Press statement | 07.04.2017

International Roma Day

The Ombudsmen of Bosnia and Herzegovina congratulate to all Roma 8th April, International Roma Day, and remind the authorities, institutions, health and educational institutions, as well as the official registers of Bosnia and Herzegovina, not just today, but every day there is a need to keep help to protect the rights of our largest national minority.

The Ombudsmen observed that in recent years in Bosnia and Herzegovina took place significant progress aimed to ensuring enjoyment of the Roma rights and their inclusion in society, which primarily required establishment of a legislative and institutional framework. However, the Ombudsmen point that it is still necessary to actively work on improvement of the situation of Roma in the areas of employment, housing, health care, education and all forms of involvement in community, social, cultural and political currents of life.

The Ombudsmen state that is necessary to continue with the implementation of measures that have been established in accordance with the obligations Bosnia and Herzegovina has in relation to the Decade of Roma and undertaking a revision of these measures in relation to the recent recommendations of the UN reporting body, and strengthen cooperation between the state, entity, cantonal and local levels authorities and Roma associations for the purpose of joint action on the issue of implementation of strategic documents on the situation of Roma.

The Ombudsmen particularly emphasize that the competent institutions must ensure that each person of Roma national minority has an identification document which is a prerequisite for realization of all other rights. It is necessary to pay special attention to the education of Roma children by ensuring consistency in the implementation of the Action Plan for the Roma including provision of free textbooks, transportation to school, raising awareness among Roma about the importance of education, but also to raise awareness among teachers about the need for stronger action to integrate Roma children in education in order to eliminate prejudices that exist and prevent any form of discrimination against them.

Ombudsmen urge the authorities of all levels of government to support projects aimed at better information of Roma in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and to consider the possibilities for a stronger involvement of public radio and television broadcasters that are supposed to play a key role in raising awareness on Roma rights and elimination of all forms of discrimination against them in the society, as well as to support the Roma in the further strengthening of their self-organization.

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We are protecting rights of natural persons and legal entities in accordance with the Constitution of BiH and international human rights instruments...
Ombudsmen of BiH

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