In the population census of 2014, there were registered 9,323 persons who said they are of Roma ethnicity. This is 0.3% of the total pupation. However, many Romanies choose to hide their identity so as to avoid discrimination. According to different sources, such as reports, studies and surveys of international and nongovernmental organizations, the Roma population in the Republic of Moldova varies from 9,000 to 250,000, shows a draft Government decision concerning the approval of the Roma population support program for 2021-2025, IPN reports.
The program says the low level of acknowledgement of the importance and necessity of educating the Roma population and the precarious financial situation become major factors that influence the use of education services and also absenteeism and early leaving of the general education system. According to the Ministry of Education, Culture and Research, 1,634 Roma children were enrolled at school in 2020. Also, ten Roma children remained outside school and 52 abandoned school in 2019-2020. More than 220 Roma children are at risk of abandoning school.
The program also makes reference to the limited access to public health services, relatively low number of Romanians who have a mandatory health insurance policy, the involvement of Romanies in day labor and other poorly paid works, which cannot ensure a stable source of livelihood. The discrimination of the Roma continues to be one of the most unfavorable phenomena in the process of integrating them into society.
Among the objectives of the Roma population support program are to increase the sources sustainable of income and attenuate the economic inequalities, to improve access to physical infrastructure, public utilities and work conditions, to guarantee high-quality education for all, to realize the fundamental tight to the best physical and mental health and to a solid and inclusive social protection system.
The International Roma Day is celebrated annually on April 8. This was proclaimed at the fourth Congress of the International Romani Union held in Warsaw in 1990.
