documents among Roma. One of the foremost reasons for the increase of Roma registered in the birth registry books in the Odesa region is indeed related to the awareness-raising and information campaigns conducted by the regional office of the Department of State Registration there over the last two years. Furthermore, another example of positive steps taken by the Ukrainian authorities was a public awareness campaign, run by the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine in summer 2017 in all regions of Ukraine to explain the importance of birth registration and obtaining of personal documents among Roma.98 These types of activities have also yielded positive results in other OSCE participating States. For example, in Serbia the UNHCR, the Ministry of Public Administration and Local SelfGovernment, and the Ombudsperson signed a Memorandum of Understanding99 and started joint activities to tackle the problem of Roma access to personal documents. Those efforts included advocating for a list of legislative changes; introducing a non-contentious procedure for determining the date and place of a birth; establishing a technical group for the implementation and co-ordination of the measures prescribed in the Memorandum; a series of information campaigns; and outreach and trainings for the judiciary, employees in institutions for social protection, registrars, and police officers working on procedures for issuing personal documents or registering residence.100 Outreach to the community – Good practice from the Odesa region In its efforts to increase the number of registered Roma, the regional office of the Department of State Registration and Notary in Odesa organized a series of meetings with local Roma communities and consultations with women in maternity wards mainly aiming to deliver them information about birth registration, to clarify existing procedures for them, and to encourage Roma to register their children immediately after birth. In this regard, close co-operation with local Roma NGOs is a very important element. Another important element is that the regional authorities implemented a pilot project in 34 maternity wards and hospitals where parents were provided with birth certificates immediately after the birth of a child. These campaigns were part of a specific project implemented by the above-mentioned authorities and included information sharing through newspaper articles, TV appearances, meetings with local Roma community members, and other activities aimed at explaining the importance of possessing personal documents and the procedures for obtaining them. These activities resulted in an increased number of Roma registered in the birth registry books in the Odesa region.101 98 For more information, see the webpage of the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine, <https://minjust.gov.ua/news/ministry/integratsiya-romskoi-natsionalnoi-menshini-v-ukrainske-suspilstvo>. 99 D. Rako, “Progress Can Be Made”, European Network on Statelessness, April 2012, <http://www.statelessness.eu/blog/progress-can-be-made>. 100 See more in the text box Mobile units for Roma outreach – Good practice from Serbia, p. 39 of this report. 101 For example, in 2015 there were 78 Roma provided with birth registration, while in 2016 there were 221 Roma registered in birth registries. Finally, in the first three months of 2017 there were already 96 Roma registered in the birth registry books in the Odesa region. 38