ANNUAL REPORT 2004 build networks, and receive further training on specif- Contact Point for Roma and Sinti Issues 3. Addressing problems related to crisis situations ic policy issues that need to be dealt with in co-operation with local and national authorities. As food for thought for these meetings, the ODIHR commissioned a report on good practices on the par- “The participating States have an obligation ticipation of Roma as appointed officials in local state to ensure that, even in crisis and post-crisis sit- administration, which documented the experiences of uations, all the fundamental rights … are se- Roma advisers at various levels of state administration cured without discrimination.” in the Czech Republic and Romania. One of the report’s main findings was that the practice of recruiting Roma OSCE Action Plan on Improving the Situation advisers in local administrations seems to be more ef- of Roma and Sinti Within the OSCE Area fective when such positions are based on laws or administrative decisions that coincide with the laws on the status of public officials rather than when they are The Roma of Kosovo the result of ad hoc political arrangements. When advisers are appointed under such arrangements, the re- Deep-rooted hostility and ethnic hatred against Roma port indicates, their job performance, accountability, exploded violently during conflicts in Kosovo. The au- and the sustainability of their positions are question- thorities and international community responsible for able. administering the province of Kosovo still have to cope with the unresolved situation of entire Roma neighbourhoods that have been destroyed (in Mitrovica, for Local Roma contact points example) and the hundreds of families who have been The ODIHR established a network of local Roma con- expelled from their legal residences, without any visi- tact points throughout South-Eastern Europe in 2003 ble prospects for property restoration. These families and 2004. The contact points are Roma selected by the have become internally displaced persons (IDPs) in ODIHR to act as intermediaries between Roma commu- Kosovo or other parts of Serbia or have become nities and local authorities. The purpose of this project refugees in neighbouring states. is not only to improve communication between Roma populations and the authorities but also to train young The ODIHR, in close co-operation with the United Na- Roma professionals in preparation for possible future tions High Commissioner for Refugees, the Council of engagements in institutions and organizations dealing Europe, and local NGOs, continues to assist refugees with Roma affairs. and IDPs throughout the Balkans to develop internal structures and capacities that allow them to make ef- In 2004, the ODIHR sponsored six Roma interns who fective contributions to finding durable solutions to worked in the local administration in the municipalities their problems together with local and national au- of Vrane and Nis as part of a programme run by the thorities, Roma organizations, and the international Ministry of Human and Minority Rights of Serbia and community. Montenegro and the OSCE Mission to Serbia and Montenegro. Similar arrangements are being considered In December, the ODIHR facilitated a regional meeting for municipalities in Moldova and the former Yugoslav in Belgrade of NGOs and IDPs from Serbia and Mon- Republic of Macedonia in 2005. tenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina. The purpose of 75