REGIONAL PROGRAM
FOR THE INTEGRATION OF ETHNIC MINORITIES
REGION OF VRATZA
ASPECTS OF ROMA CURRENT
SITUATION
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GENERAL
Full integration of ethnic
minorities into Bulgarian society is directly dependent on creating conditions
for protection of individual civil rights. The strategic objective of the
Program is to eliminate unequal treatment of minorities in Bulgarian society.
There are several minority groups (Turks, Tartars, Armenians, Jews and
Roma) on the territory of the region of Vratza.
The group of citizens of
Roma self-identification is the largest ethnic group that is permanently
settled in the region of Vratza.
Surveys, conducted by municipal
administrations, municipal social assistance centers, employment bureaus
and inquires into the educational, social and demographic status of Roma
population in the region of Vratza, underlie the macro framework of the
ethnic group with Roma self-identification and its problems respectively.
The total number of ethnic Roma is about 25 000 and unevenly distributed
in the 11 municipalities of the region of Vratza. There are compact groups
in the municipalities of Kozlodui, Knezha, Oriahovo, Biala Slatina and
Borovan. Unemployment among active Roma population accounts for 80 percent.
Paradoxically, 12 244 of those unemployed are with primary and basic education.
This ethnic group needs to be better qualified and educated which will
enable it to compete more successfully in the labor market in the process
of restructuring of the market economy. Roma have difficulty implementing
business activities since they feel depressed and rejected by the environment.
This makes more difficult their integration into a democratizing society.
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Deplorable, at times inhuman
housing conditions, tending to worsen.
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Difficulty keeping Roma identity
in such conditions.
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Need for recognition rather
than criticism. At the height of the present-day problems and difficulties
in most towns and villages Roma have been forgotten. They have been held
on the periphery of political and economic life.
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Roma are oftentimes stigmatized
and their cultural characteristics are not recognized. Romantic cliches
by no means contribute to positive image making. This applies also to negative
stereotypes that represent Roma people as beggars and outcasts.
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Many publications create a negative
image of the Roma community.
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EMPLOYMENT
AND BUSINESS ACTIVITY
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Roma people find it difficult
to change their qualification and adapt to the on-going changes in business.
Roma traditional crafts shoud not be discouraged – there is still future
for them.
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Heaviest physical work is often
given to Roma.
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There is a significant lack
of vocational education. More Roma need to be admitted to re-qualification
institutions since issuance of work permits may depend on the level of
education.
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HEALTH
CARE
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Life span of Roma is short.
The number of old people is decreasing while infant mortality is increasing.
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Many chronic diseases (of the
respiratory and digestive systems) are stalking the Roma community. Roma
access to both health institutions and health insurance systems is problematic.
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Occurrence of famine, drug abuse,
smoking, unhealthy conditions and life styles is high among Roma.
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EDUCATION
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Conditions for receiving education
are usually difficult. The educational system pays no serious attention
to Roma and therefore their level of illiteracy is very high – 90 percent
of the adult population and 16 percent of all Roma.
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Preschool education is almost
missing.
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Rejection and isolation of Roma
children is a common phenomenon in the class room.
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Many children are either not
registered or though registered they do not go to school.
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SOCIAL
POLICY
First and foremost, it is
an indisputable fact that of all ethnic communities who live in the region
of Vratza nowadays, Roma are undoubtedly in the worst social and economic
position. The highest percentage of unemployed belongs to people who have
no regular labor contracts, no regular jobs. They represent about 16 percent
of the total figure of unemployment in the region of Vratza which is 24
percent. The 8 percent difference is shared by the representatives of the
other ethnic communities.
In addition to the highest
number of unemployed, to the Roma community there also belong the people
who have no savings, who depend on irregular social assistance payments
and clan and family credits that cannot cover the subsistence level in
this period of transition and restructuring of social, economic and political
life in this country.
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Provide access to safety net
mechanisms.
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Encourage willingness to take
part in citizens’ initiatives aiming at improving living conditions of
Roma.
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Motivate Roma intellectuals
by directly involving them in the state administration.
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Improve social climate for co-existence
of ethnic communities.
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Support Roma private and public
organizations, non-profit organizations and local governments in coordinating
their efforts to achieve common goals.
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PROGRAM
OBJECTIVES
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Enable self-identified ethnic
minorities to take part in all processes relating to their own development
and social status: in the areas of economy, culture, education and social
and political life.
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Promote the positive image of
ethnic minorities.
