The reports reviewed the adequacy of policies, the effectiveness of basic services with regard to Roma communities and young Roma children in particular, and identified good practices in early childhood care and education.
They include extreme poverty, intolerable living conditions, low educational levels of mothers and exclusion from the employment market, all of which undermine Roma family life and ultimately the health and development of infants and young Roma children.
Hopes for a change rest on the new generation of thousands of young Roma graduates, who may be less shy about their origins.Similarly, those not born into the Roma world can end up there by marriage, adoption or choice.
On the panel Reaching and Investing in Children at the Margins, Matache spoke on ethnic and linguistic diversity among young Roma children in Europe.
In Slovakia, far-right extremists organized anti-Roma demonstrations in August 2009 after two young Roma men from Ostrovany, in the east, nearly beat to death Stefan Pindroch, a 65-year-old caretaker at a soccer stadium in the neighboring town of Sarisske Michalany, when he tried to stop them from stealing a television.
Its purpose is to gather data and information about the inclusion of young Roma children in the early childhood services.
Studies by UNICEF and its partners have shown that the pressures on young Roma make them more likely to slip into drug and alcohol abuse and sex work than their non-Roma peers.
Our findings indicate that mental health care access is needed for young Roma children, especially given that early onset of adverse mental health predicts increased problems throughout the life course [ 33, 34].
In promoting the survival, development, protection and participation rights of young Roma children, through a variety of research, capacity building, advocacy and communication activities, RGSI incorporated a strong equity focus.
All countries of (CEE/CIS) region including those within Decade of Roma Inclusion: Develop and adopt policy and legal instruments and capacity to ensure the protection and promotion of the rights of young Roma children and their inclusion in all basic services from birth; Establish the necessary governance and accountability mechanisms, which ensure coverage, quality, and equity.
