Strasbourg, 7 February 2012CAHROM (2012)4

 

AD HOC COMMITTEE OF EXPERTS ON ROMA ISSUES

(CAHROM)

 

2nd Bureau meeting

 

Strasbourg, 19 January 2012

 

 

MEETING REPORT

 

 

Opening

 

  1.               The Bureau of the Ad hoc Committee of Experts on Roma Issues (CAHROM) held its second meeting in Strasbourg on 19 January 2012.

 

  1.               The meeting was attended by the Chair of the CAHROM, Mrs Mabera Kamberi (“the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia”), the Vice-Chair, Mr Ian Naysmith (United Kingdom), the 3rd Bureau member, Mr Nicolae Radiţa (Republic of Moldova), as well as by the Secretariat (see the list of participants in Appendix 2).

 

Opening of the meeting and adoption of the agenda

 

  1.               The Bureau adopted the agenda [document CAHROM(2012)1 in Appendix 1].

 

  1.               The SRSG for Roma Issues introduced Roma-related developments at the Council of Europe since the 2nd CAHROM meeting and announced forthcoming events. His presentation can be summarised as follows:

 

i.The Council of Europe budget and programme for 2012-2013 was adopted and does not plan for any reduction in terms of staff and budget for the Roma sector, which remains a priority for the Organisation.

 

  1. Following the Summit of Mayors on Roma, a core group of cities and regions has been working on the creation of a European Alliance of Cities and Regions for Roma[1] Inclusion. The Alliance is intended to be a light structure working on a thematic basis. The launch of the Alliance is planned for either before the summer or just afterwards. One further issue concerns financial support for a small-sized secretariat that would be linked to the Council of Europe. Any support and financial contributions from member states to support the establishment of the Alliance would be welcome.

 

  1. The SRSG informed the CAHROM Bureau that 533 mediators had been trained in 2011 under the joint CoE/EC ROMED action on intercultural mediation for Roma communities. Following its implementation in 15 countries in 2011, ROMED will be extended in 2012 to Portugal (where a training session has already taken place), Albania, Belgium, the Russian Federation and the United Kingdom. A Stocktaking Conference on the initial phase of the ROMED Programme will be held in Strasbourg on 21 February. The Chair of the CAHROM will be invited to attend this Conference, as well as a number of CAHROM members involved in the Programme.

 

  1. On 17 January 2012, the Rapporteur Group of Ministers’ Deputies on Social and Health Questions (GR-SOC) recommended that the Deputies adopt the draft Declaration on the rise of anti-Gypsyism and racist violence against Roma in Europe, take note of the Implementation Report on CM Recommendation Rec(2001)17 on improving the economic and employment situation of Roma/Gypsies and Travellers in Europe, and take note of the abridged report of the 2nd meeting of the CAHROM, without further debate, at their 1132nd meeting on 1 February 2012. The SRSG informed the Bureau that several delegations had expressed appreciation for the working methods adopted by the CAHROM, particularly regarding co-operation between experts, the sharing of experiences and the general approach which favours practical action and activities aimed at the implementation of Council of Europe standards.

 

  1. National lawyers’ training sessions, which follow a new approach focusing on the need to ensure equal and effective access to the justice system for Roma at national level, were conducted in four countries (France, Greece, Italy and Turkey) in 2011. Sessions in two or three additional countries will be organised this year.

 

  1. Following its launch in 2011 in Greece and in Kosovo[2], a launch of the Dosta! campaign in other countries in 2012 is being discussed.

 

  1. The SRSG informed the CAHROM Bureau that the Istanbul CAHROM meeting report should be circulated shortly to CAHROM participants for comments in view of its finalisation.

 

  1.               The Secretariat of the CAHROM added to the SRSG’s introduction that the Swedish CAHROM member had already indicated that certain Swedish municipalities would be contacted with a view to joining the future Alliance. The Secretariat also informed the Bureau that, as agreed in Istanbul, a letter had been sent by the SRSG for Roma issues to the Zentralrat deutscher Roma und Sinti regarding its request to be granted observer status in the CAHROM. It also drew the Bureau’s attention to the new Resolution CM/Res (2011)24 on intergovernmental committees and subordinate bodies, their terms of reference and working methods.