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Create prerequisites for desegregation
of various ethnic communities and thus involve them more actively in all
aspects of social, economic and political life in the region of Vratza.
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Create conditions and prerequisites
for promotion of small and family Roma businesses jointly with the state
institutions on the basis of alternative employment programs and projects.
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Breathe new life into traditional
crafts connected with life styles and culture of ethnic minorities.
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Equal treatment of people belonging
to minority ethnic communities when their statute and self-identification
is determined.
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Create conditions for training
representatives of Roma intelligentsia and appointing them in central and
municipal administrations.
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Improve living conditions of
socially and economically underprivileged minority groups and provide social
assistance.
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Eliminate any form of racial
discrimination with the assistance and direct involvement of the executive.
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Contribute to sustainable development
of Roma population by ensuring the equal right of men and women to the
enjoyment of their rights, responsibilities, access to information, decision
making both in the family and in social, cultural, economic and sports
life by creating partnerships at all levels.
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Raise living standards of Roma
population in the region through charity and other social activities.
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DEVELOPMENT
AND IMPLEMENTATION OF THE PROGRAM
UNDERLYING PRINCIPLES
The main underlying principle
is equal treatment of all Bulgarian citizens irrespective of their age,
sex, religion or ethnic affiliation.
Voluntary involvement of
all Bulgarian citizens on the territory of the region.
Continuous and responsible
involvement of all participants in the program during its time of action.
Taking into account specific
characteristics and lifestyles of indigenous population in projects for
territorial development and social and technical infrastructure.
Involvement and monitoring
of non-governmental organizations over development and implementation of
the program.
Making use of bids and tenders
to provide funds for the program. |
ORGANIZATION
Establishing a Regional
Ethnic and Demographic Council in each regional center and making it a
competent and representative partner will facilitate the Council’s contacts
with local government and contribute to the implementation of the National
Framework Program for the Integration of Minorities in this country on
equal footing. Therefore, emphasis should be laid on broad participation
of activists of the ethnic groups based in the region – the intelligentsia,
leaders of non-governmental organizations and business associations should
work in partnership with local administrations to identify and resolve
ethnic minority problems. The Regional Ethnic and Demographic Council will
provide advice and work for coordination of activities between state authorities
and non-governmental organizations in order to implement the national policy
for the integration of ethnic minorities; it will support regionally significant
projects of non-governmental organizations in the areas of ethnic relations,
demographic policy and migration processes. |
Two CONTACT
GROUPS are set up
CONTACT GROUP OF THE
MINORITY COMMUNITIES
It includes:
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Roma non-governmental organizations
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Interest clubs
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Other ethnic groups
CONTACT GROUP OF THE BULGARIAN
COMMUNITY
It includes:
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All municipal departments related
to the implementation of the program
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Social welfare
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Regional directorate of home
affairs
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Non-governmental organizations
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Political parties
The two contact groups set up
a WORKING GROUP with representation ratio of 1:1. |
JOINT
WORKING
GROUP
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Organizes a regional round table
to discuss the Regional program for the integration of ethnic minorities,
introduces the amendments made by the round table and prepares a plan for
program implementation.
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Submits the ready program to
the mayor of the municipality who submits it for consideration to the Municipal
Council.
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Prepares draft regulations of
the Public Council.
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Elects the members of the Public
Council.
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PUBLIC
COUNCIL
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Consists of representatives
of the two groups in 1:1 ratio.
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Elects the Managing team of
the Regional Program for the Integration of Ethnic Minorities and the Supervisory
Council.
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Monitors and coordinates the
activities of the Managing team.
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Maintains data base on the implementation
of the program.
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SUPERVISORY
COUNCIL
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Monitors the activities of the
Managing team.
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Reports only to the Public Council.
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MANAGING
TEAM
The two contact groups with
1:1 representation ratio set up a working commission on the separate parts
of the Regional Program for the Integration of Ethnic Minorities. It fixes
the deadlines for reports and projects to be prepared by representatives
of minority communities and Bulgarian experts, specifying the minority
problems on regional level. The involvement of the municipality and its
departments guarantees the quality of the Regional Program for the Integration
of Ethnic Minorities. The public relations person collects information
about the overall work of the Managing team in all seven areas of the program.
