By Ivan Ivanov, ERIO s Executive Director. social exclusion they experience as a

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1 ERIO Newsletter In this issue......our Editorial...European Roma Summit...Integrated European Roma Platform meeting...conference Fighting Roma poverty...seminar EU antidiscrimination legislation...recommendations on Roma women The European Roma Information Office (ERIO) is an international advocacy organization, which promotes political and public discussion on Roma issues by providing factual and indepth information on a range of policy issues to the European Union institutions, Roma civil organizations, governmental authorities and intergovernmental bodies. ERIO cooperates with a network of a large number of organizations and acts to combat racial discrimination and social exclusion through awareness raising, lobbying and policy development. ERIO Av. Edouard Lacomblé 17 Brussels 1040 Belgium Tel: 0032(0) Fax: 0032(0) For more information: press@erionet.org / Stereotypes Roma women in Europe are stereotyped as illiterate, loud, lazy and irresponsible burdening the state by bearing too many children, too early and too often. Issues The status of Roma women in Europe By Ivan Ivanov, ERIO s Executive Director Education Roma women constitute one of the most deprived groups of the Roma population due to the discrimination, social exclusion they experience as a In conjunction with International Roma Day, the second European Roma Summit, co-organised by the EU Spanish Presidency and the European Commission, was held on 8-9 April 2010 in Córdoba (Spain). Aims and main theme The Summit, following its predecessor in Brussels in 2008, had as its slogan Promoting policies in favour of the Roma population. The objectives of the Summit were to debate the progress made since the first summit in European and national policies to alleviate Roma exclusion and discrimination. Presenters also focused their attention on the conclusions drawn from the European Platform for Roma Inclusion and the 10 Common Basic Principles meetings. Participants The Summit attracted approximately 400 representatives of EU institutions, national governments, regional and local authorities and civil society organisations (including Roma). Key speakers included: Viviane result of the intersection of race, gender and class. Romani women are the ones who are most likely to suffer from inadequate health care and housing conditions, poor quality of education and lack of job opportunities. Roma women suffer unequal treatment from a very early age. They learn in educational settings characterised by segregation and face discrimination by teachers. When they study in mixed schools, they are often subjected to discrimination by their non-roma p e e r s. The lack of a stimu- The 2nd European Roma Summit Reding (Commissioner for Justice, Fundamental Rights and Citizenship), László Andor (Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion), Lívia Járóka (Member of European Parliament), George Soros (Chair of the Soros Foundation), Theodore Ahlers (World Bank Director) and Roma representatives and organisations such as Ivan Ivanov (ERIO Executive Director). Structure of the Summit Continues on page 6 The Summit was hosted by the Spanish Ministers for health and social policy, Trinidad Jiménez García-Herrera, and for equality, Bibiana Aido Almagro. It included four workshops: Workshop 1: Explicit but not exclusive targeting Workshop 2: Awareness of the gender dimension Workshop 3: Use of community instruments Workshop 4: Involvement of civil society Continues on page 2

2 Ivan Ivanov, Executive Director of the European Roma Information Office (ERIO), emphasised the importance of having both an EU policy specifically devoted to the Roma and full and effective cooperation between Roma and non- this would lead to effective inclusion. She does not believe that energy should be wasted in developing special laws or funds for Roma. Existing legislation and available funds are there to deal with the challenges, and these tools need to be used more effectively. She thinks that what we do need is a strategic approach, based on cooperation between all departments concerned in the European Commission and international organisations, as well as between national authorities. Roma communities. He announced that anti-gypsyism is on the rise and that we need to secure implementation of both legislation and policing of anti-gypsyism. Recognising that the European Commission already has a declaration and guidelines to prevent such behaviour, he stressed the need to take it a step further. He noted that Roma policies could help other communities and that the trick is not to change mentalities which are deeply engrained and complex, but to change attitudes. The way to do this is through instruments like legislation, policies and structural funds. He acknowledged improvements like the April 7th communication from the Commission, the adoption of the Ten Common Basic Principles and the Platform, which need to be encouraged. Lastly, the EU and member states should share leadership responsibilities. Viviane Reding, European Commissioner for Justice, Fundamental Rights and Citizenship, mentioned the positive impact that Roma s full inclusion could have on society, on the economy and on p e o p l e s lives in c i t i e s a c r o s s E u r o p e. Roma have contributed to the rich fabric of E u r o p e a n lives, giving the example of the Roma influence on the Spanish folklore. She affirmed that social inclusion of Roma remains high on the agenda of the European Commission. The EC is looking specifically at the relevant EU legislation and Funds and at its role as coordinator of national policy and facilitator of policy