Participation – Page 3

Invitation: Intersecting Realities

Intersecting Realities

Life Stories of Balkan LGBTQIA+ Roma in Brussels

25 February 2020, 9am-2pm, Mundo B, Rue d’Edimbourg 26, Conference Room

Join us and make your voice heard! Register here and find the agenda here.

Balkan LBGTQIA VZW brings together representatives of LGBTQIA+ communities from the Balkan countries, based in Brussels. The role of the organisation is to fight any form of discrimination, addressing particularly the issues of gender identity and sexual orientation, including through providing direct support to migrants, such as legal and administrative. The aim is to break down the barriers often faced by members of the LGBTQIA+ community, and also the boundaries between different Balkan communities themselves. Most volunteers belong to ethnic, religious and other groups, so the organisation also highlights the problems of intersectional discrimination and of belonging to different social groups at the same time: LGBTQIA+, Roma, Muslims, sex workers, refugees etc.

The European Roma Grassroots Organisations (ERGO) Network aims, through the work of its 30 member organisations all over Europe, to convince national and European policy makers that positive change for Roma is possible when antigypsyism is recognized and tackled as the root cause for inequality, and when Roma can take part in civic life as equal stakeholders. Founded on the philosophy of active citizenship, shared responsibility and grassroots empowerment, ERGO Network advocates for better policies and policy implementation on national and European level, rooted in evidence-based research. The organisations creates narratives in which Roma people are equally respected. We aim to show the rich diversity among Roma, challenging stereotypical views.

The two organisations come together in this event to shine a light on the experiences of LGBTQIA persons from the Balkans, most of Roma ethnicity, who are confronted with discrimination based on their gender, sexual orientation, religion and ethnic background in their life.

The event will serve as the launch of the book My Story, which features eight life stories about the experiences of LGBTQIA migrants from the Balkan countries, many of them Roma. It also intends to create a space for debate about intersectionality and multiple discrimination in a Brussels context, with an aim to contribute to policy making based on a rights-based approach and on equal opportunities, by bringing the focus on a target group that has always remained in the shadow of the majority, considering their voice has not been heard so far.

OSCE Human Dimension Implementation Meeting

ERGO Network voices major steps to take to achieve true leadership and participation and to combat antigypsyism at the 2019 OSCE Human Dimension Implementation Meeting

Our Policy and Research Coordinator Jelena Jovanovic recently took part in the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) annual human rights conference: the Human Dimension Implementation Meeting (HDIM). She read a statement on Roma participation and leadership and presented the work on developing concrete measures to combat antigypsyism, measures the Alliance against Antigypsyism proposes to the EU institutions and EU Member States as well as Candidate Countries.

During the working session ‘Roma and Sinti participation in public and political life’, Jelena Jovanovic spoke about participation as a human right and pointed out that committing to the empowerment of a systematically disempowered group to achieve true participation in various societal and political affairs would play a crucial role in advancing democratic governance, the rule of law and socio-economic development. ERGO Network called upon the OSCE Participating States to develop measures with direct Roma empowerment as an objective, to envision and foster quality participation at all levels and all stages of policy making, to develop national policies addressing Roma participation by positive actions, including in administrative personnel, while being conscious that Roma should not only be part of processes narrowly defined as ‘Roma issues’.

We also urged the Participating States to devise tools and resources for empowering grassroots organisations, to develop indicators to measure the frequency and quality of Roma participation and leadership and to contribute to diversifying Roma participation while embracing an understanding that besides ‘women’s’ and ‘youth issues’, Roma women and youth have diverse expertise and should also occupy high level positions. ERGO strongly emphasised that the same understanding should be applied to other social groups on the intersections of different categories of difference such as sexuality, class, disability, geographical location. Marginalised groups’ representation affects other people in similar positions to get more confidence to voice their needs.

During the side event focusing on “Racism, intolerance and violence against Roma and Sinti in the OSCE area”, we explained challenges with regards to legislation, policy development and concrete interventions. Many civil society organisations, the European Parliament, the European Commission, United Nations and other institutions and organisations highlight the persistent antigypsyism at all levels of European society, despite the efforts undertaken under strategies and action plans for Roma and national legislative frameworks against discrimination and hate crime.

ERGO Network called upon OSCE participating states to take stock of the situation and adopt complementary policy measures to respond to the challenges experienced by Roma in Europe. We suggested specific measures in terms of recognising present and historical responsibility and improving institutional frameworks, collecting data and monitoring antigypsyism and enabling access to justice.

You can read here our statements on participation and leadership and on combating antigypsyism and the ODIHR Third Status Report from 2018 focusing on participation in public and political life.

Roma demand to be included in the SDGs

Roma demand to be included in the SDGs

At the heart of the EU Roma Week 2019, which brought over 100 European activists and stakeholders to Brussels, policy-makers and civil society met for the first public debate on Roma and the UN Sustainable Development Goals. The debate was co-hosted by Cornelia Ernst, MEP of the Left Party, and the European Roma Grassroots Organisations (ERGO) Network together with Soraya Post MEP, Global Call to Action Against Poverty (GCAP) and Sozialfabrik.

The debate was opened by Cornelia Ernst MEP who stated that “the global development agenda can and should be an important lever for fighting antigypsyism and racism”, calling to mind that the EU Roma Framework “has failed because it did not include the Roma community”. ERGO Network Director Gabriela Hrabanova stressed that “the 17 Sustainable Development Goals and the promise of governments to leave no one behind provide crucial opportunities for advancing the rights of Roma in Europe”.

