EU Platform for Roma Inclusion: RomanoNet urges the Czech Government to appoint its Commissioner for Romani Affairs, NGOs say the Romani Strategy cannot remain just on paper

“We are asking that implementation of the Strategy at local level be arranged, as that is quite important. We are asking that discrimination be eliminated in the fields of education and housing. We are requesting that the Strategy be updated to reflect the current crisis in the economy and the risk that Romani people will to a great extent fall deeper into energy and social poverty. As everybody is certainly aware, the Czech Republic has not yet adopted a law on social housing that could be a solution to cases of discrimination in the field of housing. For that reason, it is necessary to provide for the proper implementation of inclusive education and support to Czech schools in the area of delivering inclusion,” director of RomanoNet Michal Miko said.

The EU Roma Platform will meet in Prague from 25. – 26 October 2022. On Thursday it will be followed by a meeting of the National Coordinators for Roma Inclusion.

The platform brings together the EU Member States, international organizations, and Romani civil society. Its aim is to galvanize collaboration and the exchange of experiences in the field of including Romani people successfully.

The event will provide room to discuss the priorities in this area for the next 10 years, with a particular focus on educational and residential segregation, on using EU and Member State financing instruments, and on the position of Romani refugees from Ukraine. “That will be facilitated through dialogue and exchange of experiences and knowledge at all levels and with the full involvement of Romani people themselves. It will also present the perspectives of the Member States and provide participants with an opportunity to express themselves so policy designers can hear their experiences firsthand and make commitments about how to go forward,” Miko said.

According to Miko, the Czech Republic has been attempting to integrate or include Romani people since 1997, when the Bratinka Report on the issue was adopted. “That report tabled the policy of this country toward integrating Romani people, but we continue to grapple with lack of political will to implement the given strategies so that they have an actual impact on the lives of Romani men and women,” Miko said.

In the Czech Republic, the new “Strategy for Roma Equality, Inclusion and Participation (Roma Integration Strategy) 2021-2030” was adopted by the Government in May 2021. According to Miko, it represents a shift toward implementing the aims of integrating Romani people.

“The Strategy places greater emphasis on the participation of Romani men and women in implementing its aims through the cross-cutting goal of greater representation of Romani men and women in decision-making processes (emancipation, inclusion and participation); furthermore, it expressly recognizes antigypsyism as a cross-cutting subject; another cross-cutting target defines the provision of capacities and resources for implementing the Strategy. Another positive aspect of the Strategy is the decision to collect the necessary data to assess the effectiveness and impacts of the Strategy in a high-quality way,” Miko described the important parts of Strategy.