 

  1.               The Chair of the CAHROM proposed to organise the promotion of the Dosta! campaign as a side event of the Regional Roma Decade conference on Challenges in Resolving Problems related to Persons without ID documents to be held in Skopje in March. More than one hundred participants should attend this conference which will be organised in co-operation with the OSCE and UNHCR.

 

Reply of the CAHROM Bureau to Congress Recommendation 315 (2011) on the situation of Roma in Europe: a challenge for local and regional authorities

 

  1.               The SRSG stated that, in view of the short deadline set by the Committee of Ministers, it would not be possible for the CAHROM to examine and adopt comments in plenary. The deadline had, however, been extended by the Secretariat of the Committee of Ministers to enable the CAHROM Bureau to send its comments.

 

  1.               Bearing in mind that comments from steering or ad hoc committees to the Committee of Ministers should be concise and avoid proposing amendments to such recommendations or presenting specific national situations (unless this is warranted by the content of the recommendation), the Bureau, whilst taking note of the individual comments received from four CAHROM members[3], decided to transmit to the Committee of Ministers its brief comments as set out in Appendix 3.

 

Working methods of the CAHROM: size and composition of thematic working groups, time table and requested documentation

 

  1.               The CAHROM Secretariat reminded those present of the decisions adopted in Istanbul, i.e. that the Bureau should “finalise the precise size and composition of these thematic groups”.

 

  1.           The Bureau agreed that each thematic working group should ideally be composed of 3-4 countries/experts (1 requesting country + 2 to 3 partner countries), although some flexibility could be introduced depending on the thematic area covered. The composition of thematic groups should respect, as far as possible, geographical balance and take into consideration the size of the Roma population, as well as the legal and institutional frameworks (e.g. unitary/federal state). Experts participating in the thematic working groups should be fluent in one of the official languages of the Council of Europe (either English or French) and the group should be composed, as far as possible, of experts speaking the same common language. If CAHROM experts do not have the necessary expertise to participate in the thematic working group themselves, they should indicate to the Secretariat the name of another expert who will participate in this exercise. The CAHROM expert would, however, be kept fully updated during the process and be requested to intervene in the event of the designated expert not responding to or respecting deadlines.

 

  1.           Answering a question from the Bureau, the SRSG for Roma issues confirmed that financial costs related to experts’ visits and limited translation of documents would be covered by the Council of Europe.

 

  1.           The Bureau agreed that the requesting country, after having agreed with the Secretariat on proposed dates for the visit of CAHROM experts, would confirm this invitation in writing to the Secretariat. The visit should not last longer than two to three days, including a half day devoted to a debriefing between the experts and the accompanying member of the Secretariat in order to identify the main conclusions and to decide on the structure and presentation of the report.

 

  1.           The CAHROM Bureau examined the list of countries which have proposed themselves to be part of one of the three thematic groups identified in Istanbul.

 

  1.           As concerns the thematic working group on housing requested by “the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia”, the Bureau proposed Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and Spain as partner countries. This thematic group is slightly larger since the requesting country has already started addressing the housing issue within the Roma Decade context with Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and Spain. Austria was invited to join this group to provide, among other things, information about a Roma housing project in Burgenland. The Chair agreed to provide the Secretariat with information on the exact focus of the thematic working group on housing (e.g. social housing, or legalisation/rehabilitation of Roma settlements) and possible dates for the visit of CAHROM (designated) experts[4].

 

  1.           As concerns the thematic working group on combating school drop-outs/absenteeism requested by the Netherlands, the CAHROM Secretariat informed the Bureau that contact persons from the two Dutch municipalities requesting the visit of CAHROM experts, Nieuwegein and Veldhoven, had already been designated by the Dutch Platform of Roma Municipalities. The visit of the thematic group could take place between in March. The Bureau took note of both the interest from Slovakia and Turkey in joining this group, as well as the withdrawal of Croatia from it in order to give priority to the housing issue. The Bureau asked the Secretariat to check with the Dutch counterpart whether or not i) the thematic working group should focus exclusively on school drop-outs and, if so, at which level (primary, secondary, etc.) and ii) the issue of the enrollment of Roma children in schools should also be addressed. Pending this information, the Secretariat may recontact CAHROM country experts to identify the most suitable partner countries. The CAHROM Secretariat indicated that Hungary could be contacted, should it appoint its CAHROM expert in February. The Bureau understood that Sweden was an additional requesting country for this topic. The Secretariat could check whether Sweden would be interested to participate as a partner country as well[5].