Stefan Meyer of Fresno Consulting presented the discussion paper ‘Roma included’, which was launched by ERGO Network with the event, and brought to the table recommendations for civil society on how to engage with the 2030 Agenda.

Reacting to the presentation, Henriett Dinók from Romaversitas highlighted the challenges for Roma organisations to keep track with new programmes and principles: “We here who have access to information on the SDGs, have to collect it, share it and use it to advocate! Then the SDG fora will serve as a platform for us to shape the narrative and to raise our demands.”

Paul Divakar, Chairperson of the Asia Dalit Right Forum, brought the global perspective to the panel and pointed out that the SDGs must be designed in a way that they also serve those who are excluded in their societies, across the globe. “If we are not named in the indicators, if there are no data, what do we do? That´s why need to fight for our rights together.”

On behalf of the European Commission, Katarina Ivanković Knežević, Director for Employment, Social affairs and Inclusion in DG Employment, stressed the potential of the SDGs to address questions of the inclusion and discrimination of Roma, and better take into account intersectionalities of gender and disability. Gesa Boeckermann (Policy Officer, Non-discrimination and Roma coordination Unit, DG Justice and Consumers) highlighted that not only are the SDGs an important roof for policies related to Roma but that in reverse, by achieving Roma inclusion, the EU could also make an important step in its commitment to reach the Sustainable Development Goals.

Romeo Franz MEP (Greens/EFA) closed the debate by underlining that (pro)Roma activists need to use the 2030 Agenda for supporting their fight against antigypsyism, as this racism is the main reason for the social exclusion of Roma across Europe.

Watch a record of the discussion here:

Roma Included: Can the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals contribute to combatting antigypsyism? Co-hosted by Cornelia Ernst MEP and Soraya Post MEP, the European Roma Grassroots Organisations (ERGO) Network, Global Call to Action Against Poverty (GCAP) and Sozialfabrik on 20 March 2019

Message from the event “Countering Shrinking Space for Roma Civil Society’ to the European Roma Platform

Message from the event “Countering Shrinking Space for Roma Civil Society’ to the European Roma Platform

On November 29, ERGO Network organised a public event to discuss the ‘Shrinking space of Roma civil society’, which was co-hosted by MEPs Terry Reintke (Greens/EFA) and Tomáš Zdechovský (EPP). Over 80 people participated in the meeting. One of the conclusions is that there is a squeeze on available funding for work that is not strictly oriented to the provision of social services: advocacy, watchdog work, civil monitoring, community empowerment and activism. Shrinking space of civil society is a trend in Europe, but hits hard on Roma organisations, as they are scarcely equipped and often struggling for survival.

The 2^nd EUMIDIS report issued by the Fundamental Rights Agency on 29 November confirms that Roma are still Europe’s most discriminated and disliked minority and their position in society has not improved in the past 5 years. Obviously, EU policies and funding has not brought the much needed change in the lives of Roma. Research shows that 80% of the Roma live below the poverty threshold. In fact, many are the poorest of the poor – living in 3rd world enclaves – and their position is worsening. Despite some positive examples, most EU funding does not reach out to Roma and often confirms the second-class citizen status. Exclusionary patterns first needs to be tackled in order to make (EU) policies work and to prevent that tax-payers money is wasted.

One of the main challenges of Roma inclusion policies is to ensure Roma and Roma organisations are actors in the policy process, not subjects. Weak policy delivery goes hand in hand with the lack of active and independent civil society. Change on the ground will only come about when Roma communities and organizations are capable of holding municipalities, school authorities and businesses accountable for their performance and when they are equipped to monitor policy processes targeting them.

ERGO Network’s message from its public event to the EU Roma Platform meeting is that (pro) Roma civil society has a huge role to play to hold (local) governments accountable and involve themselves in policy processes as respected actor. This requires dedicated and flexible support to equip them to take such role and there is urgent need for funding of independent watch-dog organisations. And, policy makers need to take a pro-active role to take the expertise of civil society into account in the policy dialogue and assessment.

Also, at grassroots level Roma need to be supported to participate in and benefit from social inclusion interventions. Guiding principle in policy delivery should be that Roma themselves should take an active role to accomplish equal citizenship on all levels, from local up to European. EU funding will only be absorbed in a right and just manner, if people targeted are empowered and equipped to access and direct this funding. Roma civil society can monitor the outreach and impact of (EU funded) programmes by showing the perspective of the beneficiaries on the ground.

The mutual accountability can only work if civil society actors are equipped as watch-dog organizations. In order to ensure the independence and safety of civil society to keep governments accountable, an EU-led funding stream should be in place offering long-term, independent and flexible support. In the long term, this will make EU programmes more effective and fair, thus generating an interesting return on investment.

Moreover, in policy making, where possible, independent monitoring and evidence should be used. Including information from civil society in review processes can help provide objective evidence, increase transparency and bring important political points of view. It is enormously important to hold a mid-term evaluation to prepare the ground for the post-2020 Roma policy. Mutual accountability is, by its very nature, a political process rather than a technical exercise. An independent group with a formalised advisory status should be in place, as such does not exist in the EU, as well as support for shadow reporting by civil society organisations (that has been initiated by DG Justice, but not yet conducted). As a result, no frame is provided for civil society to give an organised input into the yearly reporting exercise on the implementation of the EPSCO Council Recommendations of 2013.

To conclude, Roma civil society is facing shrinking space, which is a reality for civil society at large. Taking into account the precarious position of Roma in the society, more firm and dedicated measures are needed. The prevailing antigypsyism is a barrier for efficient policy implementation. This needs to be acknowledged and taking into account as precondition in the design of all future initiatives and policies.