National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia / Activities / Activity details
8 April 2015 Committee sitting celebrating International Roma Day
Wednesday, 8 April 2015
23rd Sitting of the Committee on Human and Minority Rights and Gender Equality
To mark 8 April, International Roma Day, the Committee on Human and Minority Rights and Gender Equality scheduled a sitting with the topic “Roma inclusion”.
Suzana Paunovic, Director of the Office for Human and Minority Rights of the Government of the Republic of Serbia, outlined the Government’s recent activities in the area, highlighting the strengthening of institutional capacities and the active work of the Government’s Council for the Improvement of the Position of Roma. The Government also set up a body to monitor and coordinate donations.
Michael Davenport, Head of the EU Delegation in Serbia, said that Europe is home to between 10 and 12 million Roma who are the minority suffering the biggest discrimination. Their key problems are education, employment, healthcare and housing, said Davenport. Areas that require additional efforts are the education of Roma children, and the EU delegation offers legal assistance in the registering of children in the birth registry books and social protection. Michael Davenport added that the delegation is cooperating with the City of Belgrade in the efforts to solve the problem of families living in unhygienic conditions and offering assistance to the Roma population as regards employment.
The assembly was also addressed by the Head of the OSCE Mission to Serbia H.E. Ambassador Peter Burkhard, Head of the UN Women Office in Serbia Asya Varbanova, Slavica Vasic on the behalf of the Roma women’s network and the President of the National Council of the Roma National Minority Vitomir Mihajlovic.
Vitomir Mihajlovic said that more than 30,000 Roma left Serbia in the previous period to look for economic asylum in EU countries and seek basic living conditions. He drew attention to the fact that a great many Roma children do not complete elementary education, as well as the high rate of unemployment among the Roma. He appealed that the Roma national minority should take part in the drafting of strategic documents since the Roma, as a population group, have plenty adequate human resources to do so.
He also asked Serbia to tackle the problems of the Roma national community responsibly, stressing that there are no Roma in leadership positions in the local self-governments, or at the level of town and republic governance.
The participants of the sitting then proceeded to discuss Roma women’s issues, inclusion of Roma in the field of housing 2014/15 and employment 2014/15.
On the occasion, the Head of the EU Delegation to Serbia Michael Davenport and the Head of the OSCE Mission to Serbia Peter Burkhard presented 10 computers to the best Roma students.
The sitting was chaired by Committee Chairman Meho Omerovic.
Committees related to this activity
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9.00 - sitting of the Committee on Spatial Planning, Transport, Infrastructure and Telecommunications (National Assembly House, 13 Nikola Pasic Square, hall 3)
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9.20 - press conference of the NEW DSS – POKS (NADA) Parliamentary Group (National Assembly House, 13 Nikola Pasic Square, Central Hall)
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9.30 - sitting of the European Integration Committee (National Assembly House, 13 Nikola Pasic Square, hall 4)
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9.30 - sitting of the Defence and Internal Affairs Committee (National Assembly House, 13 Nikola Pasic Square, hall 2)
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10.00 - press conference of the Ecological Uprising Parliamentary Group (National Assembly House, 13 Nikola Pasic Square, Central Hall)
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10.30 - sitting of the Foreign Affairs Committee (National Assembly House, 13 Nikola Pasic Square, hall 4)
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12.00 - public hearing of the Culture and Information Committee on the topic: Public interview with the proposed candidates for Regulatory Authority for Electronic Media Council members (National Assembly Building, 14 Kralja Milana Street, Small Hall)
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15.00 - sitting of the Culture and Information Committee (National Assembly Building, 14 Kralja Milana Street, Small Hall)
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15.30 - the PFG with Italy, the Holy See and the Sovereign Order of Malta meets with the Italian delegation to the Central European Initiative Parliamentary Dimension (National Assembly House, 13 Nikola Pasic Square, hall 3)
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16.00 - the National Assembly Speaker meets with the Head of the EU Delegation to receive the EC Report on Serbia’s Progress in 2025 (National Assembly House, 13 Nikola Pasic Square, hall 1)
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16.20 - press statements on the delivered EC Report on Serbia’s Progress in 2025 (National Assembly House, 13 Nikola Pasic Square, Central Hall)
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17.00 - press conference of the Green-Left Front – Don’t Let Belgrade D(r)own and Movement of Free Citizens (PSG) – Party of Democratic Action of Sandzak (SDA Sandzak) – Party for Democratic Action (PDD) parliamentary groups (National Assembly House, 13 Nikola Pasic Square, Central Hall)