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Working Group will be established to build a strategy on the inclusion of the Roma integration issue into the National Development Program  ‘Bulgaria 2020’, as well as in the Operational Programs and the Rural Development Program for the next programming period and to carry  out a strategic overview and monitoring of the implementation of integrated actions/measures  in support of Roma integration. The Group will be led by Tomislav Donchev, Minister for Management of EU Funds. Deputy-Ministers in charge of the Management of OP ‘Human Resource Development’, OP ‘Regional Development’, the Rural Development Program, the NCCEII, as well as NGO representatives will be members of the group. In this way, integrated intervention measures for conducting the Roma integration policy and, more specifically, for implementing the National Strategy for Roma Integration will be planned and financially supported.

These plans have been the focus of the Working Group preliminary meeting held on the 3rd of November 2011. The meeting was attended by the Minister Tomislav Donchev, the Deputy-Minister Deyana Kostadinova, the Deputy-Minister Petya Evtimova, persons in charge of the Management of OPHRD, OPRD and RDP, Georgi Krustev (NCCEII), members of NGOs (Center for Interethnic Dialogue and Tolerance AMALIPE – Veliko Turnovo, ‘World without Borders’Association – Stara Zagora, ‘New Way’ Association – Hayredin, ‘Roma – Lom”, C.E.G.A. Foundation, Open Society Institute, the Roma Education Fund.

All participants supported the establishment of the Working Group and discussed its format and initial priority fields of work. As a commitment of the forthcoming meeting a reporting on residual funds from different programs within the current programming period has been envisioned  and a plan will be drafted on how to allocate them to activities targeting the Roma. With regard to the National Strategy for Roma Integration  under development, fund planning in terms of the next programming period will be carried out.

Deyan Kolev laid out the major conclusions from the conferences already held in the last two weeks in the towns Sliven, StaraZagora, Vratza and Lom, as well as a draft plan for Actions/Programs financed from the EU or the State Budget in support of the National Strategy for Roma Integration implementation. The aforementioned plan will be discussed in the next few days to be integrated in the National Strategy.