Albanian Officials Meet to Discuss Strategy Regarding Romani Living Conditions

01 February 2006

According to information of the Tirana-based Romani non-governmental organisation Rromani Baxt, a joint meeting was held in Tirana on September 27 and 28, 2005, by a delegation from the Council of Europe, representatives from the Albanian Government, and a network of Romani NGOs. The meeting was focused on evaluating the outcome of the implementation of the European Framework Convention on the Protection of National Minorities. The second day of the conference scrutinised the National Strategy for the Improvement of the Roma's Living Conditions, drafted and approved in April 2003 by the Albanian government.

Representatives from various ministries involved in the Strategy, including the Ministries of Education, Social Welfare, Health, Culture and Public Affairs, each took the floor to speak about the initiatives of their ministries. Ultimately, representatives pointed to a lack of funding as a main problem, as little money had been budgeted for implementing the strategy. No representative from the Ministry of Finance was present at the meeting.

(Rromani Baxt)