The Second Advisory Group Meeting of the ROMACTED II Programme took place in Skopje on 28 November 2023, bringing together the main relevant stakeholders to take stock of the progress to date and present the most recent developments in the field of Roma inclusion in North Macedonia. The meeting gathered close to 80 representatives of the Programme’s essential stakeholders such as partner municipalities, Ministry of Labor and Social Policy, Facilitators and other relevant stakeholders.

Ms Mabera Kamberi, Ministry of Labor and Social Policy and Mr Oleg Soldatov, Head of the Council of Europe Programme Office in Skopje and Mr Nafi Saracini from the EU delegation in Skopje addressed the opening panel. They have expressed their contentment with the implementation of the project in North Macedonia and highlighted the synergies made through the Programme targeting Roma inclusion as cross-cutting issues in different projects in the country. The opening panel was chaired by Ms Marina Vasić, ROMACTED II Programme Manager.

ROMACTED Support team Mr Deniz Selmani, Ms Gjulten Mustafova, as well as the representatives from the 15 partner municipalities and the facilitators made a brief recapitulation of the accomplished steps, potential challenges  and provided valuable insight about the small grants scheme implementation progress: 20 infrastructure projects are ongoing, some already completed (roads, sewage networks, playgrounds, reconstruction of schools); 471 Roma children, of which 209 girls, are involved in tutoring programme receiving tutoring support through a small grant; 176 people were part of medical checkups through a mobile ambulance; 380 young Roma and 146 adults passed the trainings for an active job search; 41 Roma, from which 18 women, are part of the adult education programme for completing primary and secondary education; 51 Roma people received support for job application at local level and 40 of them have been employed in local companies.

This ROMACTED Advisory Group Meeting was also an opportunity for the presentation of the Roma Integration Phase III project, implemented by the Council of Europe, with the support of the European Union. Its main goal is to work on strengthening the capacity of governments in the Western Balkans and Türkiye to effectively respond to multiple challenges faced by the Roma community through the implementation of comprehensive public policies.

At the second panel of this meeting, two important topics were addressed:

• The development of Risk Plan for vulnerable groups at local level, that will target the urgent response by the local authorities to Roma people in crisis such as pandemic, floods, earthquakes, or any other similar crisis;
• Piloting Roma Responsive Budgetary Programmes in three municipalities, which will serve as an example for the municipalities to create Roma Responsive policies within their planned budget.

The Roma and Travelers Team of the Council of Europe has been supporting the revision of the textbook "Anti-discrimination law" in co-operation with the Faculty of Law “Iustinianus Primus” of the Ss. Cyril and Methodius University Skopje’. The progress of this activity was also presented during the Advisory Group meeting. This intervention aims to raise the awareness and capacities of future judges, public prosecutors and lawyers about the concept of antigypsyism. The textbook includes a specific chapter on ‘antigypsyism’ reviewing the history of this phenomena and providing the main standards of the Council of Europe in this context. The publication refers also to other international practices and case studies for a better understanding of this concept. After completing the revision of the textbook, this important learning resource will be part of the university programme at the Law Faculties in Skopje and Shtip.

Furthermore, the Roma and Travelers Team is also supporting the Government in the implementation of the execution of judgment Elmazova and Others v. North Macedonia by delivering two activities: 1) Amendments to the Law on Primary Education; and 2) Policy measures proposed for the execution of the judgment. The Policy measures and the amendments to the primary education act provide the guidance for prevention and protection of segregation in the country.   

The Second Advisory Group Meeting also hosted a side-event during which the Memorandum of Understanding were signed between the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy and the ROMACTED partner municipalities for free enrollment of 430 Roma children in preschool education. Further actions in this regard will be supported under the municipal budget and UNICEF.

This year under the slogan “UNiTE! Invest to prevent violence against women and girls!”, the ten ROMACTED II partner municipalities joined the global campaign “16 days of activism against gender-based violence”, together with the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy: The Council of Europe Programme Office in Skopje has also joined the campaign.