Annual Policy Conference 2024 – Employment

IMPLEMENTING THE EU ROMA STRATEGIC FRAMEWORK. ROMA ACCESS TO DECENT AND SUSTAINABLE EMPLOYMENT

This past 25 November, ERGO Network organised its annual Policy Conference in Brussels. The conference was dedicated to exploring how to improve Roma access to quality, sustainable, and inclusive employment and taking stock of the implementation of the EU and National Roma Frameworks, with a particular focus on combatting antigypsyism.

The Opening session featured welcome words by Annabel Carballo Mesa of the ERGO Network Board, remarks by Erika Koller from the European Economic and Social Commitee (Workers’ Group and the Permanent Group on the Inclusion of Roma), as well as a video message from Hon. Mélissa Camara MEP (France, Greens/EFA).  

The Roma are more likely to experience discrimination in recruitment and in the workplace, to be paid less, to be offered precarious contracts, to be overlooked for promotions or training. Pushed at the margins of the labour market and underrepresented in trade unions, many Roma earn their livelihood from atypical, seasonal, or informal work. Job creation efforts are not enough, and the potential of social entrepreneurship is insufficiently supported. Increasing effective equal access to quality and sustainable employment is an objective of the EU Roma Strategic Framework, while it is also extensively covered by the European Pillar of Social Rights, and decent work is Goal 8 of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The event launched ERGO Network’s research report on “Roma access to decent and sustainable employment”, based on six national case studies carried out in Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania, Slovakia, and Spain. ERGO Network members in Ireland provided additional benchmarking evidence. The main findings and recommendations aim to kick-start a dialogue with key decision-makers and stakeholders to identify positive solutions to support better labour market inclusion for Roma and to inform the delivery of the EU Roma Strategic Framework and the Social Pillar, as well as of other relevant policy initiatives.

The Key Messages of the report are:

  1. The majority of Roma are not in paid work, at least not in the formal economy, and they are not adequately supported to enter the labour market.
  2. The Roma who work are in poor-quality jobs with low pay, insecure contracts, unsafe working conditions, no access to training, and almost no trade union coverage.
  3. Antigypsyism is pervasive in recruitment as well as in the workplace.
  4. Pushed to the margins of the labour market, the Roma make ends meet through the informal economy, pursuing traditional crafts, or seeking work abroad.
  5. Job creation efforts that would benefit Roma are scarce, and while the social economy holds great potential for Roma employment, it is currently underutilised.
  6. Participation of Roma communities and their civil society organisations is paramount to co-create sustainable ways forward.

With the adoption of the EU Roma Strategic Framework up to 2030, governments were asked to develop National Roma Strategic Frameworks both in EU Member States and Western Balkan countries. In addition, civil society in EU Member States received funding from the European Commission to monitor the elaboration and adoption of these national strategic frameworks. To ensure an effective implementation, robust and continued monitoring of the entire policy process should be ensured.

The second part of the event assessed the state of play of the National Roma Frameworks in both the EU and Enlargement countries and their alignment with the EU Roma Strategic Framework on Equality, Inclusion, and Participation. It linked Council Recommendation in the context of a new European Parliament and European Commission. The session included a keen focus on the fight against antigypsyism, launching a new ERGO Network survey report on the topic. It also looked at digital inclusion and the role of cities in this respect.

Closing remarks were provided by Irena Moozová, Deputy Director General in the European Commission, DG Justice and Consumers, and the event was closed by Gabriela Hrabaňová, ERGO Network Director. The conference was very well attended with over 75 on-site and online participants, and it brought together ERGO Network national members from the grassroots level in many European countries, as well as other national practitioners, European civil society organisations, policy-makers from the EU and national levels, and other stakeholders.

If you attended this event or watched the recording, please let us know what you thought about it by filling out this brief Evaluation Form (project reference: 101140452; event title: ERGO Network Annual Policy Conference).

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Visual summary by Ale listens and draws www.alelistens.com

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

This conference is kindly supported by the European Union Programme for Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values (CERV)  and by the German Federal Foreign Office. 

Human Rights Day: A Critical Look at Roma Housing and Human Rights in Europe

Human Rights Day: A Critical Look at Roma Housing and Human Rights in Europe

On this International Human Rights Day, we find ourselves reflecting on the persisting challenges faced by the Roma and Traveller communities across Europe, particularly in the realms of housing, discrimination, and social inclusion. This article provides ERGO Network’s position on the pressing issues surrounding access to one of the fundamental human rights – the quality and affordable housing for Roma.

As we delve into the discourse, the narrative reveals a stark reality exacerbated by the adverse effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, inflation, and escalating costs of living, all of which disproportionately affect these marginalised communities.

