This summer, young Roma and pro-Roma activists came together for our study session “Youth Ambassadors of the Decade Against Antigypsyism – From Passion to Action. And now we’re proud to share 4 powerful reflections written by our participants.
In “From Shame to Pride,” Sefer Shaqir from North Macedonia shares his journey from hiding his Roma identity as a child to embracing it with pride as a youth activist.
In “Solidarity in Struggle,” Chelsea Mac Donnchadha, an Irish Traveller activist, calls for stronger unity between Travellers and Roma in the shared fight against antigypsyism.
And finally, in “Don’t Be Afraid to Say Who You Are,” Lenutsa Moldavchuk from Ukraine tells how allyship, friendship, and learning about Roma history transformed her understanding of equality and justice.
ERGO Network position paper on Roma poverty in EuropeA contribution to the EU’s Anti-Poverty Strategy and beyond
Today, 17 October, on the occasion of the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, ERGO Network is proud to launch its new position paper, “Ending Roma Poverty in the EU”.
The paper is ERGO Network’s contribution to the debate around the EU’s upcoming – and first-ever – Anti-Poverty Strategy, and calls for Roma poverty to be recognised and addressed as a structural injustice rooted in systemic racism, antigypsyism, and economic inequality.
Despite some progress, poverty among Roma across Europe remains alarmingly high: three out of four Roma are at risk of poverty, and 77% of Roma children grow up in households below the poverty threshold. These figures point to the urgent need for targeted, rights-based measures that go beyond economic indicators to tackle the root causes of exclusion.
The position paper sets out concrete recommendations for the EU and Member States to make the Anti-Poverty Strategy truly transformative. It calls for:
embedding the EU Roma poverty-reduction target (cutting Roma poverty by at least 50% by 2030) in all anti-poverty efforts;
integrating antigypsyism prevention and anti-racism measures as core pillars;
ensuring equal access to social protection, housing, education, healthcare, and decent work; and
guaranteeing the meaningful participation of Roma communities in the design, implementation, and monitoring of anti-poverty policies.
ERGO Network stresses that poverty is not an individual failure, but a political choice, and that ending Roma poverty is essential to achieving a fair, inclusive, and equal Europe for all.
For more information on ERGO Network’s work on Roma poverty, please contact Amana Ferro, Senior Policy Adviser, at a.ferro@ergonetwork.org
ERGO Network Annual Policy Conference: Implementing the EU Roma Strategic Framework Roma access to quality and inclusive education
20 November, 10h – 16h30, NH Carrefour de l’Europe, Brussels
Join us for our Annual Policy Conference 2025!
At a time when Europe is confronted by war at its borders, the ongoing cost of living crisis, and political instability, its Roma find themselves facing worsening poverty and exclusion, dire living conditions, and widespread antigypsyism every day.
The Policy Conference will serve to launch ERGO Network’s research report on “Roma access to quality and inclusive education”, based on six national case studies carried out in Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania, Slovakia, and Spain, with additional benchmarking evidence from Ireland and Sweden.
The event will also provide insights into the implementation of the National Roma Frameworks in the EU and enlargement countries, ahead of the European Commission’s 2026 progress report. It will, furthermore, reflect on complementarities with Council of Europe standards, drawing on findings from ERGO Network’s 2025 data collection exercise.
The conference will bring together ERGO Network members from the grassroots level, EU policy-makers from across the institutional spectrum, as well as other relevant European and national stakeholders.
We’re looking forward to counting you among the participants, so that together we can build positive, sustainable, evidence-based policy solutions that work.
#ERGOConference2025
This conference is kindly supported by the European Union Programme for Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values (CERV) and by the German Federal Foreign Office.
CALL FOR APPLICATIONS: EXTERNAL EVALUATION OF THE ROVA PROJECT
Deadline to apply: 15 November 2025 Budget: Maximum €13,000 Evaluation period: Flexible, finalised by December 2027
The European Roma Grassroots Organisations (ERGO) Network is seeking an experienced external evaluator to conduct an evaluation of the ROVA project (2025–2027). The EU-funded project supports 120 Roma and pro-Roma civil society organisations and 15 national Roma coalitions across the EU through grants, capacity-building, and coalition building, with a total budget of €6.2 million.
