The New National Strategy for the social inclusion of the Roma was at the center of the information provided by the competent bodies to the members of the Committees for Equality, Youth and Human Rights and Social Affairs of the Parliament.
The government and the opposition, despite the different political approaches to the necessary actions and solutions to be launched to address the really acute problems of the Roma, agreed that without the active role and reason of the Roma themselves, the goals of the national program will once again remain a “blank letter”.
“The issue of Roma isolation is predominant in the European social agenda”, pointed out the Deputy Minister of Labor and Social Affairs, in charge of welfare and social solidarity Domna Michailidou, noting that “in Greece, despite the interventions that have taken place, especially in recent years “Living conditions for Roma range from poorly tolerated to poor.”
“The number of people living in camps is significantly high, while the participation of children in education is very low and only 8% graduate from schools. Our main goal is for every Roma child to have access to education,” said Ms. Michailidou. .
“The incomes of the vast majority of Roma are below the poverty line and if we add those living on the margins, you understand how imperative it is to integrate them into society and strengthen social cohesion,” she said.
Referring to the New National Strategy for the Roma, she noted that “it is an important step towards the obvious”, adding that “it includes targeted actions with an active role and reason for their implementation”.
“We extended the consultation to listen to proposals, to incorporate them and to be together in this existing and major problem. The importance of all institutions and their trade unions, with certification and funding, was recognized in practice”, concluded Ms. Michailidou .
“The goal of the new national strategy is the equal, active and effective participation of the Roma, in all social, cultural and economic sectors”, underlined the Undersecretary of Civil Protection, Lefteris Oikonomou.
As he said, “our main priority is to support the education of all detainees in penitentiaries, and the Roma, without exception, through employment and training programs.”
“The new actions respond to the great problems of the Roma community, in the context of realistic and cost-effective actions, in order to cultivate a new culture of cooperation. And this effort must be collective. It is a sensitive, complex issue and it must be our obligation.” “all forces should work together to have a positive result”, said Mr. Oikonomou.
“At the moment, the entire Roma population is being registered across the country in order to have a better image and to promote better policies,” said the Secretary General of Social Solidarity and the Fight against Poverty. Of Labor, George Stamatis.
He also stressed that “the national strategy for the Roma lays the foundations for the next steps through the absorption of European funds” while he called on all Roma during the census, “to register, to get certification in order to have access to funding” .
He added that “the OAED program of 14 million euros for young Roma entrepreneurs is currently in progress”.
“We are here for the next day with the Roma and not without them to build the new infrastructure. The Roma are consulted and participate in all the decisions that concern them,” Mr. Stamatis assured.
The Ombudsman Andreas Pottakis, emphasized “unhindered access to all levels and especially to education and social inclusion of Roma”, noting that “the national plan is positive in terms of the explicit commitment to Roma participation and their recognition without discrimination”.
At the same time, he asked “to include in the national plan the foreign Roma living in Greece”, emphasizing that it is a large number that faces acute problems as many of them live for a number of years.
He also spoke about the many positive measures of the national plan, such as “the explicit intention for the Roma themselves to participate in policy-making and the measures to fight poverty and address their social isolation.”
He placed special emphasis on their education, while emphasizing the need for cooperation of the central administration with the Roma, for the supervision and monitoring of the actions.
Spyros Frementitis, Vassilis Pantzos and Costas Paiteris also spoke about the New National Strategy for the Social Inclusion of the Roma from the Observatory for the Advocacy and Defending of the Human Rights of the Roma.
Spyros Frementinis agreed with the views of Mr. Pottakis, pointing out, among other things, that “extreme poverty and marginalization of the Roma are the main causes of delinquent behavior.”
He added that “the most difficult stage is for the Roma community to trust the State to make their reports.”
As he said, as part of a pilot program that was implemented in some Roma areas, 200 reports have been collected, which mainly concern issues of health, housing, employment and discrimination.
Vassilis Pantzos, a representative of the Panhellenic Confederation of Greek Roma, spoke “about the need for cross-party consultation in the preparation of the national plan” noting that “a big gap is identified as no action mentions the active participation of the Panhellenic Confederation”.
“It is necessary for us to participate in order to solve our problems and not to leave the goals a blank slate again,” he added.
Costas Paiteris moved in the same direction, emphasizing that “the representation of the collectivity of gypsy organizations must be strengthened” and added that “in order to solve the problems, political will, cooperation and good mood from all are needed”.
Finally, the chairwoman of the Committee on Youth Equality and Human Rights, Anna Karamanlis, pointed out, among other things, the need for targeted actions and pointed out that “key priorities of the national strategy for Roma are: no household without basic infrastructure and removal of all barriers to education and employment.
SOURCE: ΑΠΕ-ΜΠΕ
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Source From: Capital
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