As we commemorate Human Rights Day, let this article serve as a call to action, urging governments, institutions, and civil society to collaborate in realising tangible progress and comprehensive solutions for the Roma across Europe.

According to ERGO Network’s most recent case studies on Roma and Traveller access to quality and affordable housing and accommodation in Bulgaria, Czechia, Hungary, Romania, Slovakia, and Spain, with additional benchmarking evidence from 6 other European countries – in Ireland and the Western Balkans and Turkyie, the impact of Covid-19 and increase in inflation and cost of living – hit Roma and Travellers’ communities in Europe the hardest on top of existing inequality and antigypsyism.

The vast majority of Roma and travellers experience vast amounts of poverty and homelessness. Their living conditions tend to be considerably poorer than those of non-Roma, including the lack of utilities and services, unsafe and unsound dwellings, exposure to environmental hazards and injustice more broadly, as well as chronic overcrowding, but not lastly segregation, which is flourishing also because of mass forced evictions without the provision of alternative housing and accommodation, and which entails among others insecurity of tenure and lack of identity papers.

In the face of the demonstrated picture of historical, widespread structural and institutional antigypsyism against Roma and Travellers across the EU and Enlargement countries, the EU has taken unprecedented action by proposing the EU Roma Framework in 2011 and mobilising Member States to commit to developing national strategies and local action plans, including a council recommendation on Roma in 2013. However, as the 2018 evaluation report of the implementation of the EU Framework showed, in the areas of housing and discrimination, the situation was reported as worsening while some progress was observed regarding the general objective of fighting poverty.

Fortunately, the new EU Strategic Framework for Roma Equality, Inclusion and Participation, supported by the Council Recommendation, has somehow tried to mitigate the situation by proposing specific targets in the area of housing. With the 2023 Commission assessment of the NRSFs, Several Member States included measures to improve access to essential services […] and, to some extent, prevent and eradicate spatial segregation. Few NRSFs have […] measures to facilitate access to social housing, while several NRSFs propose measures for urban and residential upgrading and to invest in infrastructure such as electricity, gas, running water, sewage and waste management, roads and access to transport. Combatting discrimination and antigypsyism as obstacles to accessing housing or addressing forced evictions are only mentioned by a few Member States.

The European Pillar of Social Rights also covers housing aspects and is applicable under the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Desegregation is also covered under the European Semester but not followed up on under the Resilience and Recovery; more needs to be done to ensure operational alignment and synergy throughout EU policies, including EU environmental policies. Some shortcomings are also evident with the newly adopted conclusions on Roma housing, where linked social determinants are not adequately addressed, including its proxies such as environmental justice.

But more needs to be done by the Member States to commit to improving desegregated housing and accommodation for Roma and travellers, combat poverty, social exclusion and antigypsyism, political will and know-how.

We salute the Spanish Presidency for continuing the work on Roma housing under the National Roma Platform. However, we need all MS and Enlargement countries to invest in improving the structural condition of the dwellings of Roma, including their connection to utilities and develop and implement comprehensive desegregation plans, tackling the legalisation of irregular housing situations and the environmental consequences stemming from the use of unsuitable locations; Roma housing and energy poverty must be addressed. Evictions should be the last resort and always accompanied by adequate alternative accommodation. Social housing allocation should follow a human rights-based approach, reducing conditionality and unaffordability and ensuring that vulnerable groups such as Roma are prioritised.

The new Roma Framework is aligned with all relevant EU and Enlargement countries funding for addressing Roma housing and linked social determinants, so governments need to make use of the ESF+, ERDF, Horizon 2020, Invest EU, Recovery and Resilience, IPA 2021-27, Neighbourhood, Development and International Cooperation Instrument – for the Enlargement countries. Perhaps even more relevant is the possibility for MS to use the Technical Support Instrument that provides tailor-made technical expertise to EU Member States to design and implement reforms, which is demand-driven and does not require co-financing from Member States. The same type of technical assistance is available for Enlargement countries under TAIEX and Twinning.

Western Balkan need to be an integral part of all policy processes under the EU Roma Framework and also benefit from the same attention and representation in the EU Platform agenda, mainly because the enlargement countries are those where political commitment can be leveraged easier through the enlargement criteria and where the situation of Roma whether in the area of housing or otherwise is even more dire.

As such, in July 2019, at the Poznan Summit, the Western Balkans Prime Ministers adopted the Declaration on Roma integration in the EU enlargement process. The Poznan commitments cover housing and inclusion of the Roma dimension in the green and digital agendas, and new Roma inclusion Strategies/Action Plans align with the EU Roma framework.

