Roma are one of Europe's most vulnerable
and marginalized groups, with poverty and
unemployment rates that far outstrip national
averages. Roma unemployment is an estimated 64 per cent
in Slovakia, 51 per cent in Bulgaria, 32 per
cent in the Czech Republic and 25 per cent
in Hungary and Romania.
While Roma employment issues have to date
been primarily a concern of social workers
and civil society, demographic trends are
increasing the importance of young Roma workers
for continued growth in some of Central Europe's
most dynamic economies. With this report,
UNDP aims to bring companies into the development
dialogue.
"Business can complement government and
civil society efforts to combat discrimination
and help find innovative solutions to Roma
unemployment," said Mr. Slay. "Better
recruitment and retention of Roma employees
is also better business. Roma integration
can raise growth through higher productivity,
increased consumption and investment."
However, the report found that practical guidance
for companies seeking to implement diversity
policies is lacking, and more support was
needed to help companies boost Roma employment
and maximize the associated business benefits.
"This report tries to address the gap,"
said Mr. Slay.
"Employing the Roma: Insights from
Business" was presented in Brussels
on 28-29 November 2005 at the European Commission
conference, entitled "Business Case for
Diversity: Good Practices in the Workplace".
UNDP's work with business in promoting Roma
employment is part of UNDP's broader engagement
with the private sector in the framework of
the UN Global Compact, a Corporate Social
Responsibility initiative that calls businesses
to endorse 10 principles on human rights,
labour and environmental standards. For more
information about the Global Compact, please
visit www.unglobalcompact.org
http://news.undp.sk/index.cfm?fuseaction=browse.article&id=11&aid=249&pid=1
For the full text of "Employing the
Roma: Insights from Business": http://news.undp.sk/index.cfm?fuseaction=browse.article&id=11&aid=250&pid=1
*CIS countries are Armenia, Azerbaijan,
Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan,
Moldova, Russian Federation, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan,
Ukraine and Uzbekistan.
