List of articles for the ‘OBSERVATORY’ Category

The results of the thematic seminars were brought to the attention of the 100 and more participants of the final +Respect conference ”Strategies, Policies, Initiatives to Combat Discrimination and Foster the Inclusion of Roma People”, held in Rome the 13th of May 2011 in the Room Di Liegro at Palazzo Valentini (House of the Province of Rome). The conference had a focus on the local strategies aimed at fostering inclusion and participation of Roma people and favored a broad debate on the main issues of the project by presenting different good practices implemented in Europe and encouraging debate and confrontation around the topic of the improvement of the situation of the Roma in the EU.

The conference had a special significance as it took place a few weeks after the presentation of the Communication of the European Commission “An EU Framework for National Roma Integration Strategies up to 2020″. The conference moved from the recent adoption of this strategic document, by which the Commission had recently called on the EU member states to develop national strategies for the integration of Roma people, with the aim of creating a framework for national policies and fostering the use of funds available at community level to support inclusive processes. The conference provided an opportunity to assess the local, national and European policies aimed at fostering the access of the Romany population to housing, education, health services and employment.

It was divided in four parts: welcome greetings, +Respect project dissemination of results (results of the project and achievements of the thematic seminars), presentation of the direct experience of the two Roma and Sinti associations partners of +Respect (RomSinti@Politica and Sucar Drom), a high level round table on the inclusive policies for Roma people (opportunities and perspective for Italy and other EU countries).   

Welcome
The Secretary General of Cittalia, Pierciro Galeone, introduced the topics of the conference  highlighting that the project +Respect aimed at echoing and supporting the position of the European Commission on the topic of the participation and non discrimination of Roma people through integrated local actions implemented at European level with the aim of combating discrimination, debunking stereotypes and fostering mutual understanding and a higher level of participation of the Roma communities to the democratic life of the Union. Pierciro Galeone also affirmed that the National Association of Municipalities (ANCI) is contributing at national level in Italy to the development of a national plan for the non discrimination of the Roma and improvement of their economic and social situation through the creation of an “ad hoc” working group. Mr. Galeone underlined the importance of fostering a bottom-up approach, encouraging good practices at local level and allowing these experiences – a real resource in terms of ideas and experience – to feed into the national and European policy frameworks. 

Claudio Cecchini, Province Minister responsible for social policies, said that in order to improve the situation of the Roma it is sometimes necessary to adopt short-term initiatives but it is more important to develop long-term strategies aimed at fostering the clearing of the bad practice of the nomadic camps that in different EU countries, and especially in Italy, represents an obstacle for a genuine improvement of their social and economic life. It is also necessary to implement more effective non exclusive work, health, housing and schooling policies, not only for Roma but for all.   

The project +Respect and conclusions of the thematic seminars
In this panel, the project coordinator outlined project objectives, activities and results, giving appropriate visibility to the EU funding programme. The coordinators of the thematic seminars held on the previous day presented the outputs of the workshops.

In particular, Salvatore Petronella (Cittalia, Regione Puglia) reported on the Thematic Seminar I (media), underlining how media, too often, put a negative accent on Roma and focus on “fake” problems. The real problem “is not the Roma, but the poor life conditions that characterize many people”. Too often, the point of view of Roma people – who should be the main sources of information on Roma-related matters – is ignored as Roma people simply represent, in most cases, the object of a bad communication done by someone else. Anticipating the conclusions of the four seminars for media organized in the framework of the project reported in the Guidelines for Media, Salvatore Petronella confirmed the importance of a transversal and non–exclusive approach (mainstreaming) on the Roma, a more frequent accent on good practices that exist, and a “de-ethnicisation” of the communication process.

