European Roma integration project launched

(BUDAPEST) - The European Commission and the Council of Europe launched Friday a 700,000 euro ($950,000) programme to improve the access of Roma to education, health care, employment and housing in five countries.

"Roma integration is not just a problem to be solved, but also an opportunity for social and economic development," EU social affairs commissioner Laszlo Andor said at the launch of the ROMACT project in Budapest.

Andor said the goal was to "bridge the gap" between often impoverished and marginalised Roma communities and mainstream society in Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania, Italy and Slovakia, all home to large ethnic-Roma populations.

The programme will concentrate on trying to increase the political will of local and regional authorities to introduce effective policies as well as train, coach and mentor local officials.

Also involved are the European Alliance of Cities and Regions for Roma Inclusion, and the Open Society Foundation.

Up to 12 million Roma are estimated to live in Europe, according to the Council of Europe.

It says they are "among the most deprived of all communities, facing daily discrimination and racial insults, living in extreme poverty and exclusion from the normal life that other people take for granted -- going to school, seeing the doctor, applying for a job or having decent housing".