Implementation of the OSCE Action Plan for Roma and Sinti: Status Reports

For 20 years, the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) has been tasked by participating States to promote “full integration of Roma and Sinti communities into the societies they live in, while preserving their identity” (1998 OSCE Oslo Ministerial Decision). This year marks the 15th anniversary of the “OSCE Action Plan on Improving the Situation of Roma and Sinti in the OSCE Area”. The primary objective of the Action Plan is “to reinforce the efforts of the participating States and relevant OSCE institutions and structures aimed at ensuring that Roma and Sinti people are able to play a full and equal part in our societies, and at eradicating discrimination against them.”

Since its adoption in 2003, the Action Plan on Improving the Situation of Roma and Sinti in the OSCE Area has provided the blueprint for OSCE States, institutions and field missions in addressing the marginalization, discrimination and, sometimes, hostility and violence that Roma communities and individuals face. This report, published ten years after the Action Plan’s adoption, is the second such effort to review and assess the progress made in following that blueprint.