George Soros Commends
Anti-discrimination Efforts as Romania Assumes Leadership of Decade of Roma
Inclusion
Bucharest, 17. 6.
2005, 10:30 (ROMEA)
|
|
George Soros today welcomed Romania as the new President of the Decade of Roma Inclusion, an initiative spanning 2005-2015 aimed at ending discrimination against Europe’s largest minority. The Decade, which was launched in February, is an unprecedented international effort to ensure that Roma have equal access to education, housing, employment, and healthcare.
Each of the countries participating in the initiative—Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Macedonia, Romania, Serbia and Montenegro, and Slovakia—will implement individual action plans developed in cooperation with Roma leaders and civil society.
Romania, with the largest Roma population of the eight countries that have endorsed the Decade, is scheduled to assume the rotating Presidency on July 1st. It will focus on donor coordination, increasing public awareness of the Decade through targeted action, and addressing discriminative attitudes through the media.
“I am pleased that Romania has taken on the role of directing this important initiative,” said Soros, who is chairman of the Open Society Institute, a key supporter of the Decade. “I hope that the Romanian government will rise to the challenge and work to lift Roma out of poverty and isolation, and to put an end to centuries of discrimination.”
Soros today ends a three-day visit to Romania, and has pledged the resources and expertise of Open Society Foundation—Romania to support national efforts to achieve Decade objectives. He has met with leading public figures, including President Traian Basescu, Prime Minister Calin Popescu-Tariceanu, representatives of the EC Delegation and other international institutions, as well as of Roma civil society, to discuss practical approaches for achieving social inclusion for Roma.
George Soros’s visit coincides with the Foundation’s fifteenth anniversary, as well as the fifth anniversary of Soros Open Network—Romania. Soros has spent some 121 million USD to promote open society in Romania, and has helped leverage another 36 million USD from other donors.
Soros will contribute 30 million USD to the newly established Roma Education Fund, which will support education reform in conjunction with the Decade. Governments, multilateral and private organizations, and individuals have also contributed to the Fund, which now has more than 43 million USD in pledges.
“The launch of the Decade four months ago showed that the political will exists to enact reform,” said Soros. “But the real work must now be done to effect concrete change to transform the lives of Roma in Europe.”
Copyright © ROMEA 2003
http://www.romea.cz/english/index.php?id=servis/z_en_2005_0119
*** sustineti [romania_eu_list] prin 1% din impozitul pe 2005 -
detalii la http://www.europe.org.ro/euroatlantic_club/unulasuta.php ***
Yahoo! Groups Links
- To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/romania_eu_list/
- To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
- Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
