EU funds – ERGO Network

EQUIP Re-granting to ERGO Network members

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 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.

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.

Integro Position Statement

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.

To download the full statement, please follow this link.

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.

Report: Funding of bottom-up approaches

Report: Funding of bottom-up approaches: Ways forward to support Roma inclusion

We are happy to present ERGO Network’s new Analysis of funding for bottom-up approaches to Roma inclusion. This study sheds light on the importance of bottom-up approaches and assessing funding programmes targeted at Roma inclusion. The paper was prepared by Marko Pecak for the European Roma Grassroots Organisations (ERGO) Network and has received financial support in the framework of the project “New solutions to old problems” funded by Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway through the EEA and Norway Grants Fund for Regional Cooperation.

The report also analyses the major variety of donors, such as EU, national governments, international organisations, state developement agencies and private foundations. It provides the comprehensive analysis and a set of recommendations to each type of the donors, which can be used to improve their performance.

This report aims to contribute to raising awareness of institutional and private donors in the importance of bottom-up approaches to strengthen Roma inclusion and empowerment. It also reflects on the challenges and discusses improvements to existing funding programmes.

The main recommendations of the report are:

General

All strategic and planning documents on Roma inclusion need to be public
Donors need to consider weak local governance
Beyond consultations. Implement participatory research methods for needs and strategic development
Detailed approaches with implementation plans, not general guidance, and concepts
More resources, funding, and human capacity, for community-led approaches

European Union

Any ESIF funds being managed by local municipalities should use a community-led and participatory approach
Good governance support should be highly recommended with any funding managed by local municipalities
Desk Officers, Managing Authorities, and NRCPs need specific guidance on what is CLLD and how to implement them
EU needs a detailed plan that defines the concepts of participation, empowerment, and bottom-up approaches and how to ensure they will be implemented
Monitoring Committees should be more independent, transparent, have representative from Roma community

National Governments

There should be a defined Roma inclusion budget with corresponding implementation plans, indicators, and monitoring system
Go beyond Monitoring Committee requirements
Develop a strong cooperation with RCM
Mainstream project need specific Roma inclusion targets
Conduct campaigns with local governments and community members on the importance of Roma inclusion to reduce the barrier of bias and antigygpsism

State Development Agencies

Develop approaches and priorities outside of the EU agenda
Should have public and detailed documents on their approach to Roma inclusion
Mainstream social inclusion strategies need details on how they ensure the impact on Roma inclusion
Longer-term investments that use community-led and participatory approaches
Shift the priority of their investment from bilateral cooperation to more focus on setting inclusion agendas

Intergovernmental Organizations

A new long-term and collaborative initiative to be develop with a focus on community-led, participatory, antidiscrimination, and empowerment approaches
Develop agendas based on their organizational values not EU or other institutional agendas

Private Foundations

Increase transparency in their funding approaches and strategies for Roma inclusion
Implement measures with the goal to test alternative approaches that can be shared and scaled
Larger portion of funding should go to supporting community organization’s operational and human capacities. Especially, core funding.

To download the full report, please follow this link.

This report 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 publication has received funding from the European Union. The information contained in this publication reflects only the author’s view; and the Commission is not responsible for any use that may be made of the information it contains.

ERGO Network’s Event on Funding of Bottom-up Approaches-NEWS

Funding of bottom-up approaches:

Ways forward to support Roma inclusion

9 December 2021

On the 9th of December, ERGO Network organized its online round table Funding of bottom-up approaches: Ways forward to support Roma inclusion, in the framework of the project “New solutions to old problems – exchange of new type of approaches in the field of Roma integration”

Over the past 20 years, Roma communities across Europe have seen very few improvements to their living situation, even though many public, private, international, and national funding programmes were aimed at Roma inclusion and empowerment. One of the reasons for the lack of success of such funding programmes is the application of a top-down approach that does not consider the realities and voices of Roma at the grassroots level and comes with a heavy administrative burden. All evaluations of the last EU Framework for National Roma Integration Strategies acknowledged that Roma communities needed to be involved in project design, implementation, and evaluation to bring changes at local level.

The round table served to launch ERGO Network’s new Analysis of funding for bottom-up approaches to Roma inclusion, shedding light on the importance of bottom-up approaches and assessing funding programmes targeted at Roma inclusion. The event reflected on the challenges identified and provided input on how to improve existing funding programmes.

The main recommendations of study are:

General

All strategic and planning documents on Roma inclusion need to be public
Donors need to consider weak local governance
Beyond consultations. Implement participatory research methods for needs and strategic development
Detailed approaches with implementation plans, not general guidance, and concepts
More resources, funding, and human capacity, for community-led approaches

European Union

Any ESIF funds being managed by local municipalities should use a community-led and participatory approach
Good governance support should be highly recommended with any funding managed by local municipalities
Desk Officers, Managing Authorities, and NRCPs need specific guidance on what is CLLD and how to implement them
EU needs a detailed plan that defines the concepts of participation, empowerment, and bottom-up approaches and how to ensure they will be implemented
Monitoring Committees should be more independent, transparent, have representative from Roma community

National Governments

There should be a defined Roma inclusion budget with corresponding implementation plans, indicators, and monitoring system
Go beyond Monitoring Committee requirements
Develop a strong cooperation with RCM
Mainstream project need specific Roma inclusion targets
Conduct campaigns with local governments and community members on the importance of Roma inclusion to reduce the barrier of bias and antigygpsism

State Development Agencies

Develop approaches and priorities outside of the EU agenda
Should have public and detailed documents on their approach to Roma inclusion
Mainstream social inclusion strategies need details on how they ensure the impact on Roma inclusion
Longer-term investments that use community-led and participatory approaches
Shift the priority of their investment from bilateral cooperation to more focus on setting inclusion agendas

Intergovernmental Organizations

A new long-term and collaborative initiative to be develop with a focus on community-led, participatory, antidiscrimination, and empowerment approaches
Develop agendas based on their organizational values not EU or other institutional agendas

Private Foundations

Increase transparency in their funding approaches and strategies for Roma inclusion
Implement measures with the goal to test alternative approaches that can be shared and scaled
Larger portion of funding should go to supporting community organization’s operational and human capacities. Especially, core funding.

The full research report will be officially launched at the beginning of 2022.

The conference was very well attended with over 70 participants, and it brought together ERGO Network national members from the grassroots level in many European countries, as well as other national practitioners, private donors, European civil society organisations, EU policymakers from the European Parliament and the European Commission, and other stakeholders.

If you attended this event, or watched the recording, don’t forget to let us know what you thought about it by filling in this evaluation form. Thank you!

See more:

Agenda of the event
Full recording of the Facebook livestream
Visuals provided by 500 markers.

For more information about this event, please don’t hesitate to contact us: info@ergonetwork.org

#BottomUpFunding

This event is kindly supported by Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway through the EEA and Norway Grants Fund for Regional Cooperation.

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.