After the failure of the Roma community to obtain important positions in both the legislature and the executive, after the parliamentary elections in the Republic of Northern Macedonia, and the formation of the Government led by Prime Minister Zoran Zaev, the question arises: How to proceed in important issues and priorities regarding the Roma community?
In the run-up to the elections, the then leader of SDSM, Zoran Zaev, promised that some of the ministries in the Government would be cut, but in return, the so-called Directories. According to Zaev, according to Zaev, one of those Directorates is reserved for the Roma community. In fact, according to some guidelines, he will take over the competencies of the former Minister without portfolio for the implementation and enforcement of the action plans of the Roma Strategy.
But in fact, how the Directorate will function is still unclear. In the last 2-3 years, the non-governmental sector has debated and discussed in that direction, about the success of the work of the Minister without portfolio, where there was literally always a party man, who worked according to the party agenda, without any major feedback in various areas with which the Roma community is affected.
In this regard, the Advocacy Network for Sustainable and Systemic Solutions, the Roma NGO sector, the President of the International Roma Union (IRU) Zoran Dimov, as well as the informal RDS movement for the Roma Times stressed the need for the Directorate to be operational as soon as possible. strategy. To these questions for the Roma Times, the President of the International Roma Union (IRU) Zoran Dimov emphasized the following:
"First and foremost, the election of the head of the Directorate should be a person who will be non-partisan who will be ready to fulfill tasks and achieve results, to have a high level of education and to be elected through an open competition. I also suggest that care be taken with the team he will work with not to be narrow-minded people, on the contrary to look for professionals who will be fully committed to the tasks and fulfillment of the results.
I suggest that the Directorate be responsible for the implementation of the Strategy for Roma and that it be the leading institution in terms of representing the state policy in the direction of integration of Roma in society. The government must take care not to overlap the competencies and responsibilities with other structures that currently operate in some ministries.
In order to effectively implement, a constructive dialogue is needed with the representatives of the Roma community such as the MP Ms. Shikovska, Mr. Asan Ferat and other coalition partners from the Roma political bloc as well as the Roma NGO sector.
With the establishment of the Directorate for Implementation of the Roma Strategy, the Republic of Northern Macedonia will additionally send a clear signal to the European Union of the commitment to integration and addressing the needs of the Roma community in society. This will give a clear picture in the society that the Government of the Republic of Northern Macedonia is not only declarative but also in works for "One society for all" said Zoran Dimov.
