THE Government has been accused of failing to implement Phare programmes to integrate Roma people into Bulgarian society, raising the risk that the World Bank will withdraw its financing.
The programmes are worth about 12 million euro.
Svetlana Vassileva, former secretary of the National Council for Ethnic and Demographic Affairs (NCEDA) a Cabinet body, told a news conference hosted by Roma organisations that neither the previous nor the current government had been using pre-accession facility funds for Roma integration programmes.
Vassileva is currently on the board of trustees of the Open Society Foundation.
Government spokesperson Dimitar Tsonev responded that the NCEDA was implementing the Phare projects.
"Vassileva was speaking about the 1999-2001 period, when there was really a serious delay that nearly frustrated two projects: one financed with about 500 000 euro by Phare and another, for some $500 000 from the World Bank," Tsonev said, quoting chairman of NCEDA Nezhdet Mollov.
Mollov said that the World Bank was planning to withdraw its financing from the project if it did not make any progress.
He emphasised that the new composition of the National Council did everything possible for the absorption of the funds, as a result of which the Phare project was successfully completed and the project involving the World Bank was being successfully implemented.
"In the project's framework the National Council and the Association of Roma Organisations last week signed an agreement on implementation of a project to evaluate the fulfilment of the Framework Programme for Equitable Integration of Roma in Bulgarian Society," Tsonev said.
The Phare Roma integration projects, which are being implemented or have already been completed, include access to education, Roma neighbourhoods urbanisation and training of teachers working with Roma children. Other projects include improvement of school attendance by socially disadvantaged Roma children, and creation and implementation of anti-discrimination legislation. A three-stage Roma Social Integration Project, urbanisation and social development of regions with predominant minority populations are also in the process of implementation.
Two further projects are the pre-project study of housing conditions of Roma in Bulgaria, and Roma access to health services.
The programmes are worth about 12 million euro.
Svetlana Vassileva, former secretary of the National Council for Ethnic and Demographic Affairs (NCEDA) a Cabinet body, told a news conference hosted by Roma organisations that neither the previous nor the current government had been using pre-accession facility funds for Roma integration programmes.
Vassileva is currently on the board of trustees of the Open Society Foundation.
Government spokesperson Dimitar Tsonev responded that the NCEDA was implementing the Phare projects.
"Vassileva was speaking about the 1999-2001 period, when there was really a serious delay that nearly frustrated two projects: one financed with about 500 000 euro by Phare and another, for some $500 000 from the World Bank," Tsonev said, quoting chairman of NCEDA Nezhdet Mollov.
Mollov said that the World Bank was planning to withdraw its financing from the project if it did not make any progress.
He emphasised that the new composition of the National Council did everything possible for the absorption of the funds, as a result of which the Phare project was successfully completed and the project involving the World Bank was being successfully implemented.
"In the project's framework the National Council and the Association of Roma Organisations last week signed an agreement on implementation of a project to evaluate the fulfilment of the Framework Programme for Equitable Integration of Roma in Bulgarian Society," Tsonev said.
The Phare Roma integration projects, which are being implemented or have already been completed, include access to education, Roma neighbourhoods urbanisation and training of teachers working with Roma children. Other projects include improvement of school attendance by socially disadvantaged Roma children, and creation and implementation of anti-discrimination legislation. A three-stage Roma Social Integration Project, urbanisation and social development of regions with predominant minority populations are also in the process of implementation.
Two further projects are the pre-project study of housing conditions of Roma in Bulgaria, and Roma access to health services.
