the meeting was to establish a task force on Roma viduals have unclear residency status in a particular re- refugees and IDPs that would work in co-operation gion or municipality. As a result of legal and adminis- with relevant national agencies, the UN High Commis- trative complexities (which are often exacerbated by sioner for Refugees, and OSCE field missions. While the the process of transition in former communist countries task force has been established to a degree, it is not yet or by reforms in the area of urban management in es- operational. tablished democracies), large numbers of Roma and Sinti families throughout the OSCE region frequently The ODIHR and the OSCE Mission in Kosovo have also face forced evictions and a variety of forms of harass- been working closely together to help the Roma and ment. Ashkali populations that continue to live in Kosovo. Since July 2004, the ODIHR and the NGO Balkan Sun- One approach to solving such problems can be illus- flower have been supporting a Documentation Office trated by a project to legalize the Roma settlement in for Roma and Ashkali, in Pristina, that is working to in- the municipality of Kocani in the former Yugoslav Re- crease electoral registration and turnout among Roma public of Macedonia. Initiated by the NGO Bright Fu- and Ashkali at elections in the province. This office cre- ture, the Mayor’s Office, and the Municipal Council, ated a Roma Forum involving representatives of the both the ODIHR and the OSCE Spillover Monitor Mis- Kosovar Roma political community and civil society. sion to Skopje have been supporting this project since The Forum used the OSCE Action Plan as a basis for August 2004. producing its own Kosovo Roma Action Plan for the 2004 Election. Implementing this project is a complex matter that requires a host of technical documentation, approvals from the relevant ministers in the central government, Preventing conflicts in local contexts public consultations with the community, and debates As tasked by the OSCE Action Plan, the ODIHR began in and decisions in the local council. This process is driven 2004 to take a proactive approach to analysing meas- by the Roma community, their representatives in the ures taken by participating States in relation to Roma national parliament and the central government, and and related groups and to offer advice in cases where Roma NGOs, all acting in sustained co-operation with tensions could erupt into violence. local authorities and members of the community. As part of this new approach, the ODIHR launched a Improving policing in multiethnic communities project in 2004 on the legalization of land and housing for Roma and Sinti communities. Continuing earlier The ODIHR began a new two-year programme in 2004 work aimed at ensuring that Roma and related groups called Police and Roma: Towards Safety for Multiethnic have equal access to housing (a prerequisite for access Communities. The first stage of this programme in- to public services and civil rights), it aims to reduce so- volved workshops in Busteni, Romania, in November cial tensions that often arise in relation to the question and in Wroc_aw, Poland, at the beginning of 2005 that of housing. began a dialogue among senior officers of the police, Roma NGOs, local authorities and international ex- Large communities of Roma and Sinti live in circum- perts on relations between the police and Roma in stances of uncertain legality. For example, houses and multiethnic communities. Similar workshops will be settlements are located on disputed lands; families and held in South-Eastern Europe and one or two countries individuals often lack permits for construction; or indi- of the European Union in 2005. 76