dialogue. She also insisted on the protection of minorities as political criteria for accession to the EU. The Commissioner stated that the approach towards Roma issues should be mainstreaming, meaning integrating Roma into mainstream schools and jobs because László Andor, European Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion, spoke of how the Roma situation worsened between the two summits due to both the financial crisis and difficulty in raising funds, increasing intolerance and violence and social expenditure cuts. Many Roma people are trapped in the vicious circle of poverty. He stressed that in the area of planning, much progress has been made but little impact achieved. He presented the 2020 Strategy as an opportunity for Roma inclusion, not only because of the emblematic initiative for combating poverty, but the anticipated measures in the area of education, etc. The policies with the Roma, he emphasised, must be included in the framework of Fundamental Rights and need the effective support of the Structural Funds. Page 2

3 Meeting of the Integrated European Platform Roma Platform The third meeting of the Integrated European Platform on Roma inclusion, entitled Elaborating a medium term roadmap for the Platform, took place at the Spanish representation to the EU in Brussels on 17 June This meeting was co-organised by the EU Spanish Presidency with the European Commission. Participants included representatives from Roma civil society, international organisations and NGOs, EU government officials, EU civil servants, as well as experts on Roma issues. The aims of this meeting were: to address recent developments of EU policies for Roma inclusion and reflect on the most recent EU initiatives in the framework of the EU Spanish Presidency. to debate future developments, define priority themes and a methodology for future activities of the European Platform for Roma inclusion (i.e. a medium term roadmap for the Platform). The meeting was opened by General Director of Social Policy, Families and Childhood, Juan Carlos Mato Gómez (Spanish Ministry of Health and Social Policy) and Belinda Pyke, Director, Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affaires and Equal Opportunities. Developments under the Spanish Presidency on Roma inclusion Second Roma Summit (Córdoba, 8-9 April 2010) Council conclusions on Advancing Roma inclusion Developments at European level on Roma inclusion DG REGIO pilot project on Roma inclusion to explore whether it is possible to move from good projects to good policies Amendment of article 7 of the European Regional Development Fund Regulation, extending the eligibility for financial support for housing interventions in favour of marginalised communities in rural areas Commission communication on Roma inclusion and the progress report which takes stock on recent developments in the member states and at European level High level events in the member states involving national politicians, civil society and representatives of the Roma community, as well as international organisations to identify the challenges and possible solutions to make the use of Structural Funds more efficient in supporting the policies promoting the economic and social integration of Roma Development of model approaches for Roma inclusion proposing policy tools based on good practices ERIO conference Fighting Roma poverty, ensuring equality On June 28, 2010, ERIO hosted the conference Fighting Roma poverty, ensuring equality with the support of the DG Employment and Social Affairs. It was held in the European Economic and Social Committee building in Brussels. Attendees came from Belgium, Bulgaria, France, Greece, Macedonia, Turkey and the United Kingdom. The day-long conference brought representatives together from the European Commission, various NGOs and Roma organisations, allowing for ideas to be shared and issues to be addressed via presentations, slide-shows and discussions. The conference included four plenary sessions: Panel 1: How the European Union confronts the challenge of poverty Panel 2: How to best achieve good practices Panel 3: How to promote equal opportunities for Roma Panel 4: How to empower Roma communities in order to break the cycle of poverty Ivan Ivanov (Executive director of ERIO) opened the conference by acknowledging that the conference is one of the major events of ERIO and especially important since it coincides with the European Year Against Poverty. ERIO s aims in organising the conference was to invite pa- Page 3 rticipants who would offer a wide range of expertise in dealing with Roma issues at the EU, national and international levels. Mr. Ivanov stressed that ERIO is also concerned with Roma issues that are not only in EU member states but also in accessional countries. It was therefore his pleasure to have a representative from the Turkish Parliament (Nursuna Memecan) and a minister from Macedonia (Nezdet Mustafa) with a Roma background present at the conference. Panel 1: How the European Union confronts the challenge of poverty Fay Devonic (Head of Unit Anti-discrimination and Equality between Women and Men, DG Employment and Social Affairs of the European Commission) stated that the Commission can only guide the actions of the member states, but it is firmly committed to promoting the Roma economic and social inclusion. The commission considers ERIO, and other civil society work, as crucial for raising awareness. It is important to ensure equality within the member states in order to strive for a truly equal European society. Therefore, the Commission insists on the need to mainstream Roma into policies through an integral approach, but also to develop a tailor-made approach that deals with the specific needs of Roma communities.

