Govt to address Roma challenges systemically
Ljubljana, 28 September - The government will address issues concerning the country's Roma population in a systemic and interdepartmental manner, it said on Wednesday after two state secretaries from the prime minister's office, Kaja Širok and Nataša Sax, met with the representatives of the Council of Roma Community in Slovenia.
Aware of how serious the key challenges are, the government has already sped up the procedures to set up an interdepartmental task force that will be led by Anton Grizold, the state secretary at the prime minister's office in charge of defence and natural and other disasters.
The government will also include Roma community representatives as it prepares measures to improve their situation, the press release said.
The council's head Jožko Horvat Muc said key challenges were education, especially in the south-east of the country, where few children complete primary school.
The two sides agree that new approaches and programmes are needed to keep Roma children in the education process and integrate them more effectively at pre-school level.
There is also a need for a more active approach to social integration, active employment and addressing the living conditions in Roma settlements without water and electricity.
The Council of the Roma Community was set up under the Roma law in 2007 to represent the community's interests in relations with state institutions.