The people’s perception of the Romanies in Moldova has improved owing to the efforts made by governmental and nongovernmental organizations to combat the negative stereotypes of the Romani people. Such a conclusion was reached by the participants in the roundtable meeting “Increasing the level of inclusion of the Romanies in Moldova: new approach”, IPN reports.

Varvara Nanita, community mediator in Drochia district, said the Roma ethnics started to be appreciated by the communities where they live. This is also due to the fact that the Romanies express interest in the community activities and becoming involved in social actions together with the villagers. They take part in the repair and cleaning of wells and the development of tourist facilities, playgrounds and green areas. The Roma want to give a good example and show they are not indifferent to the developments around them.

Varvara Nanita also said that a positive trend is also seen in the attitude of the medical and education institutions. Many Romani children go to school, while the doctors are more tolerant of the members of this community. However, the situation of the Romani people is difficult from economic viewpoint and this makes them emigrate abroad together with their families.

A separate role in this change of attitude is played by the community mediators, who until this year worked as volunteers, said Varvara Nanita, adding that this post was finally included in the nomenclature of occupations and thus the community mediators will receive an official salary.

Tatiana Costev, director of the Resource and Consultancy Center “Our Yard”, said the situation of the Romanies is anyway critical and racial discrimination persists. The Romanies are perceived better owing to the measures taken to raise awareness and to mobilize the Roma.

Pius Frick, country representative of the “Liechtenstein Development Service” Foundation, said one of the problems of the local authorities is the absence of exact statistical data about the Roma ethnics. Thus, the organizations implementing projects for the Romanies have to use different data and from different sources.

According to Pius Frick, the change in the society’s attitude to the Roma is a matter of time and its length depends on the level of involvement of the Romanies.