4 examples of places where the situation is improving (Spain), but noted that overall gaps are increasing. Second reason is the lack of education. Eastern Europe s non -obligatory pre-school has had a negative impact. There has been a growth of the gap compared to 20 years ago. Third reason is residential segregation. A way to help improve this is to create economic opportunities, but this should be done both outside and inside of the community because both can have positive and negative effects. The risk of only creating inside opportunities is that although the situation inside the community will be improved, it will not help inclusion with mainstream society and will strengthen discrimination. The risk of only creating outside opportunities is that not all Roma will benefit and will consequently leave the community and those remaining The European Platform is an example of an important step. However, it is important to know that often the measures put into place to address Roma poverty are often disconnected with reality. Marie-Anne Paraskevas (Unit Inclusion, Social Policy Aspects of Migration, Streamlining of Social Policies, DG Employment Social Affairs, European Commission) spoke about the ninth meeting of people experiencing poverty in the European Union and of the national delegations present. She stressed the importance of the participation of those experiencing poverty as well as those addressing them for the development of social inclusion policies. She also acknowledged the difficulty in measuring extreme poverty which would help create policies that reflect the realities experienced. She then insisted that it is a priority to achieve a minimum income for Roma, even though it is often not enough to lead a dignified life. It is also important to focus on child poverty in order to break the generational transmission of poverty. Panel 2: Finding the best way to good practices Jan Jarab (Office of the UN High Commissioner on Human Rights) opened his speech by exposing the difficulties posed when Roma are not poor and whether they can be considered as role models for the rest of the Roma. He then gave three reasons as to why Roma are poor. First reason is because they are born poor. He gave several will be worse off. Mr. Jarab went on to criticise some current activation policies which are counterproductive because they do not offer real job opportunities, nor do they further career opportunities. Nursuna Memecan (Member of the National Parliament of Turkey) spoke of the prejudices and the poverty Roma face and how crucial it is to find ways to overcome these. She is grateful for the commitment of the volunteers that help Roma in Turkey. Their efforts have been very valuable to authorities in being more aware of the specific problems Roma face. The push for the Istanbul meeting in March with the Prime Minister began because Turkey is facing democratic deficiency. Ms. Memecan insisted on listening to Roma communities and having them participate in the process. One of the difficulties they face is the lack of associations and representatives. At the conference, workshops were held with representatives where they asked questions regarding Romani identity, their concerns and their demands. The first problem voiced was the discrimination, segregation and humiliation Roma face in school and in the government. She believes part of the process of integration is to restore the confidence and pride of Roma. Positive action measures marked the end of the meeting. For example, since it is difficult to send children to school, transportation was provided as well as after school activities. The negative references to Roma in Turkish legislations were removed and antidiscri- Page 4

5 mination law for minorities was created in addition to the establishment of a resource centre at the university. Roma associations are strengthening in Turkey, she concluded. Panel 3: Promoting Equal Opportunities for Roma Enrica Chiozza from the European Commission, DG Regional Development summarised the steps taken by the DG responsible for contributing to Roma social policy funds. One of the categories of contribution is Roma inclusion intervention for structures and education. One of the communications of the Córdoba summit in April was the Roma inclusion file which is the Structural Funds available to member states for combating discrimination. She described the Commission s pilot project for Roma. The first activity in this project is internal awareness. The three main fields of the pilot project are: early education, micro-credits and awareness raising. The results of these will start to be visible in A lot of efforts have been put into place to better understand which projects will be more useful for the