News

National campaign “I do not sell my ballot!” began on June 29. Open Society Institute – Sofia, National Democratic Institute and the Club of Roma alumni, initiates it. In Veliko Turnovo the campaign will be organized by Center Amalipe.   The campaign includes dissemination of special flyers and posters as well as from door-to-door campaign in Roma neighborhoods. It will be organized in Sofia, Veliko Turnovo, Montana, Razgrad, Stara Zagora, Burgas and others. Special press-conference with participation of all organizers announced the campaign....

High drop-out of school rate is one of the main preconditions for social and economic exclusion of Roma people. Children who leave primary schools compose the biggest share of school drop-outs. Almost 99,7 % of the children who should get enrolled at 1st grade do it but only 84 % of them attend 5-8th grade according to the National Statistic Institute. Many of the children who drop-out without obtaining even primary degree are Roma. According to a survey carried out by the Ministry of Education and Science Roma children compose 21 % of the students at first grade and only 7,8...

Rural poverty is an important aspect of European poverty, in particular since rural areas account for a large proportion of European territory and its population. In some Member States the poverty risk in rural areas is double that of urban areas. How to combat the poverty in rural areas discussed politicians, officials from European Commission and the member states, NGO activists, university professors and researchers. This happened during a conference organized by European Commission and the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labour of Hungary that took place on June 11 and 12...

International Conference “The Right to Education for Every Child: Removing Barriers and Fostering Inclusion for Roma Children” took place in Belgrade on June 2 and 3. The conference was organized by UNICEF, World Bank, Roma Education Fund, Ministry of Human and Minority Rights and Ministry of Education of Republic of Serbia and Open Society Fund - Serbia. More than 70 politicians and experts took part in the conference: ministers and representatives of ministries of education of the Roma Inclusion Decade member-states, leaders of UNICEF and REF, activists from leading...

Conference “Roma migration – a European Challenge” brought together Roma and human rights activists from all over Europe, officials and policy-makers from the European Commission. It was organized by European Roma Information Office and International Society for Sustainable Development. The conference took place in Brussels on May 27. In his opening speech Mario Sepi, President of the European Social Committee outlined that there are serious violations of the rights of Roma as European citizens: in education, employment, etc. The inclusion of Roma should be...