Stefania Bragato (Coses) and Maria del Mar Gonzalez (Municipality of Puerto Lumbreras) reported on Thematic Seminar II (good local practices). The seminar has showed that a good number of good practices in the field of inclusion of Roma people has been achieved in different EU countries (such as Belgium, Spain, Romania, England) on different themes: housing, employment, schooling, helath, communication. Concerning housing, which is a fundamental prerequisite for decent life conditions and further participation and inclusion in civil processes of the Roma communities, it has emerged that building social houses costs less than running and managing the so-called nomadic camps. The co-planning of housing interventions (deciding together with Roma representatives) has proven to be a very important element of success in housing projects, as demonstrated by the experience told by Soros Foundation Romania. On the contrary, the lack of participation of Roma people, who are beneficiaries of some of these housing projects, is the cause of their failure. Maria del Mar Gonzalez highlighted the importance of the involvement of Roma people since their childhood: participation and acceptance should be prepared working in the schools with the aim of creating the conditions for a positive social and cultural development of all human beings, Roma and not-Roma. Education and training are of fundamental importance, however the experience of Puerto Lumbreras proves that a real improvement in the situation of Roma, and debunking of stereotypes, are possible only through a strong collaboration between the school system and the local authorities. If citizens are informed and directly involved in participatory actions, it is possible to avoid ostracism and racism.

Sandra Rainero (Cittalia, Coordinator of ENSA network), moderator of Thematic Seminar III (rights and policies), said, about the theme “relations with the policy makers and between the policies with the aim of fostering participation”, that the workshop was the result of the attempt to achieve a common position between different approaches. The conclusion was that…different policies are possible, depending on local contexts. The most important thing is to avoid emergency measures and focus on long-term social inclusion strategies, with the help of the media and of a new, more balanced, communication language.

Participation and fight against discrimination: a Roma perspective
A specific sub-panel hosted the interventions of two Roma associations, partners of +Respect, that deal in their everyday life with the challenges of participation and fight against discrimination of Roma people: RomSinti@Politica and Sucar Drom.
Nazzareno Guarnieri (President of RomSinti@Politica) denounced the “disaster, which is now evident”, caused by many policies and initiatives adopted in the past for the Roma. The most evident disaster is the bad practice of the camps, which is so evident in Italy (with some exceptions, for example in regione Abruzzo – for social, historical and political reasons – there is no nomadic camps). Politics, civil society and media share a great responsibility in this sense. The real problem, said Nazzareno Guarnieri, is that the majority of the initiatives “aimed at the Roma” did not foresee the direct involvement of Roma communities, who are too often considered only as “external” beneficiaries of projects and decisions made by someone else. The key for the success of all inclusive projects is to foster the direct participation of Roma people and share all the decisions of the projects with them during all the operational steps. On a policy level, said Mr. Guarnieri, the effort should be that of improving and increasing the capacity of participation of Roma people in all kinds of Roma-related projects, and not only. A mainstreaming approach is needed, even if sometimes specific actions are required.
Davide Casadio (Mediator of the Sinti Association Sucar Drom), highlighted the importance of debunking stereotypes starting from the political levels. It is of fundamental importance to develop appropriate policies aimed at increasing the participation of people of Romany origin, bearing in mind that only through collaboration between policy levels it is possible to change the current situation, which is very difficult in Italy and in many other EU countries.

Round table on inclusive policies for Roma people
The organization of a high level round table had the purpose of create a direct involvement of policy makers at European and national levels and experts with the view of contributing to foster a structural dialogue on the theme of non-discrimination and participation of Roma people, and raise awareness on this topic. The round table was kindly moderated by Roberto Chinzari, Journalist of Rai 2 (Italian national television) and Secretary of the Journalists’ Association of the School of Perugia, for which he had previously co-organized the initiative “NewsRom” aimed at improving the communication and the action of Media in relation to the Roma, debunking stereotypes and prejudices.  
 
