School dropouts and early marriages discussed in Mostar

Mostar, 3 October 2024 – Today the OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina (Mission) organized a roundtable on school dropouts and early marriages in Mostar with the aim of enhancing the Roma inclusion in Herzegovina-Neretva Canton.

The roundtable, which served as a platform to discuss challenges related to school dropouts and early marriages, brought together representatives from the HNC Roma Action Plan Monitoring and Implementation Team, the HNC Coordination Body for Fight and Prevention of Trafficking, the HNC Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports, social welfare centres from HNC region, schools with Roma children and local police administrations. Representatives of the “Romska Ženska Mreža” presented findings from Roma communities across BiH while the Coordination Body shared its findings from the past two years.

The event is related to the cantonal local Action Plan (AP) for improving the position of Roma in Herzegovina-Neretva Canton (HNC) (2021–2024) which was adopted by the HNC Government in October 2020. The AP includes measures in education, health, social welfare, housing, employment, as well as strengthening of Roma communities and CSOs. While HNC annual reports highlight progress in communication with Roma communities, systematic data collection on the needs of Roma as well as efforts to educate Roma children and to prevent street begging still require continued work. Particularly the protection of Roma children demands special attention. 

While reports indicate that many Roma individuals face various forms of human trafficking, including forced labour, sexual exploitation, forced begging and child marriages, Roma children are an especially vulnerable group. To improve their protection, school dropouts and early marriages were identified as key issues that require more systematic response from relevant actors and authorities. Roma children are often faced d with systemic discrimination, which significantly hinders their educational outcomes, resulting in high dropout rates. This, in turn, limits their chances of accessing decent work, leaving many dropouts susceptible to street begging and other forms of exploitation. Similarly, despite the formal criminalization of child marriages, they still occur in some communities where traditional customs are misused further contributing to the cycle of disadvantage and exploitation experienced by Roma children.

The Mission commends the productive discussion which led to relevant recommendations, including the engagement of Roma community mediators, school assistants, and sensitized social service providers. Mission remains committed to working with authorities and CSOs to address these important issues.