LIST OF ISSUES BY THE EUROPEAN ROMA RIGHTS CENTRE CONCERNING MACEDONIA (For Consideration by the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women at the Pre-Sessional Working Group of the 71 Session 12 - 16 March 2018) (European Roma Rights Center, 2018)
The European Roma Rights Centre (ERRC)1 hereby submits this list of issues concerning the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) to the United Nations Committee on Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (hereinafter also referred to as "Committee") for the consideration of the Committee on the 71 presession for the List of Issues. The submission focuses on the situation of Romani women and girls, in particular sexual abuse of Romani children in state care institutions, access to reproductive healthcare and citizenship rights. FYROM has 2,022,547 inhabitants, of whom 53,879 (2.66%) have declared themselves Roma. However, the available unofficial estimate for Roma is 135,490 (6.77%). Roma live in 75 out of 85 municipalities across the country. According to official data, the majority of Roma live in the capital, Skopje (23,475), with 56% of Skopje's Roma concentrated in the municipality of Šuto Orizari (13,342)