Roma in Ukraine unite for provision of their legal rights and counteraction to discrimination

December 1, 2009, a press conference, devoted to problems of Roma population in Ukraine, took place at UNIAN information agency. During the event representatives of Roma non-governmental organizations and the International Renaissance Foundation drew the public’s attention to key problems of Roma, living in Ukraine, and presented a planned activity for their resolving.

The difficult situation, in which Roma population found themselves in Ukraine, relates to, first and foremost, legal insecurity, and Roma’s lack of possibilities to satisfy their needs in different areas such as education, healthcare, social security and many others.

According to Nataliya Kyyak, Manager of Roma of Ukraine Program of the International Renaissance Foundation, Roma, living in camps, suffer the most. They often feel hunger, become ill with tuberculosis and other socially unsafe diseases, and do not have water and heat. Two thirds of Roma are uneducated, which deprives them of a possibility to support themselves and their families.

According to the data of the census of 2001, there are about 50,000 Roma living in Ukraine. However, according to unofficial data, their number constitutes from 200,000 to 400,000 persons. 60 percent of the children, who are ill with tuberculosis in Zakarpattia Oblast, are Roma children. The number of Roma, who are ill with tuberculosis, amounts to 15 percent. Two thirds of Roma are illiterate at all or have difficulties with reading and writing.

As Nataliya Kyyak noted, to improve the situation, in which Ukraine’s Roma population found themselves, it is necessary to have active participation of non-governmental organizations that would have united their efforts, in order to resolve problems of Roma in a comprehensive manner. “Roma non-governmental organizations have to unite for effective lobbying of the interests of Roma ethnos on different levels of legislative and executive power”, said Kyyak persuasively.

The All-Ukrainian conference “Consolidation of Roma Organizations by the International NGO “KETANE” became one of the steps for uniting of Roma non-governmental organizations. The conference is taking place under the support of the International Renaissance Foundation in Kyiv on December 1-2. The participants of the conference jointly define the most pressing problems of Roma population in Ukraine and work on development of the New State Program of Roma of Ukraine, which is intended to resolve the issue of Ukraine’s inclusion into the Decade of Roma in Europe.

Head of International Roma Organization “KETANE” Yuriy Ivanenko noted that the main task of the conference is to contribute to integration of representatives of Roma ethnos into the Ukrainian society, more expanded and comprehensive satisfaction of lawful needs of Roma in social, cultural, educational and other areas, drawing of attention of bodies of authority to condition of legal protection of Roma.

Organizers of the conference plan to develop their cooperation with state bodies of all levels for the purpose of encouragement of legal dialog and understanding, in particular, between civil servants and leaders of Roma NGOs.

Roma camp in the village of Kholmok, Uzhhorod Region, Zakarpattia Oblast (photо 1, phоtо 2)

			Nataliya Kyyak, Roma of Ukraine Program Manager tel: +380 (44) 461 95 00 | fax: +380 (44) 486 01 66 email: kyyak@irf.kiev.ua office: Kyiv, Bekhterevsky Lane, 13-a, room 1