On the occasion of International Roma Day (April 8), Children’s Rights Centre of Albania (CRCA), YWCA and the Observatory for Children’s Rights in collaboration with the Albanian Parliament and civil society organizations, with the support of UNICEF, held today at the Albanian Parliament the event “Children speak with politicians”.
Today’s morning was special for many MPs and the Parliament’s staff and was even more special for the 75+ Roma children who were visiting the most important building in their country. Arriving from different parts of the country, children were welcomed by the Speaker of Parliament, Mr. Ilir Meta and met with MP’s from the whole political spectrum, who are also heads or members of commissions dealing with children’s and minorities’ issues. Present at the reception were members of social issues, labour and health commissions and human rights, minors, gender equality and domestic violence sub commissions. The reception was also attended by Minister Education and Sport, Mrs. Lindita Nikolla, representatives of the Ministry of Social Welfare and Youth, Health, Interior, Commissioner for the Protection from Discrimination, etc.
Children sat at working tables with the MPs and were able to speak about themselves, their families, the environment where they come from, schools they attend and activities they participate in with different organizations and foundations. Together with facilitators from CRCA, as well as many other children’s organizations who endorsed the event such as ADRA, Shkej, SOS Village, Arsis, Children Today Centre, FBSH, Romani Baxt etc, the children made thematic drawings, in order to better describe their environment and their daily lives. The drawings were then put together on a canvas and were handed as a gift to the Albanian Parliament.
Another special moment was the exhibition “Every Roma child in kindergarten” which illustrates the difficult process of registering Roma children in kindergarten and their daily lives. Early education has been identified as one of the main chances which need to be guaranteed to Roma children in order for them not to become subjects of social exclusion later on in their adult lives.
Other important issues such as increased responsibility of education institutions to enrol Roma children in kindergartens and schools, amending laws and assigning special budgets for territories with large numbers of Roma children, allocating special funds at the local level for the integration of Roma children, their registration etc. remain some of the major challenges for the Parliament and other relevant institutions.
April 8th, International Roma Day is dedicated to the history, traditions and Roma culture and is a call in order to advance the social inclusion of this community. This day aims to raise awareness on the challenges that Roma people face and at the same time promotes the culture and Roma traditions as an added value for Albanian society.
Statistics reveal that more than 50% of Roma citizens are not migratory and have lived in the same location for more than 20 years. However, the integration of the community and offering services remain a common challenge of Albanian institutions, Albanian society and the Roma community itself.