The International Roma Union - IRU, at its last Parliamentary session on 28 and 29 June 2019 in Skopje, Republic of Macedonia, launched the initiative proposed by the President of IRU, Mr. Zoran Dimov, entitled "Initiative for establishing an independent body - Contact Point - Roma Ombudsman ".
The initiative was presented by Mr. Zeljko Shajn - M.Sc. in Law in the Republic of Serbia.
Starting from key Council of Europe documents, the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities and the European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, as well as the anti-discrimi- nation legislation of the European Union, which provides for mechanisms for the protection of human rights, but at the same time, the community does not use it, that is, there is no representation in the structures in order to strengthen the trust among the representatives of the Roma community and the same, it is proposed to establish a contact- point: Roma Ombudsman.
This institution, initially introduced within the International Roma Union, and as an advocate of the Roma community among the Roma and existing mechanisms, is expected, together with the existing institutions, to define its mandate under the auspices of some of the existing international and regional organizations, that is, to institutionalize.
In this regard, support is expected from the European Union, the Council of Europe, the United Nations, and France, which through its ambassador in the Republic of Macedonia. Northern Macedonia, noted that she is interested in helping the process.
The Initiative for the Establishment of an Independent Body - Contact Point - Roma Ombudsman, emerged from the current developments in the field of respect for Fundamental Human Rights and Freedoms, with an emphasis on the Roma Nation.
