TIRANA, April 10 – Last week like everywhere else in the world Albania also celebrated the International Roma Day.
Exploiting the situation and the activity OSCE Ambassador Eugen Wollfarth called on all members of the Roma community to exercise their democratic right to vote in the local government elections, scheduled for 8 May.
He emphasized the importance the community’s participation in the election process: “Local government elections on 8 May mark an ideal opportunity for the Roma community to be represented at the local government level. To achieve this, full and broad participation in the electoral process is key, because their vote and their voice matters.”
“Support from authorities of all levels to help ensure that Roma participate in the voting process would be a tangible and strong sign of public goodwill and commitment to modern democratic principles,” he said.
“It is essential to ensure the fullest public participation of the Roma community in all decision making that affects their lives. We fully support the development of public policies and the implementation of national strategies for Roma with Roma, as provided for by the OSCE Action Plan on Improving the Situation of Roma and Sinti Within the OSCE Area. It is important to eradicate discrimination against Roma and to ensure equal opportunities, in line with OSCE commitments.”
Wollfarth also said that the OSCE would be ready to support the efforts of both state institutions and Roma organizations towards their further integration in society as part of the wider European integration process.
Head of the Contact Point on Roma and Sinti Issues of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) Andrzej Mirga called on OSCE States to make use of censuses as a way to improve data on Europe’s Roma.
He stressed that without at least basic information on Roma populations, such as their numbers and places of residence, it is difficult to develop successful integration strategies. At the same time, better demographic data can also serve to empower Roma in their collective efforts to claim their rights as citizens.
The Roma population in Europe continues to face discrimination and exclusion from mainstream society, as well as hate-motivated violence and other crimes.
Lack of reliable data has long been identified as one of the obstacles for policy design and monitoring the results of integration programmes. Better census data can help close this gap.
