ERGO Network for European Roma
An estimated 10 million Roma live in Europe. Many of them are not treated as equal citizens in their countries due to widespread discrimination. Roma suffer from low employment, low education levels, housing problems and health care issues. There are many cases where we see lack of understanding and respect between Roma and non-Roma, leading to widespread stigmatization and hatred. We see the social exclusion of Roma as a threat to the stability and well-being of European society. ERGO helps to change this by running positive projects undertaken bij ambitious Roma.
Respect cannot be forced, but the necessary conditions, equal citizenship and inclusion, can be built. We do this by network building, campaigns, advocacy and knowledge sharing. This is our work and passion. With our grassroots partners, we are running groundbreaking campaigns for a positive Roma identity, reaching out to non-Roma, addressing discrimination and advocating supportive policies for change. With our campaigns, we’re building networks, leadership, cooperation and knowledge that strengthen Roma to become equal stakeholders in society.
Interested in joining our grassroots campaigning work? Please contact us here, join our campaigns or read more.
News
Pre-launch of RomaReact.org – mapping online platform challenging stereotypes and prejudices Roma people face in today´s Europe
ERGO Network pre-launched unique website RomaReact.org at the occasion of the Day of Europe on May 9, 2012. RomaReact.org is an interactive multimedia mapping platform building a global online community seeking social change and justice by engaging both Roma and non-Roma to share their stories and report on Roma realities to challenge stereotypes and prejudices. Full information about the pre-launch read here. The see the website to go RomaReact.org.
International Roma Day Action
Brussels, 6 April 2012 - ERGO Network ahead of International Roma Day on 8 April, joined European Roma Policy Coalition (ERPC) and other Roma civil society organisations from across Europe in a call for greater commitment and effort on Roma inclusion and in the fight against anti-Gypsyism and racism. It is important that EU member states take responsibility for their citizens' safety. Full joint Press Statement is available here.
What happened to the fight against anti-Gypsyism?
Brussels, 22 March 2012 -There is a lack of targeted measures to combat anti-Gypsyism and of meaningful participation of Roma and civil society in the execution of the National Roma Integration Strategies. This is the main conclusion of a comparative study of the National Roma Integration Strategies launched today by the European Roma Policy Coalition (ERPC) on the occasion of the European Platform for Roma Integration’s meeting in Brussels. The study gathers the views of Roma organisations and civil society on the development processes and implementation of the National Roma Integration Strategies in the different Member States, and provides an assessment of the strategies submitted to the European Commission.
ERPC Press Release is available here.
2nd Roma Café: "Digital Rise of Roma Families"
ERGO Network has a pleasure to invite you to the second Roma Café with our special guests Gyula Vamosi, young web entrepreneur and founder of Kaskosan.com, who will be joined through skype by Mustafa Jakubov from Macedonian NGO RROMA and by Silvana Lemos, the Expert on Digital Inclusion from Brazil to discuss topic "Digital Rise of Roma Families". Roma Café will take place on February 29, 2012 from 19 o´clock in Mundo B Bulding, Rue d’Edimbourg 26, Brussels. You are welcome to attend this lively meeting. Read more about the event and the concept of Roma Café.
Review of the National Roma Strategy adopted in Bulgaria
ERGO member Integro Association of Bulgaria wrote a “Review of the National Roma Strategy of Bulgaria” that has been adopted by Council of Ministers in Bulgaria on December 21, 2012.
Strategic aim of National Roma Strategy is related to creating conditions for equal integration of Roma and Bulgarian citizens and of other vulnerable ethnic groups in social and economic life by providing them equal opportunities and equal access to rights, benefits, goods and services, participation in all public areas and improve the quality of life while respecting the principles of equality and non discrimination.
1st Roma Café: "Empowerment of young Roma"
ERGO Network has the pleasure to invite you to our first Roma Café with special guests Adriatic Hasantari and Gerta Xega from Roma Active Albania who will be opening the topic "Views on empowerment of young Roma people". It will take place on January 30, 2012 from 19 o´clock in Mundo B Bulding, Rue d’Edimbourg 26, Brussels. You are welcome to attend this lively meeting. Read more about the event and the concept of Roma Café.
REACT: Results of our campaign now available!
On 28 and 29 November, ERGO Network and partners received activists, stakeholders and policymakers from across Europe for the closing conference of the international REACT-campaign. Over 80 people gathered in Brussels for working groups and debates. The conference ended with a public meeting on Tuesday afternoon, 29 November. Visit www.ergonetwork.org/REACT for a full overview of the rich collection of the material and testminonies from the campaign and see which impact we made.
