Roma Information Center to seek progress for minority group's plight
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World Vision in partnership with the Roma community will
create a Roma Information Center in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) as a result of winning a major grant from the US Department of State. This represents a significant step forward in advocacy and human
rights for this needy minority group.
'Finally we have a unique instrument by which the Roma can progress and promote themselves. It will raise their status with the rest of the population and make it more desirable to partner with them. The Roma Council is very pleased because they know World Vision wants to work with them and will invite their full participation,' says Claudia Bade, programs director for World Vision BiH.
The Roma Information Center will be established and owned by the Roma Council, a representative body of Roma in BiH. It will collect positive stories, promote cultural traditions and events, and provide information about the Roma strategy and how people can participate. The Center will open a web page, devise a business plan, publish a newsletter and feed stories to the public media.
Roma have traditionally had weaker government representation in BiH than elsewhere in the region, making the Information Center particularly necessary. This will help the country participate in the European Decade for Roma Inclusion, which fosters development and monitoring in four key areas of education, employment, housing and health.
'We understand the practicalities of working together with the Roma and can be flexible and creative. We are allies and advisors, supporting their efforts as equal partners in one process," says Albert Pancic, who has been leading many of World Vision's ongoing projects in BiH.
'We are not telling them what to do but listening to what matters to them, so they can find solutions for their problems. The most important thing is helping community groups achieve the same voice and contributing to their solidarity.'
'Now we've got a fully rounded, multi-sector program with the Roma,' said Sue Birchmore, national director for World Vision BiH.
'It is a virtual Area Development Program but for a people group scattered all over the country. This is vital for the Roma because they are so marginalised and rarely mentioned positively in the media,' she added.
'Finally we have a unique instrument by which the Roma can progress and promote themselves. It will raise their status with the rest of the population and make it more desirable to partner with them. The Roma Council is very pleased because they know World Vision wants to work with them and will invite their full participation,' says Claudia Bade, programs director for World Vision BiH.
The Roma Information Center will be established and owned by the Roma Council, a representative body of Roma in BiH. It will collect positive stories, promote cultural traditions and events, and provide information about the Roma strategy and how people can participate. The Center will open a web page, devise a business plan, publish a newsletter and feed stories to the public media.
Roma have traditionally had weaker government representation in BiH than elsewhere in the region, making the Information Center particularly necessary. This will help the country participate in the European Decade for Roma Inclusion, which fosters development and monitoring in four key areas of education, employment, housing and health.
'We understand the practicalities of working together with the Roma and can be flexible and creative. We are allies and advisors, supporting their efforts as equal partners in one process," says Albert Pancic, who has been leading many of World Vision's ongoing projects in BiH.
'We are not telling them what to do but listening to what matters to them, so they can find solutions for their problems. The most important thing is helping community groups achieve the same voice and contributing to their solidarity.'
'Now we've got a fully rounded, multi-sector program with the Roma,' said Sue Birchmore, national director for World Vision BiH.
'It is a virtual Area Development Program but for a people group scattered all over the country. This is vital for the Roma because they are so marginalised and rarely mentioned positively in the media,' she added.
[ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not of Reuters. ]