 

  1.           As concerns the thematic group on the role of local and regional authorities in implementing national policies for Roma proposed by the Republic of Moldova, the 3rd CAHROM Bureau member agreed to firstly check with the Bureau for Ethnic Relations of the Government of the Republic of Moldova as to the exact focus of the thematic group, which could be one of the following:
    1. How to increase the capacity of local authorities to effectively implement national Roma strategies/policies in co-operation with state authorities and Roma representatives;
    2. Decentralisation of mediation, including background legal requirements.

Pending the outcome of this consultation, the list of countries should be defined since the partner countries suggested in Istanbul (Finland, Latvia, Romania, Slovak Republic and Slovenia) do not necessarily have expertise in these two areas.[6]

 

  1.           It was concluded that, in the two weeks following the Bureau meeting, the Secretariat should obtain the following information from the requesting countries:

 

  1.           It was underlined that the visits of CAHROM experts should be timed to avoid any overlap with visits of Council of Europe monitoring bodies.

 

  1.           Regarding documents to be collected from requesting and partner countries, it was agreed that experts participating in the thematic groups should provide the Secretariat with the following information in the coming weeks, as far as possible identifying the relevant extracts of policy documents and legislation, in one of the official languages of the Council of Europe:

 

  1.           The Secretariat will compile all this information, as well as any relevant information (reports, studies, etc.) from international organisations which are observers in the CAHROM, and other Council of Europe bodies and NGOs, and circulate it to the respective thematic teams. The Secretariat will be in charge of drafting the thematic report based on conclusions of the experts. The experts may be requested to contribute by drafting certain parts of the report, should they require specific knowledge and expertise.

 

  1.           Regarding possible additional thematic working groups, the CAHROM Secretariat indicated that no additional thematic priority areas had been received since Istanbul[7]. The Secretariat reminded those present, however, of the interest expressed by France, Ireland, Switzerland and the United Kingdom in working on issues related to nomadic Roma and Traveller communities. The Bureau requested the Secretariat to explore whether one of these countries would be willing to be a requesting country, as well as to identify a more specific focus (e.g. provision for halting sites for Travellers, schooling of Travellers/nomadic Roma children, etc.), so that this could be announced at the 3rd CAHROM meeting. Employment could also be another thematic area covered during the 2nd semester of 2012.

 

Arrangements for, and agenda of, the 3rd CAHROM meeting to be hosted by “the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia” on 22-25 May 2012

 

  1.           The results of the discussion between the CAHROM Bureau and the Secretariat regarding the arrangements and the proposed agenda items for the 3rd meeting of the CAHROM are reflected in document CAHROM(2012)3prov in Appendix 4.

 

Any other business

 

  1.           The Bureau proposed the dates of 28-30 November 2012 for the 4th CAHROM meeting to be organised in Strasbourg and asked the Secretariat to send a save-the-date message to all CAHROM participants for both 2012 CAHROM plenary meetings.


Appendix 1

 

CAHROM (2012)1

 

 

AD HOC COMMITTEE OF EXPERTS ON ROMA ISSUES

(CAHROM)

 

2nd BUREAU MEETING

 

Room C6.05C, Agora, Council of Europe, Strasbourg

Thursday, 19 January 2012

 

 

AGENDA

 

 

 

OPENING OF THE MEETING AND ADOPTION OF THE AGENDA

[CAHROM (2012)1prov draft annotated agenda of the 2nd CAHROM Bureau meeting; provisional 2012 calendar of Roma-related activities; Resolution CM/Res (2011)24 on intergovernmental committees and subordinate bodies, their terms of reference and working methods]