About the evaluation
The evaluator will assess the project’s relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, impact, and sustainability, applying methods of empowerment evaluation and involving end beneficiaries. The process should include desk review, interviews, focus groups, and a final evaluation workshop with the project consortium.
The evaluator will:
Propose and implement an evaluation framework that they will implement in partnership with the project consortium
Measure progress on both quantitative and qualitative indicators
Assess the impact on third-party grantees, and where possible on their target groups
Provide strategic recommendations for future grant-making
Consultant profile:
Proven experience with programme evaluations, ideally with re-granting
Strong understanding of Roma issues and EU policies
Experience with civil society, advocacy, and capacity-building
Excellent research, analytical, and communication skills
Ability to work independently and collaboratively with diverse stakeholders
How to apply:
Interested consultants or teams should submit:
A proposal outlining methodology, timeline, and budget
CV highlighting relevant experience
References or a sample of previous evaluations
Please send your application to rova_ergo@ergonetwork.org by 15 November with the subject line: ROVA Evaluation Proposal.
Roma Platform 2025: Europe still talks recognition, but we demand Resources
At the 18th European Platform for Roma Inclusion in Brussels, our message from ERGO Network and the Roma civil society was clear: Recognition of antigypsyism is a progress, but it will mean little without resources, accountability and real political participation.
Rights, not charity
Speaking on the high-level panel, former MEP and current ERGO Network Chair Soraya Post welcomed how far Europe has come. For decades, Roma issues were framed as welfare or charity; today, at least on paper, they are recognised as fundamental rights.
“Roma inclusion is no longer treated as an act of charity — it is recognised as a matter of fundamental rights and political responsibility,” she told the audience. But she warned that “recognition without resources will not change people’s daily lives. The rights we have recognised must now be delivered — in schools, in health care, in jobs, and in every part of everyday life.”
Her call was clear: Roma participation in decision-making must become genuine, antigypsyism must be confronted and enforced against, and the next EU budget must include binding resources for Roma equality.
Invited to the end of dinner
Others echoed the frustration. Petre Florin Manole, Minister of Family, Youth and Equal Opportunities of Romania, insisted that cohesion funds must be protected, otherwise “Roma are invited to the end of the dinner, not to eat, but to clean up the mess.
Meanwhile, the EU Fundamental Rights Agency presented its most comprehensive survey yet: more than 10,000 Roma respondents across 1,000 locations, laying bare ongoing discrimination, poverty and exclusion. And Hristo Petrov, MEP, offered a challenge of his own: “True equality is when Roma are not confined only to Roma inclusion issues, but can be present in any other field, so we have the Roma perspective on them.”
Participation as democracy’s test
ERGO Network co-facilitated a workshop on participation, moderated by our Director Gabriela Hrabaňová. The discussion underscored a growing sense that consultation alone is not enough. Advisory bodies without power, under-representation of Roma women and youth, and a lack of trust between institutions and communities keep participation symbolic rather than real.
Yet there were bright spots we have to build on for them to actually make a difference: Roma Political Schools and youth mentoring schemes, minority councils with decision-making power, and alliances with non-Roma organisations that lend weight and credibility.
The workshop set out four urgent priorities: to institutionalise Roma participation in real seats of power; to invest in leadership and trust-building; to bridge international commitments with local realities; and to make participation safe, inclusive and accountable.
For all the speeches and strategies, we left the Platform with a familiar feeling: National governments and EU institutions know the right words, but action lags behind. Recognition of antigypsyism is a milestone, but milestones alone do not change lives.
As Soraya Post concluded, the test is simple: “Roma communities have heard promises for generations. Now is the moment to prove that equality is not only written in EU and national documents — it is lived in everyday life.”
