Presentation of the “Access to EU Funds for Roma” project

“ACCESS TO EU FUNDS FOR ROMA” programme was presented in the Media Centre Belgrade on December 23.

The conference was opened by Nadir Rexhepi, Project Manager for South East Europe in the Open Society Institute (OSI) from Budapest, who emphasised the need for such a programme in Serbia. The initiative for the empowerment of Roma organisations was launched in 2007, when the Open Society Institute realised that governments in the Western Balkans and southern Europe had neither sufficient funds nor an adequate structure to support the inclusion of the Roma community into society. The programme is implemented in Bulgaria, Romania, Slovakia, Czech Republic and Hungary where over 200 projects were implemented, generating 19.5 million Euros from the EU and about 2 million from the OSI for technical support. “Last year, the programme was launched in Macedonia, in 2011 in Serbia and Montenegro, and next year it will be launched in Croatia”, said Rexhepi.

Vladimir Petronijevic, Group 484 Executive Director pointed out that the project objective is increasing capacities of state institutions, local governments and civil society to apply for available EU funds, in line with the Roma inclusion policies in the context of the priority issues such as education, employment, housing and health care. “The project is based on empowering Roma to participate in all phases of the project, but also in the EU project cycles and it therefore foresees the formation of teams to be trained to design, apply and implement projects in order to improve the status of Roma in the country”, said Petronijevic.

Maja Bobic, Secretary General of European Movement in Serbia, stressed the importance of integration and socio-economic empowerment of the Roma community, which is one of the tasks on the path towards the European Union. “We need to involve the Roma community in the process of European integration, but the integration process should also be brought closer to the Roma, as a matter of overall modernisation of Serbian society,” said Maja Bobic, adding that the Roma community is most vulnerable in Serbia, which is why it needs support and sensitisation of Serbian society for its needs and problems.

Jelica Nikolic, Advocacy Campaign Manager in the Roma Centre for Democracy Development (RCRD) said that their main goal is to provide recognition of the priorities of the Roma community that will be represented in a way defined by the community with the help of the mentor team that will be formed in the upcoming period. “RCRD has delegated six local associates, one for each region in the country and their task will be to organise meetings and training at the local level in cooperation with local governments and interested Roma NGOs”, said Jelica Nikolic. In order to promote the project and present the results in different stages, RCRD will organise three conferences and six round tables, and will provide consultative assistance and support to Roma organisations throughout the project process.

The “Access to EU Funds for Roma” programme is realised by Group 484, European Movement in Serbia and Roma Centre for Democracy Development with the support of Open Society Institute, Budapest.

Source: Media Centre Belgrade

Link: http://www.grupa484.org.rs/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=512&Itemid=105&lang=english

Al via un bando di selezione per il Terzo Settore per la sessione formativa per la Provincia di Lecce di inerente il progetto "Com.In.Rom.Italia - Accrescere le competenze degli operatori sul fenomeno Rom" gestito dal Consorzio NOVA onlus e finanziato dal Ministero dell’Interno – Dipartimento per le libertà civili e l’immigrazione. Il progetto si propone di realizzare una rete operativa e culturale tra gli operatori pubblici (personale dirigente delle Prefetture e degli Enti pubblici locali - Regioni, Province, Comuni), e gli operatori privati appartenenti alle realtà del Terzo settore (volontariato, associazionismo e cooperazione sociale) impegnati intorno al fenomeno Rom e di investire risorse per potenziare e diffondere maggiore conoscenza del e sul fenomeno Rom allo scopo di meglio calibrare interventi, azioni apolitiche locali di inclusione delle minoranze Rom sui territori delle Regioni Obiettivo Convergenza.

Il progetto è dislocato in gran parte delle città del Sud Italia e mira alla costruzione di reti territoriali.

La fase partita è quella di realizzazione di 20 percorsi formativi, della durata di 96 ore tra didattica d’aula e formazione laboratoriale

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On December 5th-6th, 2011, ternYpe participated in the “Expert meeting on Roma Youth in South East Europe” organized by SALTO South East Europe Resource Centre in Ljubljana, Slovenia. The meeting brought representatives of Roma and non-Roma organisations working with young Roma and a group of experienced youth workers and trainers together in order to initiate a dialogue on how to strengthen Roma youth activism and participation in international youth projects and in the Youth in Action Programme in particular. Within the Youth in Action Programme the participation of young Roma has recently become a high priority, which is a fact that all stakeholders have to take into consideration. SALTO SEE (hosted by the Slovenian National Agency) and SALTO Cultural Diversity (hosted by the UK National Agency-British Council) will take the lead in the process to reach out to more Roma organizations.

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