On 21 October, Eurodiaconia organised a hearing in the European Economic and Social Committee in partnership with the European Roma Information Office. Following on a two-day internal meeting for members of the Eurodiaconia Roma Network, the hearing explored an aspect of the Roma inclusion process which has received little coverage so far: the gender dimension.
Starting from the observation that Roma women are in a particularly vulnerable position and face discrimination on multiple levels, the hearing combined two main aims.
On the one hand, Eurodiaconia and its partners have called on the European institutions to promote an equal playing field for Romani men and women by strengthening the gender aspect of the EU Framework on National Roma Integration Strategies. A concrete step would be to include a gender category in the European Commission’s yearly assessments of progress made towards Roma inclusion in individual Member States.
On the other hand, the hearing served as a tool to increase awareness amongst local authority and civil society actors of the gender dimension of Roma inclusion and promote mutual learning by showcasing concrete projects and reflecting jointly on next steps.
In cooperation with its members and partners, Eurodiaconia will continue to push for equal access to education, housing, healthcare and employment for Romani women.
An event report will be made available online shortly. In the meantime, please don’t hesitate to contact Stephan Burger at stephan.burger@eurodiaconia.org in case you have any comments or questions.