On the occasion of April 8, the Network for Systemic and Sustainable Solutions submitted a document - Commitment to the integration of Roma in all spheres of social life to the state leadership of the Republic of Northern Macedonia. During the reception and meetings with the representatives of the Network, they were submitted to the Prime Minister of the Republic of Northern Macedonia, Mr. Zoran Zaev, to the President, Mr. Stevo Pendarovski and to the President of the Macedonian Parliament, Talat Xhaferi.

Read the doccument in PDF format

The commitment itself states:

COMMITMENTS OF THE REPUBLIC OF NORTH MACEDONIA FOR THE INTEGRATION OF ROMA IN ALL SPHERES OF SOCIAL LIFE

Starting from the commitments contained in the Cognitive Declaration accepted by the Prime Ministers of the Western Balkans, including the Republic of North Macedonia on July 5, 2019 to harmonize the policies for Roma inclusion towards the future enlargement of the European Union, we, the CSOs We are committed to concrete changes, such as:

Urgent and necessary action in the following areas:

Employment: Respecting the principle of fair representation and employment of the Roma in the public and state sectors to the proportional rate of participation of Roma in the total population; Additional increase of the employment rate among Roma by at least 25% in Institutions where Roma have a direct need;

Housing: Legalization of all informal settlements by accessing their Roma residences or providing another solution for their dignified housing where they currently live in informal settlements that cannot be legalized due to justified reasons or administrative inefficiency;

Education: Increasing the numbers of Roma children in primary education from which 90% will finish primary education as well as the number of included Roma in secondary education from which 50% will finish with secondary education;

Health: Access to health insurance for Roma of at least 95% or at a rate equal to the rest of the population;

Registry: All Roma to be registered in the registries for personal records.

Nondiscrimination: Strengthening the mechanisms for protection from discrimination and securing legal support for the victims of discrimination, including institutional and hidden discrimination; We firmly believe that the state will use the avaliable data from the Civil and International organizations for creating policies based on evidence for Roma integration and will comply to establish an appropriate mechanism for following and report for the implementation of Roma policies, as well as to keep records of the statistics.

3. Supporting the National Roma Contact Points as a comprehensive mechanism for coordination and implementation of programs as well as ensuring synergy between the line ministries responsible for Roma integration; Development, adoption and implementation of regional standards for participatory budgeting related to Roma integration for targeted policies, use and increase of public budgeting, both centrally and locally, reaching out to Roma communities to achieve the above objectives, using available donor resources, including the Instrument for pre-accession Assistance, to enhance the status of the Roma; Establishment of formal channels and mechanisms for joint involvement of local governments and Roma communities in policy formulation, decision-making, policy implementation and monitoring. Therefore, we call on all, except the state and donors, to continue to support initiatives to improve the situation of Roma by introducing Roma-specific indicators for key measures.

Network for Systemic Changes

Coordinator: Zoran DImov

Members:

1. Association Initiative for Social Changes InSoC - Skopje
2. Association for Roma Rights - Stip
3. Association Roma Business Informative Center of Macedonia - ARBICM - Skopje
4. National Roma Center - NRC - Kumanovo
5. Women Organization - Stip
6. Roma Progress - Skopje
7. Roma Organization of Women of Macedonia - Daja - Kumanovo
8. Roma Tear - Prilep
9. Roma Educative Center - Umbrella - Skopje
10. Humanitarian and Charity Association of Roma Mesechina - Gostivar
11. Center for Development of the Roma Community “Bairska Svetlina” - Bitola

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