One in four children in the EU is at risk of poverty or social exclusion.
This reality affects over 20 million children across Europe and represents a serious social emergency and a threat to the EU’s long-term cohesion, prosperity, and democracy.
As the European Union enters a new political cycle and prepares the next Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF), civil society urges leaders to take necessary actions. Children must be placed at the core of Europe’s future agenda.
Together with leading child rights and social justice organisations, we have issued a joint letter to EU leaders, calling on them to:
Reinforce the European Child Guarantee
Integrate child poverty into a stronger EU Social Agenda
Secure robust, long-term investment in the next MFF
Child poverty is widespread and systematic failure, affecting children in every EU Member State. While the context may differ across countries, the outcome is universally unjust. Their rights are not being fully respected, protected, and fulfilled.
As highlighted in the Draghi Report on EU competitiveness, Europe’s ability to compete globally must go hand in hand with equity and inclusion. A resilient and competitive Europe protects and empowers its children.
Investing in children is not just a moral responsibility. It is a strategic necessity. If the EU fails to act now, the costs—social, economic, and political — will be immeasurable and irreversible.
What does it say about the European Union when one of the most developed regions in the world cannot guarantee a life of dignity and opportunity to all its children? What future are we shaping if entire generations are left behind?
Childhood poverty violates rights. It restricts potential. It weakens democracy. Therefore, we need to protect children and invest in their futures.
ERGO Network opinion on Multiannual Financial Framework for Roma
Significant shifts are underway as the EU prepares its next long-term budget (2028–2034). Global crises, digital change, and new leadership are shaping priorities, and the European Commission’s recently published Roadmap focuses heavily on competitiveness and efficiency.
However, one crucial issue is missing: Roma inclusion.
Over 6 million Roma live in the EU—80% at risk of poverty, fewer than half in paid work, and 1 in 4 facing daily discrimination. The proposed budget risks cutting or merging key social programs, threatening the fragile progress made so far.
Roma inclusion must be built into the next multiannual financial framework (MFF) from the start to meet the EU’s 2030 goals and uphold the European Pillar of Social Rights.
ERGO Network has outlined clear recommendations to ensure this happens:
Keep rights-based rules: Tie EU funds to real action, including national Roma inclusion strategies.
Protect social funding: Maintain the EU’s Cohesion Policy, which supports education, housing, and health for vulnerable groups.
Keep ESF+ independent: The European Social Fund+ must remain a dedicated tool for fighting poverty and inequality.
Enforce EU values: Countries should not violate basic rights – through racism, discrimination, or abuse.
Support civil society: Roma-led organisations need resources to advocate and build inclusion from the ground up.
We are excited to announce that we have selected the organisations implementing our 2023 subgrating activities.
ERGO Network has awarded its members with small grants in 3 different categories this year as part of its Annual Work Programme “Roma Equality, Inclusion and Participation 2023”, funded by the Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values Programme (CERV) of the European Commission and supported by the EPIM.
Our members could apply for a grant under three categories: Research, National Coalition, Capacity Building, Campaigning, and Advocacy. These categories provided a platform for our members to seek financial support and pursue their projects and initiatives within these areas.
In the Research category, our members could submit their applications for projects that seek to support local and national Roma civil society in gathering evidence of challenges Roma faces on a local level through research activities.
This particular category encompasses a total of four types of projects. The first project is centred around addressing Child Poverty within Roma Communities. Integro (Bulgaria), through their dedicated research on the European Child Guarantee plan in Bulgaria, aims to advocate for corrective measures and the betterment of the situation. Jaw Dikh (Poland) intends to research Roma activists who support Ukrainian Roma refugees residing in Poland. This research aims to document their valuable experiences, promote Roma agency, and advocate for policy changes that will empower Roma communities.
Policy Center (Romania) will focus its research on establishing a framework that facilitates Roma’s participation in tackling environmental racism. Lastly, Slovo 21 (Czech Republic) will research to explore the life priorities and role models of Czech Roma individuals.
The National Coalition category allowed our members to extend their support through grants. These grants intend to boost national Roma civil society coalitions by fostering knowledge sharing. Through experience exchange, resource pooling, and the formulation of unified standpoints, projects aim to strengthen the collective efforts of these coalitions, effectively address the challenges faced by the Roma community, and work towards achieving common objectives.
Within this category, we have identified and selected six organisations. The Autonomia Foundation (Hungary) is dedicated to advocating for Roma rights in the country. Additionally, the foundation aspires to expand its membership, fostering greater support and collaboration. Nevo Parudimos (Romania) is working on strengthening the Roma coalition Roma Forum to implement the national Roma strategy and enhance communication with institutions. FAGIC (Spain), on the other hand, works to establish coalitions of Roma organisations within Catalonia and Spain to advocate for the effective implementation of the new National Roma Framework. The Intellect Coalition – Integro Association (Bulgaria) emphasises municipal strategies, territorial investments, EU programs, and recovery measures. RARC (Slovakia) strives to forge alliances following elections, ensuring the continuity of systemic efforts in combating antigypsyism and promoting media ethics. Lastly, the RomanoNet (Czech Republic) coalition sets on actively participating in program planning and engaging in advocacy meetings with Ministries. This proactive approach is aimed at implementing the National Roma Integration Strategy.
Five organisations have been carefully selected for the Capacity-building, Campaigning, and Advocacy Projects. The Amaro Drom (Germany) project enhances the PR and their social media presence. Furthermore, the project aims to engage new youth, improve media skills, and challenge existing stereotypes. By promoting positive self-representation of Roma and Sinti in Germany, the project actively contributes to the fight against antigypsyism.
