On the 26th of June 2019, Eurodiaconia held its Hearing on the Future EU Roma Strategy: Proposals for Action post-2020 at the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) in Brussels. In the context of the ending EU Framework for National Roma Integration Strategies up to 2020, the event consisted of two panels and brought together stakeholders from civil society and policymakers engaged in Roma inclusion. The participants debated the persistent obstacles to Roma integration and to identify common priorities and recommendations for more effective EU strategies for Roma integration in the future.
The first panel on Roma inclusion at the local level consisted of presentations from Anca Enache, Helsinki Deaconess Institute, Anita Tóth and Kriszta Naszádi, Reformed Church of Hungary, and Ragnhild Ekelund, City of Gothenburg. They discussed the daily reality of Roma, facing discrimination, limited access to education and insufficient social counseling. At the second panel, Isabela Mihalache, European Network against Racism, Jamen Gabriela Hrabanova, ERGO Network, and Gonzalo Montaño Peña, Fundación Secretariado Gitano further discussed how future EU approaches could better tackle the manifold forms of discrimination.
To find more about our event on Roma, please read the meeting report.