As we advance with the EU Roma Platform, we need to ensure that until the upcoming EU Presidency event, we have concrete and tangible progress and developments at the national level. We also allow civil society to attend even party meetings with national Roma Contacts Points. In these meetings, we need to see a higher and broader in-person political representation from the EU and National MS.

Ultimately, let us not forget about the principle of nothing for Roma without Roma – the shrinking space of Roma civil society is an undeniable reality, following the negative trend in Europe where we experience a human rights crisis both in our communities, including in the leadership of the EU and many of its Member States. In the context of antigypsyism, limiting the role and exercise of NGOs to participate and monitor human rights issues and policy implementation process on Roma inclusion and equality is not only undemocratic but also dangerous not only to protecting Roma lives but also to ensuring their wellbeing. Ensuring that Roma NGOs are inside the programmes and projects as partners and leaders is essential.

This article is an adaption of the speech held by ERGO Network’s Senior Advocacy Officer Isabela Mihalache as a part of the panel on the political conclusions of the 16th Roma Platform organised by the European Commission under the patronage of the Spanish Presidency in Madrid. If you have more questions about our work on the EU Roma Framework, please email i.mihalache@ergonetwork.org.

For more information about our work on Roma access to quality and sustainable housing, please contact Amana Ferro (a.ferro@ergonetwork.org)

ERGO Network Annual Policy Conference 2023

IMPLEMENTING THE EU ROMA STRATEGIC FRAMEWORK. ROMA ACCESS TO QUALITY AND AFFORDABLE HOUSING

This past 28 November 2023, ERGO Network organised its annual Policy Conference in Brussels, dedicated to exploring how to improve Roma access to adequate, affordable, quality, and inclusive housing, as well as to taking stock of the implementation of the EU and National Roma Frameworks, with a particular focus on housing and environmental justice.

The conference featured keynote interventions from Annelisa Cotone, coordinator for Roma inclusion in the cabinet of European Commissioner for Equality Helena Dalli, Hon. Peter Pollák MEP (Slovakia, EPP), as well as Paul Divakar Namala, from the Global Forum of Communities Discriminated on Work and Descent.  

Many Roma still live in informal settlements and segregated neighbourhoods, in inadequate dwellings and disastrous living conditions, with severe environmental consequences. Unable to meet ever-rising housing costs or to prove legal ownership of their home, they endure forced evictions, homelessness, and antigypsyism from local authorities, landlords, and neighbours. Ensuring access to housing and adequate services is an objective of the EU Roma Strategic Framework, while it is also extensively covered by the European Pillar of Social Rights (Social Pillar), the compass for Europe’s recovery, and supported by Goals 6, 7, 11, 13 and 15 of the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations.

The event launched ERGO Network’s research report on “Roma access to quality and affordable housing”, based on six national case studies carried out in Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania, Slovakia, and Spain. Additional benchmarking evidence was provided by ERGO Network members in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Ireland, Kosovo, North Macedonia, and Türkiye. The main findings and recommendations aim to kick-start a dialogue with key decision-makers and stakeholders and aim to identify positive solutions to support better housing inclusion for Roma and inform the delivery of the EU Roma Strategic Framework and the Social Pillar, as well as other relevant policy initiatives.

The Key Messages of the report are:

  1. Roma living conditions are significantly worse than those of the majority, while most Roma experience de facto homelessness.
  2. Most Roma live in segregated communities and/or informal settlements, many exposed to environmental hazards.
  3. High costs of housing and overcomplex administrative procedures further reduce Roma access to housing.
  4. The Roma continue to face antigypsyism and forced evictions.
  5. Social housing holds great potential for Roma housing but is currently under-utilised.
  6. Roma communities and their civil society organisations must be involved to co-create sustainable ways forward.

With the adoption of the EU Roma Strategic Framework up to 2030, governments were asked to develop national Roma strategic frameworks both in EU Member States and Western Balkan countries. In addition, civil society in EU Member States received funding from the European Commission to monitor these national strategic frameworks’ elaboration and adoption process. To ensure an effective implementation of the national frameworks, robust and continued monitoring of the entire policy process should be ensured.

The second part of the event assessed the state of play of the National Roma Frameworks in the EU and Enlargement countries and their alignment with the EU Roma Strategic Framework on Equality, Inclusion, and Participation. It linked Council Recommendation, with a keen focus on the areas of housing and environmental justice, also looking at follow-up steps to ensure that implementation does not overlook these important aspects.

The conference was very well attended with over 75 on-site and online participants, and it brought together ERGO Network national members from the grassroots level in many European countries, other national practitioners, European civil society organisations, policy-makers from the EU and national levels, and other stakeholders.

