are based on information gathered from discussions with Roma activists and from field visits to Roma communities in the Transcarpathia, Odesa and Kharkiv regions. The preliminary findings for the study were presented and recommendations for addressing the observed challenges were elaborated at a roundtable on “Access to Identity and Civil Registration Documents among Roma in Ukraine” hosted by ODIHR in co-operation with the SMS on 30–31 May 2017 in Odesa.18 ODIHR is grateful to the Ukrainian authorities for their engagement in the ongoing discussions about the improvement of Roma access to personal documents. ODIHR is also very grateful to the Roma women and men interviewed in the Transcarpathia, Odesa and Kharkiv regions for their time and for the information provided. Without them, this report would not have been possible. II ACCESS TO PERSONAL DOCUMENTS – INTERNATIONAL AND DOMESTIC LEGAL AND POLICY FRAMEWORK The importance of birth registration and access to personal documents is twofold. On the one hand this involves the stand-alone human right to recognition before the law. On the other hand, that right is a core prerequisite for the enjoyment of a number of other human rights, ranging from civil and political rights (such as the right to vote, or the right to marry) to different economic and social rights that are essential for Roma inclusion in Ukraine (such as access to healthcare, education, social assistance or the right to adequate housing). Enjoyment of all these rights depends on a person’s birth registration and possession of identification documents. This is also one of the main reasons why access to personal documents must be a priority for the inclusion of Roma in Ukraine. International legal framework applicable in the area of access to personal documents Article 6 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights guarantees that “everyone has the right to recognition everywhere as a person before the law”, and Article 15 prescribes that “everyone has the right to a nationality”.19 From these provisions, which emerged immediately after World War II, the human rights community has developed a number of legal instruments that guarantee the right to legal personality as one of the central preconditions for the enjoyment of the whole catalogue of human rights. This right is often described as “the right to have rights” and is widely recognized in international and regional systems of human rights protection. Article 16 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights prescribes that “everyone shall have the right to be recognized as a person before the law”,20 while Article 7 of the 18 As an outcome of the roundtable (30–31 May 2017, Odesa) the participants developed the “Odesa Declaration, Recommendations to overcome obstacles to civil registration and identity documents by Roma in Ukraine”, see ODIHR press release of 31 May 2017 at: <http://www.osce.org/odihr/320592>. 19 UN General Assembly, Resolution No. 217 A, Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 10 December 1948. 20 UN General Assembly, International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, 16 December 1966, United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 999, p. 171. 18