Talk Show

This article first appeared on Transitions Online.

Two years into the Decade of Roma Inclusion, critics say the program has been a boon to think tanks and events organizers, less so to the Roma.

“I think the Decade is only on paper,” said Antonina Zhelyazkova, chairwoman of the board at the International Center for Minority Studies and Intercultural Relations, a Sofia-based think tank. “There’s a lot of noise around it, but little is actually happening.” Zhelyazkova said the Decade has so far been a round of money-wasting seminars and conferences.

“Nothing has happened since the start of the Roma Decade,” said Maria Metodieva, Roma Program Director with the OSI office in Sofia. “A great number of activities are planned, there are also measurement indicators, but nothing gets done in practice. Moreover, the government is not allocating any funds for the implementation of the action plan.”