If you attended this event or watched the recording, don’t forget to let us know what you think about it by filling out this brief Evaluation Form (project reference: 101104354; event title: ERGO Network Annual Policy Conference).

See more:

Visuals provided by Ale Listens and Draws

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

Adoption of the National Roma Strategic Frameworks 2021-2030

Adoption of the National Roma Strategic Frameworks 2021-2030

By December 2021, 26 Member States and 7 Enlargement Countries were expected to submit their newly adopted national Roma strategic frameworks in line with the EU Strategic Framework for Roma Equality, Inclusion and Participation and linked Council recommendation.

In October 2021, the ERGO Network conducted a public survey in these countries on the engagement of Roma and pro-Roma civil society organisations in the drafting of the strategic frameworks by the national governments and Contact Points for Roma.

The survey answered by 85 respondents in 22 EU Member States and 7 Enlargement Countries revealed that in 29% of cases there were more than 4 consultations with civil society organised at national level on average, while in 8% of cases only 1 consultation and in 13% of cases no consultation. On average, 41% of respondents answered that they did not know how many consultations have taken place with civil society organisations.

The respondents themselves of their organisations attended 1 consultation in 13% cases, 2 consultations in 12% cases, 3 consultations in 3,5% cases, 4 in 1% cases and more than 4 in 36% of cases. By contrast, in mid-December, the European Commission announced that only 9 countries submitted their new Roma strategic frameworks (AT, BG, CR, CZ, HU, NL, PL, SK and ES), while three countries have ongoing Roma strategies (FI, PT, SE).

The rest of the EU countries, except for Malta, are expected to submit their new Roma policies at the beginning of 2022. In the case of the Enlargement countries, Montenegro was the first one to submit its newly drafted strategy, while the rest are expected to submit by the beginning of 2022, as well.

For more information about this, please don’t hesitate to contact our Senior Policy Officer Isabela Mihalache at i.mihalache@ergonetwork.org

14th European Platform for Roma Inclusion

14th European Platform for Roma Inclusion

The European Platform for Roma Inclusion 2021 was held online on 21-22 September by the Directorate-General for Justice and Consumers. The meeting aimed to reaffirm the commitment to Roma equality, inclusion and participation of European institutions and Member States and focus on key thematic areas identified in close consultation with civil society organisation, such as Mainstreaming and Targeted Policies to Address Antigypsyism in National Roma Strategic Frameworks and Tackling unequal access to education to mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Roma communities

The event was honoured with high level participation on the part of the European Commission, including through a video message – partly in Romanes – by President Ursula von der Leyen, the European Parliament and EU Member States. Roma and pro-Roma civil society were given center stage in the thematic workshops and had an equal floor during the political panels alongside political leaders. 

The thematic workshop ‘Assessing the National Roma Strategic Frameworks: Mainstreaming and Targeted Policies to Address Antigypsyism” discussed how measures on health, education, housing, and employment, access to justice, child protection and environment are addressed from the perspective of combating antigypsyism and what specific actions are being developed at the national and local level for addressing antigypsyism. Finally, the panel also addressed how structural funds in Member States and enlargement countries can better contribute to Roma equality, inclusion, and participation.

The thematic workshop “Mitigating the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Roma communities: tackling unequal access to education and spatial segregation” discussed how access to quality and inclusive education of Roma students, specifically from marginalised localities, can be improved in the persisting pandemic and how to ensure that implementation of the National Recovery and Resilience Plans reaches marginalised Roma communities.

Gabriela Hrabanova, ERGO Network Director, delivered important key messages to the attendees. She strongly expressed the need for national governments to demonstrate that the fight against antigyspsyism in their countries does not remain a “buzz” word. She asked Member States to start making amends with their historic past by investing in real recounts about the Roma Holocaust, slavery, forced sterilization and many other dehumanising events in Europe’s history. Member States have a responsibility to help us reconcile as nations, learn about who Roma really are, provide the tools for our children to love each other and live together in a sense of unity, not division. 

She highlighted that “we first need to reconcile parts of us that hurt most and that manifest still today in very aggressive and punitive ways, such as police violence or forced sterilisation, if we want to change the general negative perception and knowledge about Roma among European citizens”. She called on Member States to ensure that national strategic frameworks meet the expectations of combating segregation in education and housing, increased police violence against Roma, addressing hate speech and hate crime against Roma and to make sure that EU funds for social cohesion and recovery and resilience together with direct grants by the EU and national funding are used to address the major challenges identified in national Roma strategies. In the end of her speech, the ERGO Director called for a “Decade of fighting antigypsyism”.

The report with the final conclusions of the meeting will be published by the European Commission on their event website here

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EU Roma Strategic Framework – ERGO Network

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