On November 30th 2021, Eurodiaconia organised an online event where we launched our new policy paper “Roma child poverty and social exclusion”. The panel discussion included Eurodiaconia member The Salvation Army, a representative of the national Roma contact point in Romania, and a representative from the Roma unit at the European Commission. The discussion focused on the upcoming implementation of the Child Guarantee and the National Roma Strategic Frameworks, the perspective of civil society organisations, and an update on the progress of the assessment of the implementation of the national Roma strategic frameworks. Given the corresponding realization of these two initiatives, the opportunity to confront Roma child poverty in a significant way has never been greater.

The newly released policy paper presents key recommendations on how to tackle Roma child poverty for the EU and national level. Taking a holistic approach, the policy paper explores the cycle of antigypsyism and poverty that can only be broken with strong anti-poverty legislation with anti-discrimination and antigypsyism mainstreamed throughout. The challenges faced by Roma children, including educational segregation, digital poverty, and the effects of the pandemic on access to education and other services including school meals, are highlighted. The policy paper includes best practices and recommendations based on the experience of Eurodiaconia members who provide social services to Roma children and their families in several European countries.

In 2019, we released our policy paper on child poverty and social exclusion, which explores the broader concept of child poverty in Europe and puts forward related recommendations.

Please find our new policy paper “Roma child poverty and social exclusion” here and access the executive summary here. The full report of the webinar will be released soon.