Poor and unloved.

The article discusses a new attempt in Europe to improve the social and economic conditions of the Roma, or gypsies. Eight central European states and many international institutions launched a "Decade of Roma Inclusion." Europe's seven to nine million Roma are its biggest and poorest ethnic minority. Their social and economic indicators veer from the bad to the catastrophic, especially along the European Union's (EU) eastern borders. Poverty rates everywhere are high. The organisations supporting the decade will help governments to carry out ten-year plans focusing on education, employment, health and housing. In December a donors' conference pledged money for a Roma Education Fund. But the main aim is to get governments to give more help to the Roma from existing budgets, and to make better use of the funds already available from international institutions. Central European governments have often dealt brusquely with Roma problems in the years since communism collapsed. But with membership in the EU mostly achieved or assured, and incomes rising, they now have less excuse for looking the other way.