The speakers of the round table were:
- Pietro Vulpiani, Expert of the National Office for the Promotion of Equal Treatment and the Removal of Discrimination Based on Race or Ethnic Origin (UNAR), Italian Government
- Elena Montani – Policy Officer, European Commission – Representation in Italy
- Peter Csonka – Justice and Home Affairs Coordinator, Hungarian Presidency of the EU
- Roberto Di Giovan Paolo, Senator, Member of the Commission for the Safeguard and Promotion of Human Rights of the Senate of the Italian Republic
- Flavia Perina, Member of the Italian Parliament, Member of the Commission for Social Affairs of the Chamber of Deputies
- Martin Demirovski – Policy Officer, Open Society Institute Brussels (Soros Foundation Europe)
- Daniela De Robert – Vice Secretary USIGRAI (Unione Sindacale Giornalisti RAI)

Pietro Vulpiani informed that UNAR will coordinate in the next months in Italy the high level working group that will design the national strategy, in accordance with the guidelines of the Communication of the European Commission “An EU Framework for National Roma Integration Strategies up to 2020”.  Vulpiani recalled the EU policies and guidelines on the theme of non discrimination and confirmed that Roma people are the ethnic group which is more exposed to episodes of discrimination, quoting data collected by UNAR. Vulpiani highlighted the importance of a multi-stakeholder approach and the need for a more incisive coordination role of the national institutions, in order to systemize, classify and exploit the results achieved in different local contexts through the implementation of good practices (such as those highlighted during the project “+Respect”).
Elena Montani expressed the position of the European Commission, highlighting that the new Communication of the Commission gives the Member States a specific responsibility in adopting national strategies that should be able, from a mainstreaming point of view, to improve the situation of Roma people in Europe.
Peter Csonka spoke in representation of the Hungarian Presidency of the EU, confirming the commitment of the Hungarian Presidency to continue on the path traced by the “trio”. Mr. Csonka said that the improvement of the Roma condition is one of the first point of the programme of the Presidency and that there is need for a stronger coordination, at intergovernmental level, on this ground as the problems and challenges faced by Roma people in the EU are more and more evident.
Sen. Roberto Di Giovan Paolo talked about the legal framework and future political perspectives in Italy in relation to the so called “emergency nomads (emergenza nomadi)”, starting from his experience of legislator (he is the author of the only national law proposal dealing with the problems linked to the current situation of the Roma people). Mr. Di Giovan Paolo, member of the opposition in Italy, stressed the importance of fostering inter-institutional collaboration, and said that the current governmental approach, exclusively adopted in a security/policy perspective, is inefficient and useless since it is not accompanied by a more holistic social strategy aimed at encouraging cohesion, social connectivity and respect, non discrimination and participation. It is necessary to bridge the gap between Italy and Europe in the policies for housing, employment, school inclusion of the Roma people through a new approach and a new culture of civic participation. 
MP Flavia Perina said that politics must improve and consider more carefully the problems of integration, whose solutions cannot be left only to the associations that deal with these problems at local level. An organic coordination is needed, starting from the national levels.
Martin Demirovski gave a very in-depth contribution, talking about the EU policies and welcoming the Communication of the Commission but, at the same time, criticizing some aspects of this document and of the strategy adopted by the Commission. In particular, Demirovski highlighted the particular moment of difficulty for Roma people and the proven inefficiency of the mainstreamed policies and initiatives adopted so far. In such exceptional circumstances, said Demirovski, ad hoc initiatives tailored on the specific challenges faced by Roma people must be welcomed.
Due to the impossibility of participating for force majeure causes, Roberto Natale (President of FNSI, National Federation of the Italian Press) was substituted (upon indication of Roberto Natale) by Daniela De Robert, Vice Secretary of the trade union of the Italian journalists and expert in social field / social communication. Daniela De Robert addressed the theme of non-discrimination and inclusion from a deontological point of view, stating the importance of a new approach of the media and of the civil society as a whole towards the challenges of inclusion and interculturality. She also mentioned the importance of referring to good practices existing in this field and highlighted the success of many initiatives that were characterized by the direct involvement of Roma women, since it is proven that equal opportunity approaches have a higher degree of success especially when they are linked to ethnic-related projects.

