Further Cooperation On Roma Employment Programs Is Agreed



            The Working Group for employment of Roma population met in Sarajevo on 16 July 2012. The meeting was convened by the Ministry for Human Rights and Refugees, upon the request of civil sector that deals with the Roma employment issue. The agenda included results achieved so far, as well as problems that surfaced during implementation of program of Roma employment from 2009 to 2011.
            Representatives of BiH Agency for Work and Employment actively participated at the meeting and presented the current results of Roma employment program and along with other participants emphasized the principal problems of Roma employment program. The general problem faced by all three Employment Services is the great difference between approved and realized funds caused by termination of contract initiated by employer or employee, in another words, due to the violation of signed agreements. Therefore, one of the conclusions is to propose the unified reporting methodology from all three Services as soon as possible, and to submit reports on all approved and realized funds from the beginning of the project to 30 June 2012. Moreover, it has been pointed out that the biggest problem is small number of persons registered on unemployment lists who declared as Roma, as well as low level of education of Roma population. Therefore it was proposed to make an assessment, after submission of report, to see whether it would be more efficient to transfer the part of funds for additional training and for the change of qualifications, meaning to inform Roma they can use other programs of employment of all employment bureaus.
            Representatives of the BiH Ministry for Human Rights and Refugees, entities’ Ministries of Labor, RS Employment Service, Brcko Employment Service, BiH Agency for Employment and representatives of Roma associations.