Three more days are left until the closing of the photo competition on the life of Roma in B&H. Civil Rights Defenders started a competition in the middle of March this year for the best photographs called ‘Under the Same Roof’, and the competition is realized with the support of the National Endowment for Democracy (NED). The 12 best photographs that will be selected by a jury, made up of prominent artists and activists for human rights, will be published in a special calendar for 2014. The best 20 photographs will be presented at an exhibition in Sarajevo on 9 May, and then published in a publication.
The competition is open until midnight on 30 April 2014. Citizens are invited to contribute to the visibility of Roma discrimination in our society, and to send their photo stories on Rome life in B&H to the email address at bosnia.underthesameroof@civilrightsdefenders.org. All information on the competition is available on the Facebook site of the competition ‘Under the Same Roof’ (link: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Pod-istim-krovom-Bosna-i-Hercegovina/440568199380133).
Roma belong to an ethnic minority group that has no home country. An analysis of the Roma minority in B&H shows that this minority ethnic group belongs to one of the main ethnic minorities in B&H. Even if they are the largest minority in B&H, Roma people in our country are in a very precarious socio-economic situation, because 70 percent of them cannot provide for their physical existence without social assistance, and 90 percent of Roma do not have the right to free health care.
Roma are considered to be one of the most discriminated and vulnerable communities in B&H and in B&H society, but B&H institutions at all levels have to work on more to eliminate discriminatory practices in everyday life and to improve their visibility in society, as well as to improve their living conditions.
