A regional visit to Transcarpathia was conducted from 5-7 November 2024 to exchange information and gain insights into the situation and needs of national minorities, including Roma, with a particular focus on access to quality education and the use of minority languages.
A delegation, comprising representatives of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, the State Service of Ukraine for Ethnic Affaires and Freedom of Conscience, the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, the Office of the Ombudsman of Ukraine, the European Commission and the Council of Europe, visited educational institutions where Roma children study, educational institutions with Hungarian and Slovak as the language of education, Romanian and Roma settlements, governmental institutions. They also met with representatives of various national minorities and held bilateral meetings with Hungarian, Romanian, and Slovak national minority leaders.
The delegation gained firsthand knowledge of the situation on the ground, identified the needs of national minority communities, observed the organization of the educational process in schools using minority languages, and received recommendations for enhancing the implementation of the State Programme "Unity in Diversity" and the Roma National Strategy until 2030.
Following the visit, a working meeting will be held with the relevant authorities to review the findings of the visit and discuss ways to strengthen the implementation of the above-mentioned actions until 2030.
We would like to express our gratitude to our parners, Transcarpathia Regional State Administration, Roma mediators and all those who took part in the constructive dialogue and fruitful cooperation.
The visit was organised within the framework of the EU and Council of Europe project ‘Support for implementing European standards relating to anti-discrimination and rights of national minorities in Ukraine’ and ‘Supporting the reform of the national minority legal framework and the resilience of national minorities and Roma in Ukraine’.
