Partnership for Roma Protection, Prevention & Promotion

Since September 2010 NSHC has been implementing the project "Protection of Rights and Prevention of Violence and Discrimination against Roma" in partnership with the Bulgarian Institute for Legal Initiatives (BILI), Roma women's organization "Daja" from Macedonia, and the organization "Romani CRISS" from Romania.
The project is part of the Regional Partnership for Roma Protection, Prevention and Promotion" implemented by the American Bar Association - Rule of Law Initiative (ABA ROLI), supported by the U.S. Department of State.

Within the project in Vojvodina, a legal clinic has been established. Pro bono lawyers are visiting Roma communities, and providing legal services and counseling. Legal assistance is provided in the area of housing, health and social care, employment, family and inheritance law, and most of the assistance is related to obtaining of personal documents.

Many of our beneficiaries are internally displaced persons (IDPs) from Kosovo and Metohija. They encounter numerous obstacles when trying to obtain documents such as birth and death certificates, citizenship certificates, etc. In addition, a large number of Roma, including IDPs, are living in illegal settlements and can not register their real address. This is another obstacle for obtaining personal documents (identity card, health insurance card) that are a prerequisite for exercising various civil rights.

Legal assistance is now provided in Novi Sad, Subotica, Apatin and Backi Monostor, and the visits are planned to Roma communities in Bogojevo, Odzaci, Deronje, as well as to other municipalities in Vojvodina. The services are provided by a team made up of lawyers, with experience in court procedures, legal assistance provision, and NGO work.

In addition to individual legal consultations, community law schools are also organized as public forums to inform members of the Roma population on how to access their basic rights and protect themselves from  discrimination. This is an opportunity to develop mutual trust and dialogue with representatives of civil society and state authorities, and to present examples of obstacles that Roma often face when addressing the public authorities.

Project activities are carried out in cooperation with local Roma organizations, which guide us through the main problems of the Roma community, identify cases and connect them with lawyers in the field.

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Case study

A Roma women living in the settlement Veliki Rit, Novi Sad, an internally displaced person from Kosovo and the mother of a one-year-old born in Germany, addressed  authorities in order to get a health insurance card. However, because the child did not have an identification number, and both of them did not have a legal residence in Novi Sad, the police headquarters referred her to Kraljevo police department.

Since the women had no financial means to travel to Kraljevo, and did not really understand which legal actions to take, she asked NSHC for help in solving this problem. After the lawyers spoke with the Health Insurance Department branch in Novi Sad, referring to the relevant legal norms by which women and children are entitled to health insurance, they got their health cards on the same day.

The second Regional Meeting of Roma Leaders, Lake Ohrid, 10-14 July 2011

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United States Ambassador Mary Warlick Visits NSHC

Ambassador Warlick was interested in the problems of NSHC's Roma beneficiares who are internally displaced persons from Kosovo and Metohija. They pointed out lack of personal documents and the complicated procedure for obtaining an ID card as their major problems, which prevent them from exercising other rights in the areas of social and health care, education, labor and other. Specifically, the Roma who have the status of internally displaced persons have to address the registry offices in southern Serbia to obtain birth certificates or certificates of citizenship. The process is time consuming and requires travelling and additional costs, which many can not afford.

An additional problem is the inability of residence registration at the address where they live, as this is an illegal settlement with no street and house numbers. NSHC has started an initiative to award temporary street names and house numbers to the Roma settlement of Veliki Rit in the suburbs of Novi Sad, where, in addition to the domestic population, a large number of internally displaced persons live.  That would allow the Police Department of Novi Sad to enter their addresses in the official registry and issue identity cards to a large number of IDPs.

Representatives of NSHC, lawyer Dijana Malbasa and program coordinator Danijela Korac-Mandic, highlighted the problem of low educational status of Roma population and the consequent poverty that is passed from generation to generation. They briefly presented the causes of such situation, which are not only poverty but also lack of support for education of children, particularly girls, within the Roma communities, as well as within educational institutions.

At the end of the visit, Ambassador Mary Warlick expressed her gratitude for the opportunity to talk with beneficiaries from the Roma population and associates of NSHC, and announced continued support of the United States to the establishment of the rule of law in Serbia and protection of human rights of minorities and vulnerable groups. NSHC expressed appreciation for the visit and for the support from the U.S. Department of State for the implementation of activities for protection and promotion of Roma rights.

Find out more:

Ambassador Warlick Visits Roma Representatives in Novi Sad (US Embassy Belgrade News)

RTV Vojvodina: Good Relations between USA and Novi Sad (Youtube video)

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NOVI SAD HUMANITARIAN CENTER 2004 - 2011