discriminatory spheres are health care, education and obtaining documents. Human rights activists told about the facts of the blatant disregard for human dignity. In particular, there are regions where hospitals have got separate “Roma” wards. And staff do not feed the Roma patients, if they don’t have their dishes. Doctors ask about ethnicity on the surgical table. In education, discrimination is shown through the creation of separate Roma special classrooms in schools, refusal to take children to a group of long day care, psychological pressure from teachers and so on.
Roma Program Initiative Director of the International Renaissance Foundation Olga Zhmurko emphasizes the need of “communication between the public sector and the authorities to take into account regional differences and the overall context for further work on the integration of the Roma.”
This thesis is supported by the Roma activists themselves, in particular, Volodymyr Condur, Roma NGOs Coalition’s chairman, who said, “Roma NGOs, activists, mediators, human rights activists should establish a quality relationship with local authorities. When the government is separated from the problems of the Roma, cases like in Loschynivka happen.
Also, during the event, Roma NGOs Coalition “Strategy 2020”, which includes 13 Roma NGOs from 8 regions presented results of the project “Advocacy and improvement of Roma policy at the local level”. One of its steps was the publication of the guide “Government policy on Roma. Decentralization reform: relationships, opportunities, problems and solutions”, a publication was presented by one of its authors, an expert on decentralization Inna Bilyk.
As a summary, one can identify four key messages / recommendations that became the leitmotif of the meeting:
There is a need to create guidelines for governments on specific problems of Roma in the region and create conditions for the active involvement of Roma in public and political life of the region in general and in particular to the decentralization process.
It is necessary to establish representative institutions of advisers at local authorities on Roma issues in areas where many Roma live.
It is necessary to start effective communication in society, and to carry out awareness raising that would warn discrimination against Roma.
Minorities in our country is a strong capability, not a problem, which you can shut your eyes to. The government and NGOs should create conditions to attract ethnic minorities to reforms in Ukraine.
