The regional two-day conference on the rights of Roma, with an emphasis on the use of the Romany language, was held in Gračanica, organized by NGO “Communication for Social Development”.
At the conference it was emphasized that the main objective was to develop and increase the trust between the Roma and other communities, the institutions; the standardization of the Romani language, the preservation of Roma culture and traditions, strengthening individual capacities, increasing opportunities for self-employment.
Vladeta Kostić, Mayor of Gračanica, said that the local government regularly takes steps to improve the situation of the Roma community and other communities.
“We are the only local government which has the Roma language as an official language. I responsibly claim that we employ the largest number of Roma. These jobs are perhaps the hardest and the worst, but the fact is that certain qualifications have to be met and the biggest drawback is the education of Roma. We have opened the Education Centre for Romani children, two interpreters are engaged, but it is the responsibility of parents to insist on the education of their children, and the obligation of local governments to provide support,” said Kostić.
“Switzerland has decided to support this project following the decision of the municipality of Gračanica to introduce Roma language into official use. We started the project with the hope that it might be an example for other institutions,” said at the meeting the Ambassador of Switzerland Jean-Hubert Lebet.
On the first day of the Regional Conference presented was the Roma-Serbian dictionary and there was a discussion about Roma education. The gathering involved activists of Roma organizations from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, FYROM, Serbia and Kosovo.
