Employment, housing, education and health are the four fields where Roma face enormous challenges, said Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski at the 5^th Conference on Roma and Roma Refugees, held in Skopje on Wednesday.

"Roma receive support in several programmes for inclusive growth, such as self-employment, employment subsidies, agriculture subsidies and many others, which have resulted in the employment of Roma citizens", said PM Gruevski.

He said a Roma Language Department had been established at the Skopje-based Faculty of Philology, along with projects for inclusion of Roma children in pre-school, elementary, secondary and university education.

"Regarding the field of housing and infrastructure, many projects for construction of roads, water supply systems and utilities have been implemented. Moreover, the project for construction of social apartments has included the allocation of such apartments to Roma citizens", added Gruevski.

In the field of health, the project Roma Health Mediator is implemented towards educating the Roma population over access to healthcare and advisory services towards improving the quality of life and promoting healthy lifestyle.

"All these projects clearly refer to our commitment in helping our fellow citizens of the Roma nationality towards a better life in Macedonia. Roma represent a significant segment of our society and contribute in all spheres of social life", said Gruevski.

Minister without portfolio Nezdet Mustafa said the Government had allocated significant funds for the Roma Decade, accompanied by donations.

"The Government has opened the door of true implementation of the Roma Decade through scholarships for Roma students, inclusion of Roma children, introduction of health mediators, and the opening of Roma info-centers", said Mustafa.

Minister of Labor and Social Policy Dime Spasov said the Government was obliged to seek solutions and implement projects towards overcoming challenges Roma coped with.

"The vulnerability of Roma requires coordinated and long-term strategy by competent institutions and all stakeholders, resulting in equal opportunities for all", stressed Spasov.

EU Ambassador Aivo Orav said the third summit dedicated to Roma would be held in Brussels this April.

"Implementation of the summit conclusions will be significant in improving the state of Roma in society and the quality of their life", added Orav.

Secretariat for European Affairs State Secretary Jovan Andonovski said the Roma Decade implementation was high on the Government's agenda.

"This is demonstrated by the fact that Budget funds for the Roma Decade increased in times of crisis", underlined Andonovski.