Head of the EU Delegation to Serbia Michael Davenport handed the keys to vehicles intended for mobile teams supporting the improvement of life conditions of Roma in Serbia, an EU donation within the project of Roma inclusion.
At the ceremony held in front of the Palace of Serbia, Davenport said donation of 20 Dacia Duster vehicles, worth 200.000 Euro, represented “a small but visible” result of the joint efforts of European Commission and Serbia in the field of improving the quality of life for members of Roma community.
We are well-aware of the imbalance between the available resources and things that need to be done in order to integrate Roma. Mobile teams represent a perfect example of limited resources being efficiently used in the process of Roma inclusion, Davenport said.
He added that local governments taking part in Roma integration project are also engaged in improving employment, education and housing conditions of members of Roma community.
Davenport said EU’s goal was to make all state bodies more engaged in fighting against discrimination, to make them “punish bad and reward good deeds”.
What is needed is a stronger national cooperation in order to produce long-term effects out of the resources invested in Roma integration. Project should include, apart from trustful monitoring mechanisms, whole civil sector whereas state bodies must work on suppressing every form of minority groups discrimination, Davenport said.
Over the course of one year, mobile teams in 20 municipalities have managed to enrol 509 Roma children in preschool institutions and initiate the procedure of civil registration for many members of Roma community who did not own personal documents.
EU-funded project “We Are here together – European Support for Roma Inclusion” worth EUR4.8 million has been implemented by OSCE mission in Serbia, supporting the implementation of Strategy for improvement of the status of Roma.
Following municipalities obtained vehicles: Bojnik, Bujanovac, Valjevo, Vranje, Zitoradja, Palilula, Zvezdara, Knjazevac, Kovin, Koceljeva, Kragujevac, Krusevac, Leskovac, Novi Sad, Odzaci, Pancevo, Prokuplje, Smederevo and Sombor.
