The project “Promoting sustainable development of the Roma community in Mukachevo” started in the Transcarpathian region.

The aim is to develop social dialogue and to create favorable conditions for the sustainable development of the Roma community in Mukachevo.

Now, the local authorities and representatives of the Roma community have no practice of discussing the current problems and joint planning of the development strategy of the Roma community. By the way, the Roma community in Mukachevo is the largest in Ukraine (about 10 thousand people). At the elaboration of the program “Roma population of Mukachevo” for 2012-2015, the required analysis was not conducted and, therefore, it does not include the real problems of the Roma, which led to the creation of a purely declaratory document.

Experience with local authorities shows that authority is not enough and not efficient to address issues involving the whole Roma community with a wide range of Roma living in Mukachevo and does not use the available human potential for the development of the Roma community.

Charitable Fund “Progress” will act in this project as a resource center at which the representatives of the target groups (Roma community and representatives of local authorities) will receive expert, and legal advice on issues of sustainable development of the Roma community in Mukachevo.

In the frame of this project an initiative group will be created from among the active Roma, local government officials and representatives of the Fund “Progress”, who will jointly develop and implement the municipal target program “Sustainable development of the Roma community in Mukachevo in 2015-2020.”. The members of the initiative group will be trained in leadership, social activities, organizational development, legal issues and in issues about the development of Roma self-government.

The press center of the Charitable Fund “Progress”

PS: The centers of legal information and advice that provide free legal aid to Roma people working with the support of the “Roma of Ukraine“, International “Renaissance” Foundation. The views in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the International “Renaissance” Foundation and other civil, religious and political organizations and individuals.