Flavio Zanonato, Mayor of Padua and Vice President of the National Association of Italian Municipalities – ANCI (responsible for Migration and Welfare), released a declaration about the theme of the conference which was also reported in a press release of ANCI a few days before the conference: “a lot of big and medium-sized cities in Italy and Europe – Zanonato said – are encouraging the clearing/overtaking of the camps through the support to initiatives of self-building / social-building or promoting the adoption of more stable housing solutions for Roma populations. There is a need – he continued – to adopt a national strategy that is able to enhance these experiences and establish efficient collaboration between public and private organizations with the purpose of improving local reception and inclusion, facing these challenges not only in the perspective of an increased security, but also – if not mainly – in the framework of a real social and economic inclusion”.

Conclusions
The many national and local policies aimed at combating discrimination and at promoting the inclusion of the Romany population in local communities and their active participation in the decision-making process, have shown little effect in Italy and in other EU countries. Notwithstanding some progress, the general impression of the experts and policy makers who participated in the conference was that a bigger effort is needed if we want to activate real inclusive policies and combat discrimination effectively. 
Another conclusion, on which everybody agreed, is that the fight against discrimination of the Roma, as well as their participation in the democratic life of the Union, should start from the local level but these local policies need to be coordinated at national and European levels. Today, unfortunately, Italy and other EU countries experience a lack of coordination policies, or weak coordination. In this context, and even in a moment when resources for social actions are scarce, the capacity of local systems to obtain more data, raise awareness, provide services and implement measures to address poverty and foster inclusion, is crucial in order to fight against racism and strengthen the economic and social cohesion of the territories, as well as to enhance the rights and culture of Roma people as a resource for society. However, in a moment when resources are insufficient, local authorities cannot be left alone.

Another problem experienced especially in Italy is a methodological problem: the misunderstanding at the base of the public policies that have led to the camp system, that is considering Roma people “nomadic” while, today, only 3-4% of the Roma population in Italy has a nomadic way of life.  
Another major issue concerns the role of the media, too often responsible for a stereotyped information. A better information, together with a direct involvement and participation of Roma people, is necessary in order to improve the situation of the Roma in the EU.  
The conference was attended by more than 100 participants and interpretation was provided in three languages. Some certificates of attendance were issued at the end of the conference upon request of the participants. Unanimously the conference was considered a success in terms of participation and interest generated by the debate. The travelling stand was present at the conference, welcoming the participants and speakers outside the conference room.

The event received media coverage in Italy. An article on the conference and on the themes of the conference was published on a national Italian newspaper (“Terra”) on the day of the conference. During the conference, 100 free copies of the newspaper were distributed to the participants. Several Italian social magazines, such as “Il Redattore Sociale” (whose director was present at the thematic seminars in Rome), covered the conference with articles. Some radio networks (Radio Manà Manà, Radio Popolare Roma) were also present during the final conference and made specific services on the contents and results of the conference and of +Respect. In particular, Radio Popolare Roma, a quite popular radio of Rome, dedicated an important part of its programme (“Interferenze Rom”), on that day, to the +Respect final conference ”Strategies, Policies, Initiatives to Combat Discrimination and Foster the Inclusion of Roma People”, with interviews and in-depth analysis.

Download here the programme of the final +Respect conference in Rome

On 11 March  the International conference entlited “Local Authorities and the Inclusion of Roma People: Exchange of Good Practices”, took place in Venice (Palazzo Cavalli Franchetti). Organised by the Veneto Region Brussels office in collaboration with Cittalia, the event highlighted the current situation of Roma people and the demand of social inclusion policies. The local authorities play a strategic role in order to foster the Roma participation to the decision making process.