 

  1.                 FOLLOW-UP OF THE 2ND CAHROM MEETING IN ISTANBUL

[CM (2011)181 Abridged report of the 2nd CAHROM meeting as presented to the GR-SOC; CAHROM (2011)26 Comments from CAHROM members on Congress Recommendation 315 (2011); CAHROM(2012)2prov Draft CAHROM reply to Congress Recommendation 315 (2011); Reply from the SRSG for Roma Issues to the Zentralrat deutscher Roma und Sinti]

 

II.WORKING METHODS OF THE CAHROM: SIZE AND COMPOSITION OF THEMATIC WORKING GROUPS

[CAHROM(2011)23 Abridged Report of the 2nd CAHROM meeting, including Appendix 3 Proposal of the Bureau on working methods; CAHROM (2011)12rev3 Replies to thematic priorities]

 

III.AGENDA OF THE 3rd CAHROM MEETING IN “THE FORMER YUGOSLAV REPUBLIC OF MACEDONIA”, 23-26 May 2012

[CAHROM(2012)3prov, Draft Agenda of the 3rd CAHROM meeting]

 

IV.ANY OTHER BUSINESS

 

CLOSURE OF THE 2ND CAHROM BUREAU MEETING

 


Appendix 2

 

2nd Meeting of the Bureau of the

Ad hoc Committee of Experts on Roma Issues (CAHROM)

Strasbourg, Council of Europe, 19 January 2012

_______________________________________

 

LIST OF PARTICIPANTS

Mrs. Mabera KAMBERI, Chair of the CAHROM

Head of the Sector for Coordination and Technical Assistance

Ministry of Labour and Social Policy

Ul Dame Gruev No. 14, MK- 1000 Skopje

« the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia »

Tel.: +389 2 3 106 224; Mobile: +389 75 367 632;

E-mail: [email protected]

 

Mr. Ian NAYSMITH, Vice-Chair of the CAHROM

Head of Gypsy, Traveller & International Policy

Equalities & Enterprise Division

Department for Communities and Local Government

Eland House (5/A1), Bressenden Place

London SW1E 5DU, United Kingdom

Tel: +44 (0)303 444 2063

E-mail : [email protected]

 

Mr. Nicolae RADITA, CAHROM Bureau member

Chairman

NGO Roma National Center

109/1 Alexei Mateeevici str., ap. 306

Chisinau, Republic of Moldova

Tel.: +373 22 227099, 244667

E-mail: [email protected]

 

*******

 

Mr Jeroen SCHOKKENBROEK

Special Representative of the Secretary General (SRSG) for Roma issues

Council of Europe, F – 67075 Strasbourg Cedex

Tel.: +33 3 88 41 22 79

E-mail: [email protected]

 

Mr Sixto MOLINA

Head of the Support Team of the SRSG for Roma issues

Council of Europe, F – 67075 Strasbourg Cedex

Tel.: +33 3 88 41 35 92

E-mail. [email protected]

 

Mr Michael GUET

Secretary of the CAHROM

Support Team of the SRSG for Roma issues

Council of Europe, F – 67075 Strasbourg Cedex

Tel.: +33 3 90 21 49 63

E-mail: [email protected]

 

Mrs. Ljiljana STOJISAVLJEVIC

Assistant to the Secretary of the CAHROM

Support Team of the SRSG for Roma issues

Tel.: +33 (0)3 88 41 33 73, Fax: +33 3 90 21 40 53

E-mail: [email protected]

 


Appendix 3

 

AD HOC COMMITTEE OF EXPERTS ON ROMA ISSUES

(CAHROM)

__________

 

Comments of the Bureau of the CAHROM to the Committee of Ministers concerning

Congress Recommendation 315 (2011) on the situation of Roma in Europe:

a challenge for local and regional authorities

 

adopted by the CAHROM Bureau at its 2nd meeting (Strasbourg, 19 January 2012)

__________

 

  1. The Congress Recommendation (315) 2011 and Resolution (2011) on the situation of Roma in Europe: a challenge to local and regional authorities were presented to the CAHROM, together with the Final Declaration of the Summit of Mayors adopted in Strasbourg on 22 September 2011, by a representative of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe at the 2nd CAHROM meeting in Istanbul, Turkey, on 22-25 November 2011.

