OSCE: European Network of Elected Roma Officials created
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From: MINELRES moderator <[email protected]>
Date: Sat, 2 Dec 2000 11:35:08 +0200 (EET)
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Subject: OSCE: European Network of Elected Roma Officials created
From: MINELRES moderator <[email protected]>
Original sender: Felix Corley <[email protected]>
OSCE: European Network of Elected Roma Officials created
------- Forwarded Message Follows -------
From: "Ms. Florence Le Clezio" <[email protected]>
Organization: OSCE Secretariat
Date: Fri, 1 Dec 2000 17:25:05 +0100
EUROPEAN NETWORK OF ELECTED
ROMA OFFICIALS CREATED AT OSCE
MEETING IN PRAGUE
Prague, 1 December 2000 - The first ever meeting of elected Roma
officials resulted in the creation of a European network of
parliamentarians, mayors and local councillors of Romani origin.
"We hope that the establishment of this network will facilitate
co-operation and exchange of experiences and information among Roma
politicians", said Ambassador Gerard Stoudmann, the Director of the
OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, which
organized the meeting together with the Czech Ministry of Foreign
Affairs. "This can also be an important step towards overcoming the
pervasive political fragmentation within the Roma communities in
Europe."
The meeting provided a first opportunity for the close to 100
participants from mostly Central and Eastern European countries to
exchange experiences and discuss strategies to improve the
participation of Roma in the political life of the countries they live
in. With only five members of parliament, some 20 mayors and about
400 local councillors, the Roma are still vastly underrepresented in
public office across Europe, although they constitute significant
minorities in many countries.
As another result of the conference, it was decided to
institutionalize the discussion initiated by the meeting through the
establishment of an expert working group, which was tasked to develop
concrete guidelines for the implementation of the recommendations made
during the meeting.
For further information contact Jens-Hagen Eschenb=E4cher,
OSCE/ODIHR Public Affairs Officer at +48-22-5200600 or
+48-603683122 (mobile).
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