In addition to the third and social sector representatives, many practitioners and local authorities rapresentatives participated in the conference, like Remo Sernagiotto (regional minister responsible for social policies of the Veneto Region and President of ELISAN network), Claudio Tessari (councillor to education of the Veneto Province) and Sandro Simionato (deputy mayor of the City of Venice). Indeed Salvatore Petronella, European Commission rappresentative, offered an overview on the European policies for Roma inclusion. Gabriele Guazzo, +Respect project manager, presented the activities promoted and realized within the project while Stefania Bragato (Director of Research, COSES), presented the report “Combating Anti-Roma Discrimination: Knowledge and Policies containing recommendations addressed to the local authoritie”s.  The report offered the occasion for debating over the existence of good practices (in order to integration and social inclusion) at European level with the participation of many practitioners coming from Romania, Sweden and Spain.

At the final session of the conference, Ana Gimenez Adelantado, anthropologist, presented some significant experience (OPRE ROMA and The education of gypsy childhood in Europe project) in the educational field in a view of empowerment of the Roma people. Lorin Niculae, Soros Foundation Romania project manager, described the Housing program for Roma entlited “One house, one future”. During the conference Andreea Tita, Doly County Council (Romania), presented a National Strategy for Improving the Situation of the Roma Population in Doly council. Finally, Leena Eklund PhD, Senior Lecturer, Project Leader University West (Trollhättan, Sweden) presented a project focused on the Roma participation in social and working life through empowerment and work-integrated learning.

Andreea Tita, Officer for the International Affairs of the Dolj County Council (Romania), presented a EU funded project implemented in the county aimed at improving the situation of Roma people living in the communities identified as those with fewer opportunities (Municipality of Craiova, districts Hanul Rosu – Fata Luncii -  Catargiu, Facai -Romanesti, Brestei – Cernele – Băileşti – Calafat,- Filiaşi – Segarcea  – Amărăştii de Jos). The specific objectives of the project were a significant reduction of the number of Roma people in Dolj County without identification and civil status documents, the facilitation of the access to the public services and labor market for Roma persons in Dolj County which are excluded from these services, the improvement of the access of the Roma people in Dolj County to social, medical and educational services and the creation of partnerships and team work between the public sector and the NGO sector. The results of the project were important: 3800 questionnaires filled in with the data concerning the civil status and identity documents; completed and updated data base regarding the situation of the Roma people without civil status and identity documents; 9 working groups (with 2 facilitators each) prepared for developing counseling and assistance for the Roma communities; 935 birth certificates issued; 390 duplicate marriage certificates issued and 1.270 identity documents issued. Recognition of legal status is, in fact, the first condition for true participation of Roma people and, still, many Roma lack identity documents, which cuts them completely out from the civil and democratic life of the Union.

Leena Eklund, PhD, Senior Lecturer and Project Leader of University West of Sweden, presented a Swedish project aimed at Increasing Roma participation in social and working life through empowerment and work-integrated learning. In Sweden, too, Roma people live under worse conditions than the average citizens and are are denied full access to the social and economic rights. They do not have full access to their political and civil rights (voting, dialogue with government through Roma organizations) and are poor in both social and economic welfare, powerless and lack influence in the society. According to the Official Reports of the Swedish Government, “Sweden has an unresolved under development problem caused by racist structures that affect the entire national Roma minority.” In order to improve the situation of Roma, University West implemented the research project “Empowerment and participation in health among Roma in West-Sweden”, aimed at increasing the knowledge about Roma culture, reduce prejudices, increase Roma influence and control over lifestyle-related and social determinants of health and increase Roma self-confidence and sense of belonging to the majority society. The activities implemented included “train the trainers” workshops aimed at training civil servants of Public Sector and mobilize their local community for social action, support and work integrated learning for Roma communities and concrete initiatives (theatre laboratories, participative forum, dances, music).

Lorin Niculae, Programme Manager of the Soros Foundation Romania, presented the project “One house, one future”, a participative housing project implemented in Baltesti and Vanatori, in Romania, where hundreds of Roma people lived in segregation and without decent housing and health conditions. The project succeeded in building several houses for Roma through a participative approach (participative design) and respecting Roma life and traditions, also qualifying Roma people in jobs related to building and offering job opportunities and a hope for the future. 

