BRATISLAVA, November 22, (WEBNOVINY) — The Office of Government’s Plenipotentiary for Roma Communities is finishing work on National Roma Integration Strategies up to 2020. In the framework of the common EU Roma Platform, Slovakia committed itself to setting domestic goals in the field of Roma-connected education, employment, health care and housing.
“The strategy should be used as a material for the next programming period for the years 2014 to 2020 so that EU funds for projects aimed at integrating the Roma are defined,” Iveta Duchonova from Pollak’s office told SITA news agency. In accordance with the EU Council appeal, Slovakia’s strategies will focus on education, labor and health care with special focus on gender dimension. In the field of education they should provide Roma children access to education including education at early childhood, as well as elementary, high-school and university education with focus on removing segregation in schools, preventing leaving school at too young age and providing successful transit from schools to active work
Part of the prepared National Roma Integration Strategies up to 2020 should be the Revised Action Plan of the Decade of Roma Inclusion 2005 – 2015 for years 2011 to 2015 adopted by the Cabinet. “The issue of dealing with Roma communities is still urgent and substantial, therefore, there is no reason to assume that the future government would not identify with goals set out in the revised action plan on outlining of which the former ruling parties also participated,” underlined Duchonova. The deadline for completing most activities in priority fields such as education, employment, health and housing is scheduled for 2015 so that according to the plenipotentiary’s office there still is enough time to implement them.
SITA
