Eu member states

Information about the project/programme/measure/policy (as the case):

1. Title:	Action Plan on the Education Needs of Roma and Members of Other National Minorities in Bosnia and Herzegovina
2. Rationale:	The OSCE considers the BiH education a non-inclusive system featuring endemic discrimination and segregation on ethnic grounds, and promoting the rights of one ethnic group, where minorities are usually forgotten and their difficulties in education are not acknowledged. This was particularly the case with Roma, who are in reality the most numerous ethnic groups in BiH. The barriers identified in the case of Roma access to education in BiH are: poverty, irrelevance of mainstream education, discrimination and harassment at school, mistrust of government, war and displacement, cultural beliefs and practices, language, lack of educated leadership and role models. In the case of other minorities, the main obstacle is the exercise of their right to have teaching in their own language, as the standards exist yet their implementation is lacking. The factors that encouraged the creation of the Action Plan are: - BiH international human rights commitments, by virtue of the BiH Constitution; - the Education Reform Agenda in BiH, which committed educational authorities to a number of commitments regarding primary school completion for all, and education for national minorities; - Framework Law on Primary and Secondary Education in Bosnia and Herzegovina (2003), emphasizing the right of equal access and the respect for language and culture of significant minorities; - Law on the Protection of the Rights of Members of National Minorities (2003), and its provisions relevant to additional education of ethnic groups’ members. These changes in the BiH policy and legislation provided a framework calling for a change that needed to find channels of realization. The Action Plan was developed as a means towards this end.
3. Objective(s):	Objectives of the Action Plan on the Educational Needs of Roma: - Promoting systemic change in order to ensure accommodation of the educational needs of Roma; - Removal of financial and administrative barriers to Roma school enrolment and completion; - Preservation of Roma language and culture; - Garnering the support and participation of Roma parents and communities; - Increasing the Representation of Roma teaching staff and sensitizing non-Roma teaching staff to the needs of Roma students. Action Plan on the Educational Needs of Members of National Minorities: - Promoting systemic change in order to ensure accommodation of the educational needs of members of national minorities; - Inclusion of the history, culture and literature of national minorities within the mainstream curricula; - Preservation of identity, culture and language.
4. Target ethnic group(s):	The target groups are all national ethnic groups in Bosnia and Herzegovina. National minorities in BiH, according to the 2003 BiH Law on Protection of the Rights of National Minorities, are all citizens of BiH who do not belong to any of three constitutional peoples (Bosniaks, Croats, Serbs). As the last census in BiH took place in 1991, there are only estimates on the number of members of national minorities in BiH, and these range from 0.6 to 2.3 per cent. The living standard of national minorities, as well as their education and training level are mostly considered equal to that of the majority community, with the exception of the Roma, whose living standards rate significantly lower than the national averages. Illiteracy and unemployment are very high in the BiH Roma community, and the majority of Roma children are not involved in the educational system at all. The location is the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
5. Involvement of ethnic group in:
Scoping	Representatives of the Albanian, Czech, Ukrainian, Macedonian, Slovenian, Hungarian, Polish, Italian, Jewish and Roma communities were members of the Task Force on the Educational Needs of Roma and National Minorities, which developed the Action Plan. The Action Plan acknowledged the crucial role of members of national minorities in defining their educational needs and in actively ensuring their educational needs are realised.
Implementation	Implementation should target and involve all national minorities.
Assessment	There was no formal mechanism for the assessment of the implementation of the Action Plan, however various conferences and publications touched on this topic, including comments/analyses by members of ethnic minorities.
6. Main activities:	The Action Plan was developed by the Task Force on the Educational Needs of Roma and National Minorities: additionally, the sections of the plan on Roma education was created by the Roam Education Board. It consists of two parts, AP on the Educational Needs of Roma, and AP on the Educational Needs of National Minorities. Part I identifies the barriers in Roma education, discusses its goals one by one, and lists required actions and responsible bodies. Part II follows the same structure of goals and required actions. It also lists the responsibilities of the associations of national minorities, pedagogical institutes, Ministries of Education and Culture, and Embassies of the national minorities' countries of origin. The plan is available at: http://www.oscebih.org/documents/80-eng.pdf. On 17 February 2004 twelve Ministers of Education on entity and canton level accepted the obligations set forth in the AP
7. Duration of the project:	The Action Plan was developed in the course of 2003 and signed in February 2004.
8. Main results:	Many activists think very highly of the Action Plan as it is unique in defining problems and priorities. Some note that "the best thing about the Action Plan is that it exists" (NGO activist). Others praise it as "a good advocacy tool" (NGO activist). It is also praised as an initiative which, even though imperfect, caused further discussion: "When the Action Plan was created, nobody had any remarks. Now many do, now we see its faults, which means that people read it, people tried to do something about it – this is the greatest value of the Action Plan" (official of the BiH Ministry for Human Rights and Refugees) There are good and positive examples of application, but implementation varies to a great extent from one region to another. In the words of OSCE staff, there are very good illustrations of initiative in areas with strong Roma communities, especially in the Tuzla canton where free textbooks were available for Roma children, bylaws on Roma education were passed, and a Roma Education Officer was hired. However, most of these efforts were done in cooperation with NGOs and not solely as government initiatives. This particular time the amounts were allocated in the relevant budgets, and it is hoped that this would become a rule in the future. Since 2004 some good things were done. In the Džemaludin Čaušević Primary School in Sarajevo there are preschool classes for Roma children, and the municipality pays for the students' textbooks and meals. In Republika Srpska, bylaws regarding the enrolment of students who are late in attending primary school were passed. With regards to other minorities, there were some good ethnic education projects, but these were in fact NGO processes supporting the AP realization, however there were no independent initiatives by BiH authorities. In the Municipality of Prijedor, Republika Srpska, the classes of Ukrainian language were introduced, thanks to the strong Ukrainian community in this town and a qualified teacher of Ukrainian language. Generally, the Action Plan's results so far created a mixed picture. In the words of an OSCE official, "It was a good practice for OSCE, but not a good one for BiH authorities".
