The Expert Group on Health consists of NGO activists and health care professionals, as well as students of medicine and pharmacy who constitute future potential for the integration of Roms within the Macedonian health care system. This Group’s discussions have also focused on the improvement of the national strategy for the integration of Roms in Macedonia. Among the issues of particular concern addressed by the Expert Group on Health are the most frequent diseases amongst Romani population in Macedonia and vaccination amongst Romani children. Further, the members of the Group are interested in issues of social and health care security,and discrimination within health care system, among others.
The Expert Group on Employment consists in large part of experienced NGO activists in the field of employment, representatives of various Macedonian ministries, social workers, and law students. The discussins of the Employment Expert Group have focused on various topics, such as: unemployment rates amongst Roms, reasons for unemployment, profiles of qualified Roms as well as the possibilities of mainstreaming the traditional Romani crafts and their significance for the Macedonian society. Another area of discussion has been improvement of the national strategy for the integration of Roms in Macedonia.
The Expert Group on Civil Rights is predominantly a coalition of lawyers, law students and NGO activists who are interested in a wide spectrum of social issues, from discrimination within the society to awareness amongst Roms with regards to universal human rights and freedoms. What is specific for this Expert Group is that the members’ interests are closely connected to the legal aspects of health care, education and employment and Roms in Macedonia. As is true of the other Expert Groups, the discussions of the Expert Group on Civil Rights have focused on the improvement of the national strategy for the integration of Roms in Macedonia.