AREAS OF ACTION OF
THE REGIONAL PROGRAM FOR
THE INTEGRATION OF
ETHNIC MINORITIES
POLICY FOR
PROMOTION OF EMPLOYMENT AND REDUCTION OF UNEMPLOYMENT AMONG YOUNG PEOPLE
WHO BELONG TO VARIOUS ETHNIC COMMUNITIES
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Local and regional authorities
agree to introduce employment programs on economic and social level, or
help such programs to be introduced, with all the appropriate means at
their disposal in order to fight against one of the factors which determines
social inactivity of young people.
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Promotion of youth employment
in the following areas:
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partnership with the school
system and the vocational education institutions in order to fight against
poor performance in education;
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establishment of local centers
for specialist assistance to young people encountering severe problems
to find a job for lack of vocational training, qualification or obstacles
of social or family nature;
-
encouragement of young people
planning to start a small business or a cooperative by providing premises,
equipment, financial and business advice;
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support to projects promoting
voluntary labor as an alternative means of social integration of unemployed,
diversification of training programs for unemployed and active forms of
youth involvement in communal and regional environment;
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in view of the building of a
united Europe, municipal and regional authorities declare their support
to associations or groups working for youth mobility by developing exchange
projects for young workers or students and exchange networks to assist
them;
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support to youth organizations,
associations and clubs which are a significant element of the social environment
on local level and particularly those dealing with the problems of underprivileged
young people through contractual assistance, tax reliefs, training and
education.
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“CULTURE
AND EDUCATION”
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Local and regional authorities
are committed within their competence to adopt curricula that encourage
young people to participate adequately in school life and related activities
such as out-of-school forms and exchange of pupils/students.
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Local and regional authorities
who have the competence to design the school and education programs agree
that young people of different cultural and ethnic background can be elected
members of advisory bodies on school curricula and education activities.
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Promotion of activities, related
to preparation and implementation of pedagogical projects, designed to
assist Roma children to acquire the compulsory minimum education.
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Favorable conditions for Roma
children to continue their education in order to graduate high school or
receive a university degree.
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Promotion of ethnographic studies
of the minority groups who live in the region of Vratza in order to determine
their ethnic identity and preserve their indigenous cultural values.
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Support to Roma cultural initiatives
and popularization of their folklore and arts.
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Education programs for initiation
of the process of qualification and re-qualification of young people between
the ages of 18 and 20 and of adult Roma.
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“SOCIAL POLICY”
Assist the access of Roma
community to the safety net mechanisms:
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popularize the safety net systems
and the criteria for application;
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coordinate the activities of
public and private institutions involved in the implementation of the safety
net;
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implement programs for the Roma
population with the coordinated effort of central and local government;
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organize charity and public
assistance campaigns for the poorest strata of the Roma community;
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achieve the optimum level of
involvement of Roma community in all the processes which determine Roma
living conditions and social realization;
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stimulate willingness to participate
in citizens’ initiatives to improve the living conditions of Roma and in
the organization of the non-government sector;
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stimulate Roma intelligentsia
to be directly involved in state institutions, social assistance centers,
local administrations and alternative forms of citizens’ participation
in order to support the process of Roma integration;
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improve social climate for co-existence
of Roma and other ethnic groups by:
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launching special campaigns
to support interethnic and intercultural co-existence, mutual respect and
understanding of the values of other cultures;
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improving the media image of
Roma community and overcoming discriminatory ethnic stereotypes in society;
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promoting organizations which
stimulate social and cultural life, rescue young people from isolation
and give them the chance to control their own lives and focus on the problems
which are most significant for them.
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ECONOMIC
DEVELOPMENT AND ENVIRONMENT
The priority of this area
is to establish lasting partnerships with representatives of industrial
enterprises, private municipal companies and organizations in the non-profit
sector to support the building of an efficient system of cooperation with
the view of finding or creating jobs:
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construction and repair works
as a potential source of employment;
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giving land to poor Roma families,
possessing some or no land, to create prerequisites for reduction of unemployment
and promotion of small and middle businesses of Roma who have been hit
hard by the economic crisis;
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participation in alternative
employment programs by preparing priority projects;
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securing employment for unemployed
persons through employment associations, reduction of municipal level of
unemployment by securing temporary and alternative employment for workers
in productions under restructuring, support to local governments for restructuring,
privatization and socially useful projects;
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programs for creation of additional
jobs and securing of temporary employment for unemployed persons in environmental
and afforestation projects;
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organized cleaning and maintenance
of Roma neighborhoods as a form of securing temporary employment and reduction
of municipal budgetary costs;
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training courses for both unemployed
and employed persons to acquire qualification, re-qualification and additional
qualification;
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expending business opportunities
for Roma women who live in the town of Vratza and crating conditions for
directly involving them in the regional policy for economic development.
