THE final version of the Government's Action Plan for Implementation of the Framework Programme for Equal Integration of Roma in the Bulgarian Society has been approved by the Cabinet.
It was drafted on the basis of the Framework Programme for Equal Integration of Roma in Bulgarian Society, created by the Human Rights Project in 1998. The framework programme was supported by more than 75 Roma organisations throughout the country and on April 22, 1999, was approved by the then Government.
The Action Plan contains eight sections. One of the largest is dedicated to the implementation of anti-discrimination legislation. It lays down measures for education of police in using the anti-discrimination legislation. It insists on the introduction of obligatory rules for anti-discriminatory conduct in the job descriptions of schoolteachers. Most of the money provided under the regulations of the Action Plan is meant for combatting unemployment among Roma people. It envisages that 78 383 people will be guaranteed jobs. The plan has chapters on health care and education. According to them the appointment of assistant Roma teachers will be legitimised. Up to now school principals have not been able to hire them because there is no such position in the regulations concerning the public sector. About 1.2 million leva will be spent throughout the country on salaries of assistant teachers. They help teachers in the education of Roma children who do not know enough Bulgarian. Two million leva is provided for free textbooks for children in grade two, and for children of poor families.
Under the Action Plan, 284 houses will be built for Roma families in Plovdiv. Under PHARE and UNDP projects, the infrastructure of Roma neighbourhoods in four other cities will be improved.
About 55 000 leva will be spent on celebrations of traditional Roma holidays.
The total sum for the implementation of the Action Plan is 271 199 431 leva. The total amount of money spent on different Roma programs by the Bulgarian Government in 2002 was about 12 million euro, which means that there is a 10-fold increase.
It was drafted on the basis of the Framework Programme for Equal Integration of Roma in Bulgarian Society, created by the Human Rights Project in 1998. The framework programme was supported by more than 75 Roma organisations throughout the country and on April 22, 1999, was approved by the then Government.
The Action Plan contains eight sections. One of the largest is dedicated to the implementation of anti-discrimination legislation. It lays down measures for education of police in using the anti-discrimination legislation. It insists on the introduction of obligatory rules for anti-discriminatory conduct in the job descriptions of schoolteachers. Most of the money provided under the regulations of the Action Plan is meant for combatting unemployment among Roma people. It envisages that 78 383 people will be guaranteed jobs. The plan has chapters on health care and education. According to them the appointment of assistant Roma teachers will be legitimised. Up to now school principals have not been able to hire them because there is no such position in the regulations concerning the public sector. About 1.2 million leva will be spent throughout the country on salaries of assistant teachers. They help teachers in the education of Roma children who do not know enough Bulgarian. Two million leva is provided for free textbooks for children in grade two, and for children of poor families.
Under the Action Plan, 284 houses will be built for Roma families in Plovdiv. Under PHARE and UNDP projects, the infrastructure of Roma neighbourhoods in four other cities will be improved.
About 55 000 leva will be spent on celebrations of traditional Roma holidays.
The total sum for the implementation of the Action Plan is 271 199 431 leva. The total amount of money spent on different Roma programs by the Bulgarian Government in 2002 was about 12 million euro, which means that there is a 10-fold increase.
