101608

Roma in an Expanding Europe: Challenges for the Future


by
James D. Wolfensohn
President
The World Bank
Budapest, Hungary, July 1, 2003

Mr. Chairman and George (George Soros, CEO, Soros Foundation), Prime
Ministers and Friends,

Let me first thank our hosts from Hungary and you Prime Minister Medyessy
for all that you have done to make this meeting so successful. Let me
thank also our colleagues in the European Union for their joint
sponsorship of this meeting with the Soros Foundation and the World Bank.

I have been sitting quietly, wondering what one could add after the
remarkable sequence of speeches made by those who attended the conference
and by the political leadership of the region. I suppose the first thing
that one should observe is that this is truly a unique occasion—to have
nine government leaders, one after the other indicating their commitment
to our joint programs, to have nine government leaders recognize publicly
and in the presence of Roma leadership the need to resolve an issue,
which has been with us for centuries, and to establish the sense of
urgency that has been attested to by all, is something that is clearly
remarkable.

Also remarkable were the opening statements—the statements by Roma youth
and Roman women—put in such an articulate and eloquent ways   and a
summary of the proceedings by Dena Ringold from our World Bank team, to
whom I owe enormous debt for the work that she has done in preparing this
conference. It was truly a start that certainly moved my heart.

As was mentioned by Mr. Rudolf Chmel, Slovakia’s Minister of Culture, the
substance of the conference made me feel that statistics on the Roma
condition are important, but that people are more important, that the
heart and soul and the humanity conveyed today is what matters. I was
touched by Mark Malloch Brown’s (UNDP Administrator) comments when he
mentioned how in our crazy world we globalize and people turn up in the
strangest of places.

I suppose the first globalized citizens are in fact the Roma, because
they have been spread across several regions perhaps longer than anybody
else. In the context of today’s unpredictable world, I was struck by
Mark’s (Mark Malloch Brown, UNDP Administrator) reference to Mr. Saxe-
Coburg Gotha of Bulgaria, a Prime Minister who was a King, to George
Soros, an immigrant Hungarian and now a tycoon, and myself a poor
Australian Jewish boy now running the World Bank.

We are all here to deal with the question of the Roma. We are united not
because of our backgrounds, but because this is an issue which speaks to
us all at a human level. And it is at the level   of humanity that we come
together, not a level that we are forced to, or   a level of conscience, or
a level of moral persuasion. Finally, we united   because we have come to
recognize, as we look around the world, that it   is just impossible to let
this issue persist in the way that it has.

We in our institution (The World Bank Group) deal with poverty around the
world in developed and developing countries. Today 5 billion people out
of the total world population of 6 billion live in developing countries.
An estimated 3 billion are living on under 2 dollars a day. These 3
billion people account for half of humanity. And, in grappling with
persistent poverty, we talk of sub-Saharan Africa as Mark (Mark Malloch
Brown, UNDP Administrator) said, we talk of the issues in South Asia, and
we talk in very similar terms about the problems of indigenous people,
about the problems of gender rights, about the problems of education, of
opportunity of prejudice and the frustrations that flow from it, and of
the terror and of the wars that come when poverty is allowed to exist and
when people have no hope.

We describe the world of the Middle East, and describe the world of
Africa, of Kashmir and other places in these terms. And then we come to
Europe, rich Europe—with an economy of about $9 trillion—and then in the
midst of Europe we have the same problem, described in the same terms.
Problems of inequity, problems of social injustice, problems of
prejudice, problems of ignorance, problems of not caring.

In this context, it simply is not right that the Roma issue should not be
dealt with in Europe.   Fortunately, as we deal with the question of
accession into the European Union and as citizenship is offered to all,
and will be offered to 5 million more people of Roma origin within the
framework of the European Union, we are here to confront this issue head
on.   Of course, in the face of economic challenges, it is difficult to
bring about change when there is limited growth, and we all share that
conundrum. But what is clear is that much can be done, and much will be
done in relation to the injustices facing our Roma colleagues, which all
of us are determined to confront.

What I found deeply moving in Prime Minister Medgyessy’s introduction, as
well as in the speeches of the other leaders, was that they all went
beyond national work and national initiatives and also spoke to the need
for regional attention.   Everyone spoke in terms of humanity. This
conference was not a political gathering. This was a gathering that
reflects a very real change, a very real recognition.

If we can carry from this chamber—with pride and with the sense of
commitment—out into the world that sometimes buffets us and makes us
forget these things; if we can carry that out, then this Budapest meeting
will surely be one of historic proportions. This is an event in which
under the leadership of the Hungarian Prime Minister, we have agreed on a
course of action. A course of action that is visible, a course of action
that can be measured, a course of action for which we all will be judged
accountable.

Today we agreed to pursue the following two initatives.
One is to pursue a decade of Roma inclusion to run from 2005 to 2015.
This will in no way reinvent initiatives already taken, nor will it
replace successful efforts already under way. This initiative will help
us understand those ongoing efforts, learn from them and build on them so
that we can bring to the attention of the European and global public this
decade of progress that we will all plan for.

And why will it take a year for us to define and outline this? Because we
do not want to present today an empty program. We want to come back to
you in a year with a program that has been analyzed, negotiated, enriched
and is practical, and pragmatic, and around which we can be held
accountable. This is not a year’s pause, this is a year’s work.

This will be done under the leadership of Prime Minister Medgyessy
together with his colleagues from the other countries, all of whom agree
that this is a useful initiative. Each leader will appoint
representatives to work on this, but they will remain personally involved
and committed. Also, the initiative will engage the full cooperation of
the European Union, the Soros Foundation, the World Bank and other
interested groups that wish to join us.

But most importantly, this initiative will constitute a true partnership
with the Roma people. Roma leaders and representatives will shape,
contribute to and guide our decisions. I think today we saw evidence of
the intellect and the passion of these leaders. I am well aware that some
who have not spoken today, but to whom references have been made, such as
Nicolae Gheorghe who has made his own huge contribution, should be
recognized and included in what will be an inherently open process. And
we will be back with that plan in 12 months or so.

The second initiative will be an education fund, which we design in
consultation with the same group. I think we agree with what has been
said—that housing and unemployment are equally important, as is health,
as is gender, as is so many of the issues that arouse advocates for
social justice. But, as a particular and singular initiative, we are
committed to this education fund.

So as we launch these intiatives and get the organizing group started, I
think it is fair to say that all of us, including Roma leaders whom I
have spoken to, believe that this has not just been another meeting. This
is an epochal event that will make a lasting difference in the lives of
Roma people. And of course it is easy to be cynical, it is easy to say,
well, what is different. What is different is all of you in this
audience.

The future of this depends on each of your contributions. The future of
this depends on us going out of here changed, and optimistic, and
prepared to work.   Certainly, I can speak with conviction for my own
organization (The World Bank Group), where our mission is to fight
poverty with passion and we measure our success in terms of human
results. For us this is a cause that we embrace warmly, a cause that is
central to the human spirit, and a cause that we will succeed in
addressing in this coming year and in the years ahead.
Again thank you Prime Minister for your leadership.