Carmen Tanasie – Page 2

National Grassroots Advocacy Academy in community organizing for women

National Grassroots Advocacy Academy in community organizing for women

Slovo 21 organized a National Grassroots Advocacy Academy in Prague in November. 31 Roma activists and representatives of Roma NGOs participated in the event. They received a training in basic advocacy skills as well as coaching for concrete community work and organizing. During the meeting the participants also learned more about the phenomenon of antigypsyism, aiming to enable them to better address this issue. Thanks to this series of workshops Roma women gained skills and abilities in advocacy, community work and community organizing and became agents of change. For members of the Roma Women´s Group Manushe, the Grassroots Advocacy Academy was especially useful, as the group plans to improve its advocacy, community work and community organizing in the coming period. At least 6 of these women got motivated and mobilized and will organize community activities in cooperation with other community members to improve living conditions in their communities.

The Grassroots Advocacy Academy was funded by the International Visegrad Fund and the European Commission through projects of ERGO Network.

12th Edition of the FAGiC Awards for Roma development

12th Edition of the FAGiC Awards for Roma development

On December 4, 2019 FAGiC organised the 12^th Edition of the FAGiC Awards, a ceremony with a double goal: on one side, it is an opportunity to reward Roma and non Roma people who contributed positively to the development of the Roma culture and the Roma community; on the other side, it is a big event to present FAGiC’s projects and activities.

This year, the awards went to:

Oncle Moncho for a lifetime’s work and contribution to Roma culture (post-humous) (Culture Award)
Oncle Peret for the promotion of Catalan Roma culture (Culture award)
Roma Women Association “Karing Vaxt” for the empowerment and promotion of Roma women (Association Award)
Educational team and parents of the school Juan Salamero for their fight against social exclusion (Education Award)
Hospital of Bellvitge for good practices with the Roma people (Health Award)
Chamber of Commerce of Barcelona for the promotion of inclusion of Roma people on the labour market (labour insertion award)
Eduard Carrera for the promotion of citizenship and harmony through the mediation especially with Roma people (mediation award)

Call for European Solidarity Corps placement in ERGO Network

Call for European Solidarity Corps placement in ERGO Network

ERGO Network is looking for an enthusiastic and active young Roma who would like to join our office team in Brussels for 11 months in the framework of the European Solidarity Corps. This is a remunerated opportunity.

When: February (later date can be discussed) to December 2020

Where: ERGO Network office in Brussels, Belgium

Who: Young Roma between 18 and 30

Deadline for applications: 25 January 2020

During the 11 months with ERGO, you will learn about European policy and advocacy, help us organize international meetings and events, and get actively involved in Roma and human rights activism in Brussels and Europe.

Your main tasks will be:

Advocacy and policy: Support ERGO staff in EU advocacy work on poverty reduction, social inclusion and antigypsyism; attend debates, hearings and meetings with EU institutions and other stakeholders to challenge stereotypes and racism, and build partnership with Roma and non-Roma organizations from Belgium and other European countries.
Meetings and seminars: Support the organisation of meetings, events and international seminars of ERGO Network and its partners, e.g. our Advocacy Academy, Annual Members Meeting etc.
Communication and visibility: contribute to the updating of the ERGO Network and RomaReact websites and social media channels; develop creative approaches and publicity work to promote our activities and mission and a positive image of Roma.
Researching and reporting: Assisting ERGO’s research work e.g. on cases of inequality and antigypsyism all over Europe.

Your profile:

Young Roma between 18 and 30 years living in an EU Member State or Macedonia or Turkey
Good English language skills, both oral and written
Computer literacy (experience with Microsoft office package and social media)
High motivation to learn more about Roma activism and advocacy work
Previous involvement in Roma or (pro) Roma NGOs will be considered an advantage
Reliable, well organized and with attention to details

You will work about 38 hours per week, including the language course included in the package. Typical working hours are from Monday to Friday between 9:30 – 17:30, but can be adapted to your needs and the activities you will be involved in.

We aim to support young people who are enthusiastic about our cause and want to gain experiences that can be later transferred to national or local NGOs. We especially welcome applications from people who are motivated to challenge stereotypes, antigypsyism and racism and who show an open attitude for a unique learning and life experience, as well as a volunteer spirit of creativity, initiative, responsibility and independence.

We offer:

An allowance of 1049 Euro that includes money for accommodation, meals, local transport, language course and pocket money
Travel costs to Brussels (a lump sum depending on the distance to Brussels)
Health insurance for the whole year
On-arrival training with other Solidarity Corps volunteers, and lots of learning and development opportunities with ERGO Network and our partners
An exciting and unforgettable experience, working for an European organisation in an international city!

How to apply:

Please send your motivation letter (1 page) and CV (max 2 pages) by 25^th January 2020 to info@ergonetwork.org.

How realistic is the new EU programming period when it comes to Roma?

Last month the European Commission has launched their proposals for the next European Union Multi Annual Financial Framework (MFF) 2021-2027 called “A Modern Budget for a Union that Protects, Empowers and Defends”. The MFF is meant to increase solidarity, social cohesion and social protection and will be supported by a series of proposals and financial instruments such as ESF+ ERDF, InvestEU, Eramsus+ etc. These proposals are under discussions and until the final approval in 2019.

ERGO Network fed into the process of the European Commission in drafting and proposing new priorities for its programmes and frameworks targeting Roma through a set of specific recommendations in which we address a number of shortcomings that must be tackled in the next cycle.

The proposed MFF did mentions some general points that are in line with our suggestions, such as the fact that there should be an open and transparent monitoring process, that the EU funds shall not support actions that promote segregation and that there should be more focus on capacity building for civil society organisations.

Roma are mentioned in the proposal of the MFF: “promoting socio-economic integration of third country nationals and of marginalised communities such as the Roma”. However, this narrative implies that they are still not seen as European citizens; furthermore there are no specific indicators that would reflect a stronger focus on Roma inclusion in the current proposal. The annexes of the proposal only briefly mention that there should be “inclusion of the thematic enabling conditions such as National Roma Integration Strategy”.

ERGO Network also calls upon the European Council and the European Parliament to ensure in their negotiations that the EU Framework for Roma Integration will continue. The ERGO secretariat together with the Alliance against Antigypsyism sent recommendations to Members of the European Parliament ahead of the European Parliament plenary debate on 13^th of June on the Implementation of and follow-up to the EU framework for National Roma Integration Strategies. Our position was clearly strengthened by most of the European Parliament Members. They argued in favour of a renewed post-2020 EU Framework for National Roma Integration Strategies, which should address antigypsyism as a central priority.

However, the 25% earmarking for social inclusion under the ESF+ , the main fund supporting Roma inclusion, is still not enough. So far most of the EU member states have easily reached this amount in the current ESF framework and still there has been little or no progress in tackling poverty, discrimination and social exclusion.

Without a clear Framework, thematic objectives and specific budget lines, Roma, as the biggest minority in the EU, will again be lost in the new programming period mixed under the marginalized groups and competing with “third country nationals”

ERGO will continue to monitor the discussions and negotiations in Brussels and ask a strengthened EU Roma Framework with clear objective and indicators and sufficient resources to address inclusion and Antigypsyism.