Today, the Roma Women Fund Chiricli and the Council of Europe Roma and Travellers Team held the Forum of Roma Political Participation in Ukraine. The meeting gathered participants from Kyiv, Chernihiv, Zaporizhzhia, Kreminna, Uzhhorod and Odesa, representatives from the Ukrainian Parliament and from the Council of Europe.
Ms Aurora Ailincai, Deputy Head of Roma and Travellers Team, opened the meeting underlining that the rights to political participation and representation are fundamental civil rights. She recalled the 1995 Council of Europe's Framework Convention on National Minorities which is a key instrument for political participation of minorities. She raised attention to the fact that "the political participation of Roma communities and their presence in public services and as elected officials, particularly at local level, does not reflect the demographic weight of the Roma communities”. She added that “Moreover, the generation change, which includes a growing number of Roma with solid educational qualifications, an emerging awareness and a renewed vision of community leadership and organisation, does not yet translate directly into the presence of Roma in the political sphere".
Ms Yelyzaveta Yasko – Member of the Ukrainian Parliament, Head of the Ukrainian Delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe reiterated her support to Roma citizens in Ukraine. She stated that "drawing up ID documents, ensuring the right to education, protecting the rights of women and children, fostering a culture of tolerance and interethnic dialogue, joint cultural projects and collaborations are the simple and clear solutions that Roma need right now". She asserted that "Roma voice is among the highlights of my cultural initiative Yellow Blue Strategy (YBS) and the voice of Ukraine".
Mr Marcos Andrade, the Coordinator of the Roma Political Schools in the Council of Europe, pointed out that "Roma participation is at the heart of various programmes and activities of the Council of Europe such as the International Roma Women Conference going for its 8th edition in 2021, the Dialogue meetings with Roma Civil Society, or Joint programmes between the Council of Europe and the European Union such as ROMACTED and ROMACT where the political engagement of Roma in defining local policies and actions are active through more than 200 Municipalities in Europe."
Mr Yulian Kondur – the Project Coordinator at the International Charitable Organization Roma Women Fund Chiricli, presented the results of the Roma political school in Ukraine, and the participation and experience in the local elections in 2020. 45 Roma participated in the training and mentoring activities of this year's Roma Political School in Ukraine, many of which are young women and men. 25 Roma ran in local elections with 10 getting elected.
These positive trends in the participation of Roma, are concrete results of the implementation of the Council of Europe's Strategic Action Plan for Roma and Travellers Inclusion (2020-2025).
