Bi-Annual RIISE Coordination Meeting
Several ERGO Network members and also new partners met on 22-23 November for our annual ‘Roma Included in Social Europe’ (RIISE) coordination meeting.
ERGO Network is implementing a four-year work programme funded by the EaSI Programme of the European Commission’s DG Employment in order to support the social inclusion and poverty reduction of Roma in EU member states and provide a bridge between the grassroots and the EU level concerning Roma-related policies and funding programmes.
An important part of the work programme is implemented on national level in the so-called ‘Big 5’ countries – the EU member states with the highest Roma population. With the financial support of the European Commission through the RIISE work programme, ERGO Network members coordinate national Roma civil society coalitions, support Roma activists to engage in and benefit from Community-Led Local Development (CLLD), conduct research and inform Roma activists about relevant EU developments.
During the online coordination meeting, representatives of Integro Association (Bulgaria), Nevo Parudimos (Romania), Policy Centre for Roma and Minorities (Romania), Life Together (Czech Republic), Slovo 21 (Czech Republic), Autonomia Foundation (Hungary), Socfactor (Hungary), RomanoNet (Czech Republic), Roma Advocacy and Research Centre (Slovakia) came together to discuss their work.
Among other things they shared updates on the EU Roma Framework & Anti-racism policy, the work of the civil society with the Fundamental Rights Agency, the Alliance Against Antigypsyism and the EU Roma Week.
The members were asked to join and contribute within the campaign “Decade to combat Antigypsyism” – an umbrella campaign to address and raise awareness about the phenomenon.
The meeting provided the space for the members to give updates on national coalitions and advocacy activities 2021. The afternoon was dedicated to the updates on the work in 2021 and next steps for 2022:
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- European Semester and the Recovery and Resilience Facility
- European Pillar of Social Rights
- Social Economy Action Plan
- European Child Guarantee
- Youth Guarantee
- Employment Campaign
During the second day of the meeting the capacity building was discussed with the special focus on monitoring.
The next meeting will take place at the beginning of 2022, when the new application and activities under the new grant from DG Justice will be presented.