Ana Gimenez Adelantado, Anthropologist and Professor at University Jaume I of Castellon de la Plana, of Roma origin, highlighted the risks of a growing racism in Europe, both differentialist and assimilation racism, and presented from her unique point of view (that of expert and that of Roma person) two projects implemented by University Jaume I: the EU project Opre Roma, with a focus on education of gipsy children and aimed at fighting against school abandoning through analyses, studies, mediation with Roma families and activation of dialogue between schools and institutions and Roma families. The second project presented as a good practice is the transnational project “The education of Gipsy childhood in Europe”, made by University Jaume I in collaboration with the University of Florence and University Paris V  René Descartes. It is a comparative study on schooling of Roma children in Europe which gave interesting results such as the knowledge that Roma school absenteeism is not a regular trend in EU countries (it can vary from country to country) but in general it concerns around 50% of Roma school population. The project has showed that some actions implemented with good intentions, such as the activation of information sessions to improve the knowledge of Roma culture, did not have good results and did not succeed in fostering the inclusion and in particular the school integration of Roma children, because the knowledge surplus (more information) on the Roma culture led to a manipulation of these information that in the end has fostered prejudices and reiteration of stereotypes by other students and teachers.   

The conference was attended by some 45 participants coming from several NGOs and universities (coming from different Italian regions) and the local institutions and was very useful to activate contacts with experts and associations dealing with the issue of Roma inclusion and participation in Italy and in the rest of Europe, with a view to foster the networking effect of the +Respect project and stimulate interest and participation around the themes of participation and non-discrimination of Roma people in the EU.

The travelling stand was displayed during the +Respect international conference in Venice. The participants had the opportunity to watch the travelling stand and get the WP2 Report from the papers’ tray.

The Report “Combating Anti-Roma Discrimination – Knowledge and Policies”, made by COSES with contributions from other project partners, was successfully presented on 10 November 2010, during the seminar “Local Authorities and the Roma: Respect, Participation and Promotion of the Civil Rights of Minorities” held on the opening day of the XXVII Assembly of the National Association of Italian Municipalities (ANCI). More than 40 persons (local authorities i.e. Mayors, Deputy Mayors, practitioners and journalists) attended the meeting and were involved in a debate over the spatial and social inclusion of Rom and Sinti people in Italian cities.

The report of COSES “Combating Anti-Roma Discrimination – Knowledge and Policies” is now available. The report contains the results of the project workstream known as WP2 “Roma peoples’ observatory - Quality knowledge-base for anti-Roma discrimination policies and actions”. Divided into two parts, the report collects the findings of the first phase of +RESPECT. From a methodological point of view, in the project the use of the term “Roma peoples” refers to all the different ethnic groups, Rom, Sinti, Travellers, Cam(m)inanti, Ashkali etc. In all the documents produced and in this report, the term “Roma peoples” has exactly the same meaning as used in the project and has hence to be considered in a wider sense (“broadly speaking”). The research study was developed over the first eight months of 2010, during the first phase of +RESPECT and the information contained in the report refers to this timeframe.

In the first part of the report, both qualitative and quantitative data collected by partners in their respective regions are analysed, with the aim of putting forward recommendations to improve methodologies used when gathering information and conducting research on the living conditions of Roma peoples. The amount of available information is rather limited and this lack of data mirrors the difficulties and restrictions faced when gathering data based on ethnicity. Notwithstanding this difficulty, the study of COSES confirms that it is necessary to obtain relevant and reliable data in order to design effective anti-discrimination policies. Collecting data on ethnic belonging, as the ten recommendations set out in the report explain more clearly, principally entails revising and improving research methodology to obtain information, a commitment on the part of national governments and local authorities to put in place strategies and measures that encourage the Roma peoples to give rather than omit information about their ethnic origins and the participation of experts of Roma identity in planning appropriate research instruments to monitor discrimination. Forms of discrimination are also discussed in the report, as well as methods for assessing the level of discrimination. The first part of the report ends with ten recommendations for experts and policy makers offering suggestions on how to improve monitoring ethnic discrimination.