 

  1. In view of the short deadline set by the Committee of Ministers, it has not been possible for the CAHROM Committee to examine and adopt comments in plenary, although some Committee members have sent individual comments referring to the situation in their own countries. For this reason, the CAHROM Bureau has decided to transmit to the Committee of Ministers its brief comments set out below.

 

  1. The CAHROM Bureau shares the overall concern expressed by the Congress regarding the situation of Roma in Europe and agrees with the general spirit of the Recommendation. At the same time, the Bureau believes that it will be difficult for the Committee of Ministers to endorse each and every specific element of the Congress Recommendation, e.g. in view of the fact that member states have different positions on recognition of Roma as a national minority. The Bureau warmly welcomes the active involvement of the Congress regarding the situation of Roma and concurs with the Congress concerning the crucial role of regional and local authorities in supporting Roma inclusion. In this respect the Bureau underlines, in reference to paragraphs 6.b and 6.c, the need to ensure, when developing national strategies for Roma inclusion, the necessary capacity of local and regional authorities to effectively implement policies at their level, as well as consultation mechanisms with Roma representatives. Such work could also include training and awareness-raising efforts at the local level on addressing prejudice and stereotypes towards Roma, e.g. by making use of the Council of Europe Dosta! campaign.

 

  1. The CAHROM Bureau welcomes in particular the proposal to establish a European Alliance of Cities and Regions for Roma Inclusion and the call to member states to implement both the CM/Rec (2008)5 on policies for Roma and/or Travellers in Europe and the ECRI General Policy Recommendation No. 13 on combating anti-Gypsyism and discrimination against Roma. It recalls that reference is made to ECRI General Policy Recommendation No. 13 in the draft declaration on the rise of anti-Gypsyism and racist violence against Roma which was submitted to the Committee of Ministers for adoption. It wishes to inform the Committee of Ministers, in response to paragraph 6.f., that CM/Rec (2008)5 already recommends that “States should involve regional and local authorities from the earliest stages of developing the strategy, and ensure their commitment to its effective implementation. Regional and local authorities should develop action plans to implement national strategies at local and regional level” [see paragraph V.3.ii of the Appendix to CM Rec (2008)5].

 

  1. The CAHROM Bureau notes with interest the recommendation made by the Congress in paragraph 8 to set up a European programme for capacity building at local and regional level that would complement the Roma mediators training programme (ROMED) and would also recommend such an initiative, which could possibly be combined with the setting up of the European Alliance of Cities and Regions for Roma Inclusion.

 

-------

 


Appendix 4

 

 

Note: the draft annotated agenda for the 3rd CAHROM meeting (22-25 May 2012) will be included ain Appendix 4 of the present report and be distributed to the CAHROM participants once the decision concerning the venue of the meeting (either Skopje or both Skopje and Ohrid) will have been taken by the President of the CAHROM and agreed by the Secretariat.

 

 

[1] The term « Roma » should be understood in the sense of the definition used at the Council of Europe.

[2] All reference to Kosovo, whether to the territory, institutions or population, in this text shall be understood in full compliance with United Nations Security Council Resolution 1244 and without prejudice to the status of Kosovo.

[3] The comments received from Greece, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Spain appear in document CAHROM (2011)26.

[4] Following the Bureau meeting and contacts with the Minister of Transport, the Chair indicated that the thematic group would focus on social housing. The proposed dates for the visit of CAHROM experts are 3-5 April 2012.

[5] Since the Bureau meeting, Sweden has confirmed its interest to be part of this thematic group.

[6] Following the Bureau meeting and contacts with the Bureau for Inter-ethnic Relations, Mr Radiţa indicated that option a) has been retained. The visit of experts from Finland, Romania, Slovenia will take place on 21-23 March 2012. Latvia, which had proposed itself for option b) will not take part in this thematic group.

[7] See document CAHROM(2011)12rev3 which provides an update of replies received from 25 CAHROM experts and one observer.