minority rights in line with similar proactive
courses of action taken by neighbouring states.
The project builds capacities of central and
local government, NGOs and media on minority
rights and provides them with the proper tools
for mainstreaming minority issues in mechanisms of national and regional development
planning. A comprehensive public information
campaign serves to increase awareness about
disadvantaged minorities.
Based on intensive consultations and field visits,
the project implements activities based on six
key intervention goals:
Enhance Social Inclusion and Access of
Minorities to Social Services;
Support Community Participation to Address
Development Priorities;
Develop Capacities and Employable Skills;
Mobilize Community Volunteer Health and
Police Mediators;
Promote Minority Issues and Implement the
National Roma Strategy; and
Advocacy on Minority Issues and Social
Inclusion.
UN Volunteers (UNV) interventions at the community level in regions with large minority
populations are helping to building bridges
between government and minority citizens as
well as fostering a constructive dialogue within
the communities and with external government
and civil society stakeholders. The UNV project
also raises awareness about disadvantaged
minorities through a comprehensive public information campaign, supporting national media
to foster mutual understanding and promote
social inclusion. Advocacy activities promoted
International Roma Day, celebrated Roma culture by bringing movies to poor communities,
and involved the broadcast of a 15-minute
documentary. Additional activities including
free legal counselling and support, the raising
of awareness on the values of registration particularly among young women and expecting
mothers, and lobbying with relevant public
authorities will be incorporated into the project.
Among the tools created by the project are two
manuals that could be adapted for other UNDP
COs: a Training of Trainers Manual: Respecting
the Rights of Vulnerable Minorities and Promoting
Interculturalism in Albania (June 2006); and
a manual on surveying, Conducting a SocioEconomic Survey on Roma Community in Albania
(October 2007).
UNDP Ukraine has used an area-based approach
for its Crimean Integration and Development
Programme (CIDP). An ‘area-based approach’
can also complement targeted and inclusive
approaches. This can be particularly appropriate
when minorities are territorially concentrated.
An area-based approach can also stimulate cooperation between minority and majority groups
within a region in designing and implementing
development interventions, helping to increase
social cohesion if managed effectively. An areabased approach can be defined as targeting
specific geographical areas in a country, characterized by a particular development problem,
in an integrated, inclusive, participatory and
flexible manner.32
The CIDP was the main UNDP initiative aimed
at promoting peace and stability in the Crimean
peninsula where the Crimean Tatar minority
is marginalised. The ‘Emergency’ stage (19952000) of the programme was designed in order
to directly address the needs of formerly
deported people. Although such an approach
was justified by the extremely poor living conditions in which returnees lived, UNDP support
was viewed by the rest of population of Crimea
as unnecessarily selective given that many other
For more detailed information on Area-Based Development, see the “UNDP/RBEC Area-Based Development Practitioners Workshop, Crimea, Ukraine,
29-31 October 2003, Main Outcomes”, which is available at UNDP Ukraine.
32
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