Albania Raising Awareness on Roma and Child Rights

Project : Albania 30 May 2011 | birth registration child participation child rights discrimination human rights prevention protection systems roma social exclusion inclusion

Tirana, 8 April 2011: On the occasion of the International Roma Day, the Union of Albanian Roma Minority, supported by Terre des hommes Albania and the Albanian NGO coalition, United for the Care and Protection of Children (BKTF Coalition) organized a national conference aiming to raise public awareness about Roma issues. The conference was attended by many Albanian institutional representatives, including the President of the Republic, Dr. Bamir Topi, the Albanian Anti-Discrimination Commissioner, Arta Baraku, as well as representatives of diplomatic missions in Albania, influential international organizations and civil society actors.The Albanian President addressed the media and the conference participants with a strong message for upholding and supporting the advancement of human rights for the Albanian Roma communities as an important part of Albania’s democratic society. He also took the opportunity to once again condemn the incident of 20 February 2011 where dozens of Roma families were violently removed from their settlements in central Tirana by unidentified persons who set fire to their shelters and chased them out of their homes. This incident resulted in serious injuries and the displacement of a considerable number of people, including children.

As noted by the Albanian President, this was “a very unpleasant episode,” which alarmed the general Albanian public and government authorities and caused the OSCE Presence in Albania, the U.S. Embassy in Tirana and the EU Delegation to Albania to issue a joint statement urging Albanian authorities to investigate the case and provide appropriate social assistance to the displaced. “We note that Albania has formally committed itself to the objectives of the Declaration of the Decade of Roma Inclusion and ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Racial Discrimination and the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women,” read the joint OSCE, EU and American Embassy press statement issued on 16 March 2011.

Indeed, respect for Roma minority rights cannot be fully understood and implemented without respect for children’s rights and the empowerment of Roma women. Cultural and linguistic differences, a long list of historic socio-economic deprivations and discrimination from community members, neighbors, service providers and state authorities contribute to increased risks of Romani children falling into very disadvantaged positions as far as the child protection system in Albania is concerned. After the national conference, children, women, members of the Roma community and representatives of human rights organizations, including the BKTF Coalition marched peacefully along the main boulevard in Tirana, holding placards with messages for upholding and respecting Roma and children’s rights.

At the local level, Terre des hommes continues to support the mainstreaming of child protection issues to local plans of action for implementing Albania’s National Strategy for Roma Inclusion through the work of various Community Counseling Groups (CCG) operating in Durrës, Elbasan, Fier, Pogradec, key areas where Roma communities live in Albania. Many of the CCG activities are conducted in close cooperation with the Child Protection Units established in these cities. Aside from awareness raising activities, training seminars and informative sessions held with children and Roma community members on topics as diverse as child rights and protection, good parenting, positive discipline and child care, negative consequences of early marriage or forced labor on the development and well-being of children or the importance of birth and school registration for Roma children, the CCGs have been playing an invaluable role in identifying and referring a considerable number of children in need and/or at risk to the Child Protection Units and other public and non-public service providers in these regions.

Furthermore, tens of Roma families have been referred for assistance to our close partners in the field who provide conditional micro-loans to help these families generate income through small businesses in order to improve living conditions and provide better care and education for their children. All this work is carried out in the framework of the Developing a Child Protection Safety Net project that Terre des hommes is currently implementing in Albania with support from UNICEF and many other donors.[TL]