News

The National Council for Roma Integration took its session on November 30. Deputy Minister of Labor Valentina Simeonova, the National Coordinator for the Decade of Roma Inclusion Milen Milanov, the Deputy Chair of the National Council for Cooperation on Ethnic and Demographic Issues Georgi Krastev and representatives of tens of Roma NGOs took part in the session.
We should draw certain steps to guarantee that the documents for integration will be implemented in practice, said Deputy Minister Simeonova in her opening speech. She underlined that Roma integration is impossible without active participation of Roma organizations. Through the changes in the Internal Regulations of the Council of Ministers from September the coordination of Roma integration policy is delegated to the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy. The Minister of Labor Mr. Mladenov gave mandate to the National Coordinator Milen Milanov to take the important decisions in this field, said Mrs. Simeonova.
Analysis of the implementation of National Action Plan for the Decade of Roma Inclusion in 2009, actualizing the Framework Program for Roma Integration and the National Action Plan, changes in the internal regulations of the Council for Roma Inclusion were the main topics discussed during the session.
We need to have the Council for Roma Integration as body that consults in advance all important decisions in the field of Roma integration in a way similar to those that the Council for Social Cooperation consults the decisions in the social field, said Deyan Kolev. To achieve this we need clear and even strong criteria for membership that would guarantee the participation of organizations with expertise and real activity in the operational work of the Council. To attract smaller and less active organizations we do not need to make them regular members: the Council could organize extended assembly once a year it order to guarantee their participation too, explained Kolev. Stronger criteria for membership were required also by Nikolay Kirilov, G. Krastev, and others.
The participants discussed how to renew the Framework Program for Equal Integration of Roma in Bulgarian Society and the National Action Plan for the Decade of Roma Inclusion. There is an inflation of documents for integration – many documents and no implementation, said Nikolay Kirilov. Deyan Kolev pointed that during the previous year significant efforts for preparing draft of a renewed Framework Program and National Action Plan were undertaken. Tens of Roma organizations took part in this process and prepared integral draft but it was not approved by the previous leadership of the National Council for Cooperation on Ethnic and Demographic Issues because of it lacked political will to foster Roma integration process. He proposed the renewed version of the Framework Program and the National Action Plan to be based on this draft and the process to be finished as soon as possible.
At the end of the session two working groups were formed. The first one would propose new internal regulations for the Council for Roma Integration. The second group would propose drafts for Framework Program for Roma Integration and National Action Plan for the Decade of Roma Inclusion. These drafts would be presented for approval to the Council of Ministers. This should be done before the end of 2009, said Milen Milanov.