Today is World Roma Day

On the occasion of April 8, World Roma Day, the Ministry of Human Rights and Refugees of Bosnia and Herzegovina sends congratulations to all Roma in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the world, reports the BiH news agency Patria.

- Bosnia and Herzegovina is intensively working on building a multi-ethnic and democratic state, respecting the human rights of all citizens and minorities, including Roma as the most numerous and most vulnerable national minority.
By adopting the Strategy of Bosnia and Herzegovina for solving the problems of Roma, adopted by the Council of Ministers in 2005, our country has committed to improving the position of the Roma population and assisting their faster integration into society.
On December 11, 2013, in addition to the existing Action Plan of Bosnia and Herzegovina for solving the problems of Roma in the areas of employment, housing, and healthcare from 2008, the Council of Ministers also adopted the Revised Action Plan of Bosnia and Herzegovina for solving the problems of Roma in the areas of employment, housing, and healthcare 2013 – 2016, in the drafting of which a large number of Roma representatives and representatives of competent ministries, entity, cantonal, and municipal representatives were involved.
Implementing the Revised Action Plan, Bosnia and Herzegovina faces a significant task in order to improve and enhance the living conditions of this minority community in BiH in the most adequate way, ensure a higher employment rate for Roma representatives, provide them with better housing conditions, and ensure basic healthcare for all Roma members.

On the initiative of the Ministry of Human Rights and Refugees of BiH, competent authorities in BiH have been allocating funds annually since 2009 in the amount of around 3 million KM intended for solving the problems of Roma.
In this regard, with the financial resources allocated for these years, significant and measurable results have been achieved in the segment of construction/reconstruction of Roma houses, infrastructure has been built and/or improved, a considerable number of members of the Roma minority community in BiH have been employed through approved programs for Roma employment, and significant efforts and financial resources have been invested in improving healthcare for Roma in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina approved the amount of 2,687,000.00 KM in 2014 exclusively for the needs of Roma in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Bosnia and Herzegovina is also an active member country of the "Roma Inclusion Decade 2005 – 2015" process, which includes 12 countries from the region. As of July 1, 2014, Bosnia and Herzegovina presided over the "Roma Inclusion Decade 2005 – 2015" process.