Current best practices

• Author: Bojic, Ines
• Pages: 105-105

105

10 CURRENT BEST PRACTICES

People’s Ombudsperson and Disability Ombudsperson Office

The People’s Ombudsperson and the Disability Ombudsperson are good examples of

equality bodies. They are very active and engaged in the execution of their competences

and can be considered reliable and available to provide adequate support to victims of

discrimination. Both Ombudspersons are also very active in raising public awareness as

well as in the education of public and experts, improves the quality of protection against

discrimination. They also participate in legislative proceedings, issue opinions,

recommendations and proposals, publish annual reports and organise seminars,

conferences, roundtables and similar educational events with the aim of sharing

experiences and good practice in the field of discrimination.

Roma Housing Projects

In April 2019, the annual programme for housing solutions and improvement of living

conditions of the members of the Roma national minority was adopted.454 The

programme will be implemented through two schemes of which scheme 1 concerns

housing and scheme 2 the improvement of living conditions for Roma people. The first

scheme provides for one of the following: donations of building m aterial for the

renovation, extension, and completion of construction of fa mily houses owned or co-

owned by a Roma person or donation of building materials for the construction of a

house on a building land owned or co-owned by a Roma person. Additionally, the state

provides financial assets in the amount of 25 % of the value of the building materials,

which money can be used only for paying construction costs. Scheme 2 provides for the

donation of household appliances (fridges, washing machines, stoves and so on) and

furniture (chairs, tables, closet). The available budget is allocated on a first-come, first-

served basis. The value of the programme is HRK 1 500 000, which is approximately

EUR 200 000.

In 2019, the Roma Union of Croatia and local self-government units signed five

agreements concerning the construction of playing fields in Roma settlements in the

towns of Slavonski Brod, Belišće, Čakovec, and Beli Manastir, and in Nedelišće

municipality. Furthermore, in May 2019, construction of sports fields in the Roma

settlements in urđevec and Kuršanec were completed.

In 2019 there were also several projects concerning electrification and urbanisation in

those areas. For example, street lighting was installed in the Roma settlement of Zlatnica

and in September 2019, the Croatian electricity company (HEP) agreed to install 176 new

electric connections in Roma settlements. It is expected that more connections will be

installed in the future.

The biggest housing project in Roma settlements is the project in Darda municipality,

which has been on-going since 2014 and is expected to finish by 2023. The plan is to

build 87 family houses and 2 playgrounds with the aim of better including Roma in the

social and economic life of all inhabitants of Darda. The specific goal is to improve the

quality of living conditions and conditions for the upbringing and schooling of children and

youth, to improve the chances of employment of Roma and to increase the value of the

real estate.

454 Annual programme for housing solutions and improvement of living conditions of the members of the Roma

national minority. Available at https://sduosz.gov.hr/UserDocsImages/dokumenti/20190516122657.pdf.