Bulgarian media paint biased image of Roma
7 October 2011 - Between February and August 2011 – a group of seven Bulgarian Roma students monitored ten national and local newspapers and electronic media outlets and analysed the way they write about Roma. This week and last week they presented their report and main findings at public events in Plovdiv, Blavgoevgrad and Sofia. “Roma are presented as foreigners, as people who do not belong in Bulgarian society. There is no serious social analysis and reporting regularly mocks Roma as funny characters," says project coordinator Ognyan Isaev. [more]
"Break the silence on violence against Roma"
28 September 2011 - Roma Youth organisations today urge the Council of Europe, European governments and EU institutions to break the silence on the acts of violence against Roma and the rise of extremism, racism and anti-Gypsyism in several European countries. To express their solidarity with Roma in Bulgaria, Hungary and Czech Republic and elsewhere, participants of the International Roma Youth Conference demonstrated in front of the European Parliament in Strasbourg today and issued a joint declaration.
Mayors come together for Roma inclusion
23 September 2011 - The Council of Europe this Thursday brought mayors and representatives of local and regional authorities to Strasbourg to discuss their role in promoting Roma inclusion. ERGO Network brought Tsonko Tsonev, mayor of Kavarna in Bulgaria there, together with Zoran Aleksov from Stip, Macedonia, to present their experiences and connect to colleagues from across Europe. Tsonev and Aleksov were the winners of the "Most Roma Friendly Mayor" elections in their countries which was organized by ERGO Network in 2009. [more]
Roma Women activism key to improve health situation
19 September 2011 – With the support of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in Brussels, ERGO Network brought four Women Roma activists to the 11th International Women Health Meeting in Brussels. From 13 to 17 September, ERGO Network’s Gabriela Hrabanova, Isabela Mihalache previously from ERRC, Gerta Xega from Roma Active Albania, and Natalia Bernard, social worker from Ostrava, Czech Republic joined over 200 women activists and advocates gathered from across the world. [more]
Track the Process: NGO involvement in Roma Strategies
3 August 2011 - After the endorsement of the EU Roma Framework by the European Council on 24 June, Member States get to work and prepare their so-called “National Roma Integration Strategies”. ERGO Network wants to track how that process is unfolding: in Bulgaria, the government established a working group with civil society representatives under its National Council for Ethnic and Integration Issues (NCEII). Integro Association’s Lili Makaveeva is present. She suggested to organize regional roundtables: not only to make a pertinent problem analysis but also to mobilize stakeholders at the regional and local level. [more]
ERGO Network reinforces team
25 July 2011 - In July 2011 Gabriela Hrabanova - former Head of the Roma Office in the Czech government - joined the team of ERGO Network in Brussels. As Policy Coordinator Gabriela will strengthen ERGO Network’s strategic and programme development, while her extensive experience will greatly contribute to its advocacy in Brussels. [more]
A step in the right direction: EU Roma Framework adopted across the Union
19 May 2011 - In a climate of growing discrimination, violence and harassment of Europe’s Roma population, the European Roma Policy Coalition (ERPC) has welcomed today’s adoption by all 27 EU countries of the EU Framework for National Roma Integration Strategies. The framework, agreed under the aegis of the Employment, Social Policy, Health & Consumer Affairs Council (ESPCO), commits the 27 member states to systematically tackling the socio-economic exclusion Roma people across Europe are forced to endure. [more]
Bulgarian Prosecutor to tackle early marriages
On 21 April 2011, a spokesperson of Bulgarian National Prosecutor declared on national channel BTV, that the judiciary is confronting the silent practice of routinely adjourning cases of early or forced marriages. The news was welcomed by the Roma women of the Sandanski Mother Center – established with support of Integro Association and ERGO Network. In November 2009 they initiated a petition against the neglect of judicial authorities regarding early marriages in Roma communities. [more]
ERPC: EU Roma Framework Weak on Discrimination against Roma
5 April 2011 - The European Roma Policy Coalition (ERPC) acknowledges the European Commission’s political commitment to Roma inclusion expressed today by the adoption of its EU Framework for National Roma Integration Strategies. However, the Framework falls far short of fully tackling the challenges of Roma exclusion, which are intimately linked to widespread hostility and discrimination against the Roma people. [more]
"You can't fix the Roma"
23 March 2011 - Policymakers must start changing their perspective to Roma issues, said ERGO Network’s Valeriu Nicolae today. “You cannot fix the Roma,” Nicolae said, “but that has always been the approach: how to house us, how to get us to work, how to get us to school. It will not work.” Nicolae spoke at the presentation of the book “Roma: A European Minority”, published by the S&D Group in the European Parliament, to which both he and Lili Makaveeva, of Integro Association, contributed. [more]
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RomaReact multimedia platform
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Our Place, Our Space, Our Case campaign
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REACT campaign
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Join us on facebook!
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