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POLICY OF SOCIAL WELFARE
AND HEALTH CARE
To promote preparation and
implementation of projects, initiated by young people, which are in line
with both the health doctrine and the dynamics of modern life, local and
regional authorities are committed to set up and develop a system of institutions
for conducting consultations among youth organizations of all social and
professional groups, or their elected representatives, concerned to improve
health care.
Faced with the problem of
drug and alcohol abuse and smoking, local and regional authorities together
with representatives of youth non-profit organizations set up, develop
and popularize local information and advisory centers in order to help
young people, affected by this problem, as well as special programs for
training of young social workers, volunteers and leaders of organizations,
dealing with prevention and rehabilitation strategies in this area.
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Campaigns for vaccination programs,
family planning and against prostitution.
Young people are faced with
a series of economic, professional and cultural obstacles relating to their
sexual and family life. Local and regional authorities support the establishment
of centers for family planning and sexual education.
In view of the growing number
of sexually transmitted diseases, local and regional authorities agree
to promote awareness campaigns and prevention measures directed to young
people and thus to create a spirit of solidarity in the community social
relations where there is no room for moralizing and segregation.
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Promotion of sanitary control
in Roma neighborhoods.
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Stimulation of Roma to participate
in programs for health education.
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Comprehensive health insurance
program.
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INTEGRATION
Involvement of representatives
of non-profit organizations in discussion of problems and in actions undertaken
jointly with young people, and not only designed for them, and of representatives
of local and regional authorities can help young people not only get on
their legs and take a sober view of things but also become adequate citizens
in their municipality or region. Integration will help ethnic minorities
cope with the conflicting trends of democratization of modern society,
anonymity and alienation on the one hand and lack of community spirit and
willingness to change the existing negative stereotype, on the other hand.
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Intercultural and interethnic
initiatives
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Involvement of Roma in different
forms of social and political life in this country.
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Regional round tables with active
involvement of the mass media in order to promote public awareness of ethnic
minority problems.
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ROMA WOMEN
Municipal and regional authorities
are determined to keep their commitment to improve the conditions for equal
involvement of men and women in communal and regional life and in particular
to pursue a policy of helping young Roma women gain access to responsible
positions in political organizations, associations and local governments.
To support the policy of
equality of men and women, municipal and regional authorities undertake
actions to enable women to receive information about training courses and
how to get professional qualification, stimulate them to acquire professional
skills by providing gratuitous financial support, assistance and training
courses so that women can have better positions in the labor market.
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Train women to perform leadership
functions by assigning high responsibilities to them on the basis of job
quotas for women.
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Stimulate access of Roma women
to secondary and higher education by providing grants and assistance of
social workers and pedagogical teams.
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Increase the forms of direct
involvement of Roma women in projects for joint training as a means of
gradual elimination of the different forms of discrimination.
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FINANCIAL
PLAN
The financial plan includes
a breakdown of the funds for the implementation of the program and the
funding sources.
Financing of the Regional
Program for the Integration of Ethnic Minorities can be organized from
bottom upwards, i.e. financing of all 7 areas in line with the National
Framework Program which includes 8 priorities. The members of the Managing
team may provide funds for the program from:
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Joint projects in the areas
of action of the program, financed by non-government organizations;
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Joint projects for alternative
employment;
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Joint projects, financed by
state funds;
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Joint projects, financed by
national and foreign donors;
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The regional economy.
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CONCLUSION
The methods of producing
regional minority ethnic programs have proved to be inspiring and promising.
With their help there can be created real opportunities to find jobs for
members of risk groups.
The new model of Roma community
attitude to the institutions of state power, perceivable in the comprehensive
program for the development of Roma in the region, is a clear proof of
a successful interaction in the area of state management and planning.
The adoption of the Regional
Program for the Integration of Ethnic Minorities by the Municipal Council
is an official recognition of the existence of ethnic minority problems
in the region. The adoption of this new model facilitates the process of
integration of ethnic minorities and is in synchrony with Bulgarian social
and political elite’s endeavor to put into effect the Framework Convention
for the Protection of National Minorities of the Council of Europe and
a part of the national policy of the Republic of Bulgaria for Euro-integration
and accession to the EU.
Local governments need partners
from the ethnic minority groups so as to be able to settle social and economic
problems generated by the very existence of these groups in society. |
