The European Union Delegation to Bosnia and Herzegovina/ EUSR, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe Mission to BiH, and World Vision BiH will organise a conference in Sarajevo on 8 April to mark International Roma Day.
There are between 10 and 12 million members of the Roma community in Europe today. Despite progress in recent years, members of the Roma community continue to experience prejudice and social exclusion. On 8 April, International Roma Day, European and international institutions renew their call for the integration of Roma communities. The EU together with its Member States, in view of fulfillment of commitments made under the Europe 2020 strategy (http://ec.europa.eu/europe2020/index_en.htm), underlines that it will not accept the economic and social marginalisation of the continent’s largest minority.
The conference will begin with a performance by pupils from Poljice, where World Vision BiH is implementing the project called “Back to School: Second Chance for Roma Children in Poljice”, followed by a performance by ballet dancer Dragana Seferović of the Zenica National Theatre. Nazif Mujić, who won the Best Actor award at this year’s Berlin Film Festival for his role in Danis Tanović’s “An Episode in the Life of an Iron Picker”, will speak about the film. This will be followed by a short OSCE documentary about young Roma professionals working at the OSCE Mission to BiH.
The event will conclude with a panel discussion on “The Life of Roma in Bosnia and Herzegovina”. The panel will consist of the Head of the EU Delegation/ EUSR, Peter Sørensen, Head of the OSCE Mission to BiH, Fletcher Burton, US ambassador to BiH, Patrick Moon, National Coordinator for Roma in BiH, Hedina Sijerčić, and Maja Grujić, Health Lead at World Vision BiH.
Art works by Roma children from Poljice will be displayed after the end of the programme.