In the Integro project, the primary objective is to raise awareness among vulnerable individuals about planned changes to social assistance programs in Bulgaria. Through targeted efforts, the project seeks to ensure that those affected have access to vital information, empowering them to navigate these changes effectively. Life Together (Czechia) is dedicated to advocating for justice by demanding compensation for forcibly sterilized women. The project sets forth goals such as shifting the burden of proof onto the state, offering support to individuals with missing hospital records, and empowering survivors to engage with elected representatives.
Pavee Point’s (Ireland) project centres around supporting young Travelers in forming a cultural group and exploring their rich heritage. The project fosters a sense of pride and empowerment among the community’s youth by nurturing cultural identity and providing a platform for artistic expression. The Roma Community Centre’s (Lithuania) project takes a comprehensive approach to combating antigypsyism through various campaigning and advocacy initiatives. These include facilitating public discussions, showcasing educational videos in public spaces, and engaging the public through interactive games. The project strives to create a more inclusive society by raising awareness and promoting understanding.
A part of the Capacity Building, Campaigning, and Advocacy Projects focuses explicitly on supporting Ukrainian Roma Refugees. Within this category, the four projects have been carefully selected that aim to assist and empower Ukrainian Roma Refugees in their integration into society across four countries: Poland, Hungary, Romania, and the Czech Republic. These selected projects address the unique challenges Ukrainian Roma Refugees face and facilitate their successful inclusion and participation within their respective host societies.
ERGO Network would love to express our sincere wishes to our members. We look forward to witnessing the outcomes of increased participation, strengthened civil society, and other positive impacts. To stay updated on the progress and implementation of the initiatives, we encourage you to follow us on social media channels. We will provide a comprehensive final summary, which will be shared in November.
If you would like to know more about these projects, keep checking this website, or drop us an email at info@ergonetwork.org.
The projects supporting Roma refugees from Ukraine are co-funded by the European Programme for Integration and Migration (EPIM), a collaborative initiative of the Network of European Foundations (NEF).
Storytelling on project development for advocacy purposes
“Storytelling for advocacy works because our brain is wired to remember narrations and is equipped to experience them as being told. It is the oldest and most powerful tool to affect change in society.
And personal stories detailing the challenges one faces are easier to connect with and bring out our ability to empathize with the storyteller. In this way, stories can influence people and help bring about change.
The art of storytelling for advocacy helps you bring out the importance of the issues that matter to your organization and how it relates to people.”
“The Art Of Storytelling For Advocacy Campaigns” by JASMINE SOMAIAH
In the framework of our long-running project “New Solution to Old Problems”, funded by EEA and Norway Grants, we want to use storytelling to raise awareness and bring good examples of local projects. We did this by contacting our partners in over 10 different countries in Europe and asked them:
What was your biggest achievement with the project? What was the most surprising to you in the project implementation? What was the biggest challenge and how did you solve it? How has this project affected you personally?
In other words, we have asked our partners and beneficiaries to tell us stories about the projects they have carried out. Not the reports (although this would come too), not the presentations. But to ask the beneficiaries, the members of the community from different countries to tell us a story about what they have done and could be replicated in other countries. We have collected all these stories and turned some of them into visuals to promote a bottom-up approach in funding.
The objectives of this project are:
– To raise awareness of the benefits of bottom-up approaches and community organizing to Roma inclusion through personal stories
– To gain an insight into the process of bottom-up project development through personal stories
– To highlight the successes of the project “New Solution to Old Problems”
We are now happy to share these stories with you.
Slovakia
Hungary
Bulgaria
Bosnia and Herzegovina
North Macedonia
Lithuania
Bulgaria
Turkey
Romania
This initiative has received financial support in the framework of the project “New solutions to old problems”. The project “New solutions to old problems – exchange of new type of approaches in the field of Roma integration” is funded by Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway through the EEA and Norway Grants Fund for Regional Cooperation.
Position Statement with Recommendations on the need to strengthen bottom-up approaches in the implementation of the National Policy of the Republic of Bulgaria for Equality, Inclusion and participation of Roma for the period 2021-2030
By INTEGRO ASSOCIATION and Local Organisations-Members of the National “Intellect” Coalition
In recent years, Integro Association, as member of the ERGO Network, has been actively engaged in monitoring and supporting the implementation of the LEADER approach. This approach was transformed in 2014 into the Community Led Local Development – CLLD approach for addressing local issues of the Roma community in Bulgaria The importance of the Community-Led Local Development approach came on focus after the analyses of the Decade of Roma Inclusion and the European Union Framework for National Roma Integration Strategies 2011-2020.
In short, these analyses identified a failure in both initiatives, mainly due to the lack of real Roma participation in policy-making and implementation, as well as due to the inadequate monitoring and evaluation system and weak political commitment. The failures of the two major Roma inclusion initiatives over the past two decades are a clear indication that paternalistic and top-down funding approaches to Roma inclusion require an essential review to achieve more positive results.
This statement has received financial support in the framework of the project “New solutions to old problems”. The project “New solutions to old problems – exchange of new type of approaches in the field of Roma integration” is funded by Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway through the EEA and Norway Grants Fund for Regional Cooperation.
This initiative has received financial support in the framework of the project “New solutions to old problems”. The project “New solutions to old problems – exchange of new type of approaches in the field of Roma integration” is funded by Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway through the EEA and Norway Grants Fund for Regional Cooperation.