9. Total budget and sources of funding:	N/A. The development of the AP was financed by OSCE Mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
10. Assessment of effectiveness:	According to the 2004 Action Plan, the BiH Council for National Minorities, whose establishment was stipulated by the 2003 Law on National Minorities, is in charge of monitoring the implementation of the Action Plan. At the end of 2007, however, the Council has not yet formed. It is expected that the Council would be formed by the end of 2007.
11. Sustainability:	The Action Plan is a sustainable initiative, but much of its sustainability depends on the good will of relevant authorities. It is undoubtedly created as a long-term policy document, and – though slowly – it is still being mainstreamed into education institutions' routine. There are also some indications of future potential. In 2006 the BiH Ministry of Civil Affairs organized a conference on national minorities, attended by representatives of ethnic minorities and inter alia representatives of the OSCE Office of the High Commissioner for National Minorities. One of the conference recommendations was the creation of a Workbook on National Minorities, that could be used in all schools throughout the country, so that all children in BiH can be taught about national minorities. OSCE is now beginning to fundraise for piloting this initiative, which is directly related to one of the goals of the Action Plan, the inclusion of the history, culture and literature of national minorities within the mainstream curricula. They will aim to include authorities on the state level and ethnic groups’ associations to establish networks.
12. Difficulties and reasons of insuccess (if any):	There are many difficulties in the implementation of the Action Plan, and they will be discussed here, in order to benefit from their learning potential, even though their capacity was not entirely fulfilled: Primarily, the interethnic situation in BiH is still quite tense, and the three constituent people struggle for power and benefits for their own ethnic groups. national minorities do not rate high on the political agendas. Because of this, but also widespread corruption, BiH is often considered a non-functional state, where public policies often do not work. The educational system is complex – there are as many as 14 ministries dealing with education issues. Even though the Action Plan was signed by all ministers – which is a point to be noted - it still did not pass the necessary parliamentary procedures, which later created obstacles when it came to providing budgetary means. Also, different entities/cantons opt to apply the Action Plan requirements in very different ways. As described, some cantons did witness some implementation, yet a larger number of cantons still refuse to even provide for basics, such as textbooks from Roma students and their transportation to school. There should have been stronger capacity building prior to the Action Plan drafting: "At that time we did not know how to write action plans, so it resembles a strategy more than an action plan" (Council of Roma member). The Action Plan lists too many institutions that are accountable for the implementation of its particular activities, and the names of institutions were given in generic manner (e.g. "ministries of education"). The time frames and budgetary issues were not defined. Other ministries – such as ministries of social welfare or local self-government – refuse responsibility to act on the Action Plan, though the AP obliges them as well. Monitoring of implementation is the task of the Council of National Minorities, which, as mentioned already, has not yet been established. The Action Plan is mainly perceived as "an OSCE initiative", despite the OSCE's best efforts for the AP to have local ownership. It is nevertheless still not sufficiently owned. There is a great need for developing projects training Roma teachers, as they are not enough qualified Roma teachers, and according to OSCE this was also noted by Roma assistants engaged on NGO projects. The literature for studying Roma language is also missing – the language is not standardized, and unlike other minorities, Roma cannot receive support in textbooks and other literature from their country of origin. The Action Plan should also have taken into account the socio-economic situation of Roma: "Maybe we can get textbooks [for Roma students], but that is of no use to them if they do not have electricity, water, and a decent house" (Council of Roma member). Advocacy for the implementation of the Action Plan is needed. There seems to be wide mention and analysis of the Action Plan, however real advocacy is lacking.
13. Transferability:	The development of the Action Plan had a number of good elements. It was initiated by an international intergovernmental organization with considerable leverage in the country, which has "a dedicated education department, which other international agencies in BIH do not have" (C. Kieffer, OSCE). It is the first document attempting to act on the grounds of both international and domestic law regarding national minorities. Ethnic groups’ members were fully involved in the Action Plan's drafting. Its practice is being mainstreamed vertically, though slowly. In terms of horizontal transferability, perhaps there is a need for local action plans, that could be more precise and could be implemented with more flexibility. There are also indications that the sections of the Action Plan that relate to Roma education will be separated and revised by the BiH Ministry of Human Rights and Refugees, with the involvement of Roma community in BiH, and the support of the Open Society Fund BiH. The reasons are: (1) the educational needs of Roma largely differ from the needs of other national minorities, (2) there is a need for a Roma National Education Plan, as this is seen by some as a prerequisite for joining the Decade of Roma Inclusion 2005 – 2015. BiH is not a member of the Roma Decade, but there are indications that it might become a member in near future. This would be a praiseworthy development, as it would enable communication and exchange experiences on a wider scale, a certain inflow of funding, and certainly an added advocacy pressure on the BiH state to start acting on its promises regarding Roma education.

CROATIA
General integration of the Serbian minority in the war-affected areas - Areas of Special State Concern
Organisations involved in the project/programme/measure/policy (as the case):

Initiating group/ Implementing organisation	Serbian Democratic Forum (SDF) Gudnulićeva 55, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia Tel: ++ 385(0)1 492 1816, Fax: ++385 (0)1 4921 827, E-mail: [e-mail], Web-page: www.sdf.hr, Contact person: Mr Obrad Ivanović
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