On October 8 of this year, representatives of the international charitable organization “Roma Women’s Fund ‘Chirikli'” – its president Yulia Kondur and coordinator Angelina Zhukovska – participated in an operational meeting at the Zaporizhzhia Regional State Administration dedicated to preventing interethnic conflicts and presenting the activities of the Coalition of Roma Organizations “Strategy 2020.”
The session was chaired by the Deputy Head of the Regional State Administration, Eduard Gugnin. The event was attended by representatives of its structural units, law enforcement agencies, the Security Service of Ukraine in the Zaporizhzhia region, the regional office of the State Migration Service, as well as the head of the local Roma community organization “Lacho Drom” and the representative of the Coalition of Roma Organizations, Oleksiy Padchenko.
The attendees discussed measures aimed at preventing conflicts on ethnic grounds in the region and the status of the implementation of the Strategy for the Protection and Integration of the Roma National Minority into Ukrainian Society.
According to the information from local authorities, there are currently no violations on ethnic grounds in the Zaporizhzhia region. According to Eduard Gugnin, the Deputy Head of the Regional State Administration, an effective tool for achieving interethnic understanding in the region is the activity of the Coordination Council of Public Associations of National Minorities, which includes representatives of 23 national and cultural societies. The official also emphasized the importance of conducting preventive measures and strengthening efforts for the social adaptation of Roma into Ukrainian society.
In turn, A. Zhukovska, coordinator of the “Chirikli” RWF, informed about the possibility of conducting training with the personnel of the National Police in the Zaporizhzhia region starting from 2017. She also discussed the activities of Roma social-medical mediators and the problems faced by the Roma community.
The head of the NGO “Lacho Drom,” O.V. Padchenko, provided a more detailed overview of the life of the Roma community in the Zaporizhzhia region. According to him, there are about 6,000 Roma living in the region, with 4,000 of them residing in Zaporizhzhia city (mainly in the Shevchenkivskyi and Komunarivskyi districts). Conflicts on ethnic grounds are absent in the region, but isolated cases of discrimination based on nationality do occur. However, in Melitopol, there is a potential risk of a conflict situation between Roma and Crimean Tatars due to competition in the field of market trade. The public organization conducts informational and educational work concerning the Roma community, and there are plans to produce a series of TV and radio programs on this topic (TV-5, “Zaporizhzhia”).
Representatives of the international charitable organization “Roma Women’s Fund ‘Chirikli'” shared their experience of successfully implementing over 35 projects aimed at the development of Roma communities, increasing the participation of Roma in solving local problems, establishing mechanisms for cooperation between civil organizations and authorities, ensuring access to education for Roma children, addressing gender issues within the community, providing access to medical services, and protecting the rights of Roma.
Summing up the results of the meeting, the participants concluded that in the Zaporizhzhia region, which is near the front lines, it is necessary to establish closer cooperation between the executive authorities, local self-government bodies, law enforcement agencies, and the civil sector to prevent conflicts on ethnic grounds. Additionally, continuous monitoring of the implementation of the action plan for the realization of the Strategy for the Protection and Integration of the Roma National Minority into Ukrainian Society until 2020 is needed in the Zaporizhzhia region. Specific assignments were given to the heads of relevant units in this regard.