The second part of the report diplays a set of good practices already in place at EU level, directed at combating ethnic discrimination. Good practices are considered to be initiatives (e.g. methodologies, projects, activities etc.) that had already proved to be effective in obtaining a specific result in one area and had the potential to be transferred to a different geographic context, or had been successful to the point that some parts of the initiative could be reproduced in different sectors. A full description of each example of good practice has been set out, as well as a number of ideas and suggestions that could be useful starting points for developing actions and initiatives aimed at fostering social inclusion of ethnic minorities. The examples of good practices that have been identified can be used to fight discrimination in completely different local contexts from the ones they were originally designed for. One of the most innovative elements that has emerged from these examples is the importance of giving greater visibility to the Roma culture, which can help break down prejudices and stereotypes. Mixed participation in cultural initiatives and events by both Roma and non-Roma peoples and projects that focus on the importance of the Roma’s ancient crafts, relevant even today in terms of sustainable development, are all elements that can lead to a greater understanding of the Roma and promote social inclusion of this ethnic minority in our society. The good practices selected refer to clearly identifiable actions taking place at a local level aimed at eradicating or preventing discrimination, in particular (but not exclusively) in the areas of education, the labour market and healthcare. To sum up, good practices had principally to respect two criteria:
– the implementation of anti-discrimination policies designed to promote equal opportunities, break down social exclusion and encourage greater integration of the Roma peoples;
– the creation and organisation of actions carried out at a local level.

The research carried out by COSES as part of the +RESPECT project also represents a contribution to the current European debate.  The research study, to which other +RESPECT partners also contributed, in a lively exchange of information in which qualitative aspects predominated, is extremely valid in that it gives methodological recognition to data currently available on the topic on the one hand, and on the other, it reports on good practices and formulates recommendations for experts and policy makers to stimulate the development of actions to fight discrimination against Roma peoples. In a framework that is often uncertain and characterised by a widespread lack of data, the research conducted by COSES does not represent a point of arrival, but rather the starting point for a much wider cognitive and proactive fight against Anti-Roma Discrimination.

Finally, the work carried out by COSES prompts reflection on the role local actors play in relation to the subject in question: combating racism and discrimination against Roma peoples in order to foster greater access to and exercise of rights and citizenship, is a responsibility that lies first of all with the local stakeholders, both institutional and non-institutional. This is demonstrated very clearly by the good practices reported in the study that highlight how the fight against racism and the support to exercise citizens’ rights can only be achieved if they begin and are implemented at a local level.

• CLICK HERE to download the Report “Combating Anti-Roma Discrimination – Knowledge and Policies“

During the 2nd steering committee of 6th July 2010, main contents of the report in progress and next steps were shared with the partners. After the steering committee, COSES drafted the report and initiated the printing and translation phase. The final version of the report was presented to the Scientific Board at the end of September 2010 and will be printed and ready to be disseminated (through the website and in hard copies during related events) by the end of October 2010, after final validation. All partners contributed to the work of COSES, providing data and experiences of good practices in order to feed the report, which is now ready for printing (and soon online).

The work plan for the set-up of the project Observatory, prepared by COSES, was shared with the partnership during the kick off meeting of +RESPECT. The first step of the work plan is the elaboration of a template on Roma peoples data collection, a data collection Handbook, suggestions and obstacles for data collection, delivery of a good practice template and draft of a Practices’ Handbook. Partners received a methodology document in order to support the research. The templates were delivered, after the suggestions and approval of the scientific board, to the partners on the 31st of March 2010. The partners are invited to spread the templates to their local networks, collect any information received from the territory and send it to COSES. After the data collection phase, the second step will be the examination of the documents received with further interviews and requests for clarifications to the partners and a parallel desk research on statistics and good practices regarding Roma peoples’ discrimination.