The State Secretary at the Ministry of Public Administration and Local Self-Government, Stevan Gligorin, has participated today in the event “Elderly Roma – between transitional and social justice”, at which the results of research on the living conditions of Roma men and women who are over 65 years of age and their current socio-economic position, health status, access to social welfare system and social life have been presented.
Gligorin has pointed out that the research, which was conducted by using a special methodology, represents a significant resource that should contribute to the creation of future public policies concerning the elderly, especially in respect of members of the Roma national minority.
He has pointed out the importance of participation of organizations which tackle the issue of improving the position of the Roma population in the revision of the Strategy for the Social Inclusion of Roma Men and Women in Serbia, stressing that, as a representative of the Ministry, he shall make efforts for the aforementioned Strategy to be successfully implemented not only at state level, but also at the local level.
He has expressed his satisfaction with the fact that a number of recommendations refer to how cities and municipalities in Serbia can improve their development and raise living standards in order to provide better services to all citizens, regardless of their nationality.
“Only by joint efforts, through the exchange of knowledge and practical experience, can we hope to contribute to improving the position of the most vulnerable groups of citizens, and thus make our society better. It is important that we understand and respect the specificities and differences of all categories of the population, and we reflect that in the actions which we carry out as a state, so that no one would be left out, not even the elderly Roma”, Gligorin has said.
The research on the living circumstances of Roma men and women who are over 65 years of age was conducted by the Roma Forum of Serbia, as part of a project which is implemented with the support of the German EVZ Foundation since June 2020. The project aims to mobilize the capacity of civil society for public advocacy in order to improve the position of elderly Roma in Serbia.
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