well with strengthening and upgrading of this informal body these meetings, an Internet forum was created through of the Contact Group’s meetings; immediately after the ap- which Roma and other stakeholders could read drafts and proval of the Action Plan in November, preparations began could offer and discuss proposed sections for the final docu- for a meeting of the Contact Group in spring 2004. ment. Roma and Sinti men and women from across the OSCE area made use of this opportunity and contributed to International Roma representation at the European a document reflective of grass-roots concerns. At the Minis- level terial Council Meeting in Maastricht in December, the Contact Point organized a side event with the co-operation of The Contact Point supports the establishment of interna- the Dutch Foreign Ministry in order to discuss implementa- tional Roma representation at the European level. It facili- tion with Roma policy experts. tated the creation of a Roma Contact Group in October 2000 that regularly assembles representatives of the two In 2004, the Action Plan will be the Contact Point’s main pri- major international Roma associations - the International ority. The Action Plan will further strengthen the ODIHR's Romani Union and the Roma National Congress - as well as ability to assist OSCE governments in fulfilling their commit- Roma experts and elected Roma parliamentarians and offi- ments to improve the situation of Roma and Sinti in their cials. The Roma Contact Group functions as a partner of countries. The Action Plan contains recommendations for international organizations in defining and implementing governments to ensure that the Roma in their countries Roma-related activities. enjoy equal rights with all other citizens. The ODIHR will continue to advise governments on defining policies on Roma- The Contact Point has also been actively involved in the related issues and on their subsequent implementation. Sup- process of developing modalities for the creation of a pan- plementary to this, the Action Plan also includes a set of European Roma assembly with consultative functions, as concrete activities to be directly implemented by the Contact proposed by Finnish President Tarja Halonen in a speech Point. These mainly expand on the Contact Point’s experi- before the Council of Europe’s Parliamentary Assembly in ences with its current work programme in the areas of poli- January 2001. In line with this, the Contact Point is facili- cy-making, conflict prevention and management, elections tating the participation of Roma organizations and repre- and political participation, and international co-ordination sentatives in the preparatory process for the creation of and representation. such an assembly. Future priorities The OSCE Permanent Council passed the OSCE Action Plan for Improvement of the Situation of Roma and Sinti in November 2003. This Action Plan was drafted over the course of several months by a working group comprised of delegations of participating States. In developing the plan, the working group was assisted and advised by the ODIHR Contact Point, which gathered proposals for the agreement from a wide circle of policy experts and members of Roma and Sinti communities. The Contact Point organized open international meetings for this purpose in Skopje in July, in Vienna in September, and in Warsaw in October. In addition to 66