A complex situation in the country (due to war, increasing poverty, social stratification, tensions, and ineffective reforms) acts like a litmus paper, revealing the weakest points and gaps in social relationships and interethnic relations both across the country and locally.
Aggression and intolerance almost daily spark conflicts that, from individual and personal issues, are increasingly becoming ones affecting entire communities and threatening social explosions.
History offers numerous examples of such explosions. The most dangerous among them are those fueled by xenophobia, racial, or national intolerance. They are the easiest to provoke and the hardest to resolve. They can flare up instantly and smolder for years or even decades.
It’s only an illusion that conflicts based on national grounds have faded into the distant past, that a person’s belonging to a certain race, nationality, or ethnicity could make them an unwanted worker, neighbor, patient, or student. Dismissive, superficial attitudes, humiliation, ignorance, and insults are forms through which such attitudes can manifest – there are countless.
Ukraine has ratified several conventions against violence.
One of them is the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination and Violence Against Women.
A convention is both the spirit and the political will of the government to achieve certain goals, and society’s orientation towards specific values.
However, a convention is also a norm that requires reporting.
Recently, in the UN, the government delegation and non-governmental organizations from Ukraine reported on the most glaring cases of discrimination against Roma in our country.
Ukraine reports every four years, not so much on the implementation of each article of the convention, but on the fulfillment of recommendations made by the committee during the previous hearing.
It would be easier for each government to report on achievements if there were no mechanism for non-governmental organizations to report to the UN. Reports from activists are referred to as “shadow” or “alternative” reports.
Shadow reports serve as the basis for tracking changes that the committee takes notice of. Observations and recommendations for the government are essentially formed from these shadow reports by non-governmental organizations. That’s why we, the Roma Women’s Fund “Chirikli,” submitted a report on “The Situation of Roma Women in Ukraine.”
In the report, we pointed out that there are around 400,000 Roma living in Ukraine, with approximately half of them being women.
Despite the fact that Roma have lived alongside Ukrainians and representatives of other nationalities for centuries, they often become the easiest target for criticism in case of interethnic misunderstandings or simple unrest among dissatisfied “neighbors,” and they fall victim to numerous forms of discrimination.
In the minute and a half allotted to me, I spoke about the pediatric department of the Svaliava Central District Hospital, where a young Roma mother turned for help. She and her child were placed in the so-called “Roma ward” – a section where the smell of sewage and lack of proper bedding prevail, and where nurses rarely visit. When she requested to be transferred to any other ward, she was harshly refused.
I also talked about how many Roma women, due to the lack of personal documents, are unable to access education, medical care, find employment, or receive social benefits.
About Ms. Marina, who received her first document only at the age of 91, after a process that took almost two years.
I mentioned Roma who were forced to leave their homes in Donbas and have since been wandering through various cities in the country. And finally, I touched on the Roma Strategy adopted in 2013, which unfortunately hasn’t improved the lives of Roma significantly.
I could have shared more, but the entire non-governmental delegation had only 10 minutes for 8 speakers.
We presented our reports in English – that was our principled position: not to speak the language of the aggressor at the UN.
I couldn’t find out the impressions of the government delegation regarding our alternative report – they didn’t want to communicate with us that day.
The government delegation presented their report the next day, with 20 minutes allotted for their presentation, and they spoke in Russian. This was a disappointing moment since they talked a lot about Russia’s aggression in Ukraine. During their time, the government delegation talked about booklets, photo exhibitions, and so on.
Afterwards, the committee members began asking questions to the government delegation. Among the numerous questions were ones about Roma, like what is being done to provide Roma women with documents and access to quality medical services, and more.
The answers from the government representatives sometimes made me feel as though I was from another country or unaware of how easily problems could be solved.
There were practically no answers to questions about Roma women.
Information about projects implemented by civil society organizations was encouraging, such as the Roma radio project “Chiriklo” or the “Roma Social-Medical Mediators” program. However, they presented it as if all of these initiatives were being implemented by the government.
Overall, I’m not against the idea of the government reporting on our organization’s achievements, but I’d also like to see free airtime for the Roma radio or the institutionalization of Roma mediators, effective implementation of the Roma Strategy, and more cooperation.
So, what are the five lessons learned:
1. Non-governmental organizations represent the country on a very high level, professionally, as one team. Despite various difficulties, we became a team and represented the country with dignity.
2. Members of the UN committee are often more informed about specialized issues than government delegates.
3. The government delegation doesn’t understand that they can’t report on non-governmental organization projects. This either indicates a lack of real achievements or that non-governmental organizations have entirely taken over the work of governmental structures.
4. Regardless of how effective and impactful a civil initiative might be, sustainability of the change process requires appropriate regulatory documents, organizational decisions, financial support, and political will.
5. It’s important not only to overcome the consequences of discrimination but also to prevent them. Both state structures and non-governmental organizations have the opportunity to cooperate.
Zola Kondur, Vice President of the NGO “Roma Women’s Fund ‘Chirikli'”
