Roma Democratic Development Association „ Sonce “

NGO activism in our organization - Paper based on theory and practice (1998 - 2009).Writen by Nadir Redzepi

Due to the long period of activism, the NGO sector in Macedonia became a common segment in our every day life. Being the third pillar in the system, it increasingly enforces its role and influence in the democratic processes. With the establishment and development of this sector, the dynamics of affairs contributed to a stage of crossroad where many organizations and activists needed to decide about the ways and the path of their future actions in this field. However, this
does not mean that all past years were enough to make the necessary conditions for mature actions in this sector in terms of future modeling and profiling. At this point, there is an initial base for thoughts about the next possible directions and challenges in the NGO activism in our country with the purpose of making it a relevant factor in the society.

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Administrator 18.12.2009

Statement made by Nadir Redzepi at the UN Council of Human Rights, 2nd forum on minority issues 12-13 2009 November Geneva

The Decade of Roma Inclusion in February 2010 is entering its second implementation stage. In almost five years of informal coordination among states there is still need for accumulation of institutional knowledge and systemic approach in addressing Roma needs. The political participation of Roma is not included within the 4 Decade priority areas as many governments and donor agencies still believe that Roma issues are mostly of human rights and social
exclusion type....

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Administrator 18.11.2009

Statement made by Alexandra Bojadzieva at the UN Council of Human Rights, 2nd forum on minority issues 12-13 November Geneva

Although Roma in Macedonia have been represented and are still represented in the political life, effective and meaningful participation is a challenge.

At the moment Roma have one member of the Macedonian Parliament, one Minister without Portfolio in charge of the Roma targeting policies, and several high position political representatives within the ministries and other public bodies.

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Administrator 18.11.2009

Report Examines Institutional Setup for Roma Policy in Six Decade Countries

A new report from the Roma Democratic Development Association SONCE of Macedonia examines the institutional structures, mechanisms and procedures related to Roma issues in six countries participating in the Decade of Roma Inclusion: Croatia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Macedonia, Serbia and Slovakia. The report, based on a series of workshops held to exchange experiences and best practices, intends to contribute to a better understanding of Decade implementation and its challenges. It describes established state structures, the extent of government communication with Roma, and Roma participation, both formal and informal, in designing, implementing and monitoring current policies related to Roma.

The report concludes by describing several examples of good practices as well as areas where there is a need for improvement. Among its findings, for example, are that the Decade has been a weak tool for international coordination—mainly because Decade countries use different approaches and began addressing the problems of Roma at different times—and that the Decade has insufficiently attracted the participation of municipal authorities.

The report, available at right, was prepared with support from the Decade Trust Fund.

Download the report on:
http://www.romadecade.org/portal/downloads/News/Report%20-%20Decade%20Institut ional%20Setup%20-%20FINAL. pdf

Administrator 28.08.2009

Written statements made by Nadir Redzepi to OSCE

Ladies and gentleman,

I use the opportunity to inform you that Macedonia is doing giant steps to approach European Union. As a candidate country since 2005, the government of Macedonia is making efforts to address the problems of corruption, introduces police and judiciary reforms, and many other social and economic reforms in order to accelerate its road towards EU. The implementation of Romani policies is also progressing well, especially within the Decade frame, where Macedonia has moved from 7th to 3rd place, out of nine countries. One of the supporting arguments for this is that if you visit Macedonia you will not see children and women begging on the streets.
Recently the Law on begging is adopted according to which begging is banned. Majority of the population in Macedonia is now living in peace and security because they are protected with law from beggars. After the law was adopted social workers with police support started action of picking up the beggars from the streets and other public places

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Letter to MEPs

Dear Presidents of Political groups in the European Parliament, Regarding the debate on European Roma Strategy that appears on your agenda of the forthcoming January plenary session in Strasbourg , we would kindly appreciate your highest attention on the following points:

• The European Roma Strategy is a necessity as well as priority for the European Union especially after the events that took place in Italy last year. Such strategy should serve the EU as an instrument for prevention of similar developments in other EU member states;

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EC Progress Reports on Western Balkans Countries Rewiev from the Perspective of Minority Rights

On the 6 th of November 2007 Macedonian Prime Minister became a father.But, Macedonian media almost ignored the news. The focus was on the EC Progress Report on Macedonia published the same day. Newspaper headings as “Bravo for the economy, shame for the politics” summarised the Report. Public debates over the Report instantly emerged.
The EC Report receives a lot of political and media interest and its conclusions are widely communicated. The priorities identified are easily embraced by the government, and therefore, for minority rights activists, the Report is a key advocacy tool.

Accordingly, it is important what the Report identifies as progress and what is written as a recommendation.

On this note, a minority rights view on the EC Report on Macedonia follows.

The first concern is that minority issues do not appear prominently in the EC Report

When reading the Report on Macedonia one inevitably notices that generally little space is dedicated to minority rights. This approach appears astonishing bearing in mind that until recently the main EU concern in the region was conflict prevention and resolution. Also, a huge number of Macedonia's population – 35% belongs to minorities. It is hard to think that progress, either economic or political, is possible without a particular regard to minorities. The stability of the country, let alone its prosperity, is influenced by minority issues.

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