The National Agency for the Roma (''Agenţia Naţională pentru Romi'' or ANR in

Romanian Romanian may refer to: *anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania **Romanians, an ethnic group **Romanian language, a Romance language ***Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language **Romanian cuisine, traditional ...

, ''Themeski Ajenciya le Romengi'' in

Romani Romani may refer to: Ethnicities * Romani people, an ethnic group of Northern Indian origin, living dispersed in Europe, the Americas and Asia ** Romani genocide, under Nazi rule * Romani language, any of several Indo-Aryan languages of the Roma ...

) is an agency of the

Romanian government , image = , caption=Logo of the Government of Romania , date = 1862 , state = Romania , address = Victoria PalaceBucharest , appointed = President , leader_title = Prime Minister , mai ...

which seeks to improve the social and economic situation of Romania's Roma minority, which make up 2.5% of the population and are the country's most disadvantaged minority. A government agency for Roma affairs was first established in February 1997, under the name of "National Office for the Roma", which was subordinated a component of the Department for the Protection of National Minorities. In July 2003, the agency was renamed the "Office for Roma Affairs". The current National Agency for the Roma was established in October 2004, and became an independent agency of the government. The ANR is headquartered in

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north of ...

(the country's capital) and has regional offices in each of the country's eight development regions. The president of the ANR is Ioan Gruia Bumbu, who is of Roma ethnicity.

Initiatives

The ANR is responsible for coordinating Romania's involvement in the

Decade of Roma Inclusion The Decade of Roma Inclusion (''Deshbersh le Romengo Anderyaripnasko'' in Romani) was an initiative of 12 European countries to improve the socio-economic status and social inclusion of the Romani people across the region. The initiative was launch ...

, a regional cooperation agreement between eight countries in Central and Southeastern Europe to improve the social and economic conditions of

Romani people The Romani (also spelled Romany or Rromani , ), colloquially known as the Roma, are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group, traditionally nomadic itinerants. They live in Europe and Anatolia, and have diaspora populations located worldwide, with sig ...

. The agency also has a cooperation agreement with the National Agency for the Employment of the Labour Force, and organises joint initiatives with the purpose of improving the employment rate among Roma people, who currently (as of 2006) have the highest unemployment rate in Romania. The ANR also has a collaboration agreement with the

National Council for Combating Discrimination The National Council for Combating Discrimination ( ro, Consiliul Național pentru Combaterea Discriminării, or CNCD) is an agency of the Romanian government, established in 2001 and responsible for applying Romanian and European Union anti-discr ...

; together, they coordinate initiatives aimed at reducing discrimination against the Roma.

External links

National Agency for the Roma
{{Romanian Roma topics 2004 establishments in Romania Government agencies established in 2004 Government of Romania Romani in Romania Romani rights