specific needs of Roma. Most of Roma-related funding failed because Roma were not involved and there was no communication with similar projects that had similar goals. Chiozza, stated that it is important to try and avoid mistakes through study visits to understand which projects can have a high impact. On March 3, 2008 there was an interesting meeting with many Roma activists and NGOs. This meeting helped us understand that there is a great need for more early childhood education. We must overcome segregation, so children will not be penalized. Fr. Joe Browne (Chair of the Irish Travellers Movement in Britain) said that in the UK, there are many different groups with unique identities, among whom some don t like to be called Roma. Recently Roma from Eastern Europe have travelled to the UK for economic reasons. Their living conditions are different from those in UK/ Ireland in that they are very mobile. This leads to unique situation: the government fails to give appropriate housing provisions to those who desire to lead a nomadic life. Therefore, it is not addressed adequately, families become marginalized and this creates an area of conflict between Travellers Gypsies portrayed as criminals. Europe should address the problem in Britain. Policies shouldn t be restricted to Roma living in certain countries; they should be inclusive policies of Roma all over Europe. As the UK goes to show, not all bad practices are in Eastern Europe but also in Western Europe. There is a problem of solidarity between Roma and Travellers. There is no substantive research done on the issue, and there is a serious data deficit. Social indicators that address and measure poverty show that Roma have the worst living Panel 4: Empowerment of Roma Communities: Braking the Cycle of Poverty Pierre Baussand (Acting Director of the Platform of European Social NGOs) stated that there are no projects at local or national levels, but the Platform of European Social Networks tries to influence the EU level. The EU 20/20 Strategy gives key social pillars for poverty reduction targets. The Platform tries to bring all of the EU tools for social policy together. situation. The Irish Travellers Movement, a member of the European Anti-Poverty Network, works with these communities by meeting with various government departments to highlight models of good practices. Page 5

6 ERIO seminar EU anti-discrimination legislation: the Race Equality Directive ERIO organized a seminar as part of its awareness raising campaign on anti-discrimination. The seminar gathered most of the Belgian based Roma NGOs as well as young Roma from different countries serving as interns in the European Commission. The seminar aimed to: introduce the EU Anti-discrimination legislation to the Roma activists, and more specifically, the Race Equality Directive EC 2000/43 discuss definitions for direct and indirect discrimination, harassment, victimisation, as well as the scope of the directive and specificities of the genuine occupational requirement A parallel objective of the event was to identify ways to increase the knowledge and awareness of the communities these young people live in, which should result in the decreasing of unreported cases of discrimination against Roma in different fields. The seminar is seeking the multiple effect of information exchange and knowledge delivery. It is hoped that young people will take the message to their communities, will explain to their people how to recognise discrimination, how it can be proven and which are the bodies they should address. This seminar gave an opportunity to the participants to share their own experience or information on discrimination cases which was a good ground for comparison of the degree of discrimination Roma face in different countries in Europe. Continues from the first page lating learning environment, devoid of hope and inspiration, compounded by an absence of positive role models, contributes to the high dropout rates among Romani girls and boys. In addition, many parents do not allow Roma girls to continue their studies more often than Roma boys. Acute poverty and daily struggles for survival forces many girls to leave school in order to help their parents with household responsibilities. This resulting lack of qualifications and marketable skills renders most Roma women powerless to compete in the labour market already permeated by anti-gypsyism. This leaves many susceptible to exploitation in the formal sector in their desperate need to put bread on the table at the end of the day. In some traditional communities, often parents stop Roma girls to attend school at the age of They believe that this will prevent Roma girls from having free sexual relationships since girls virginity is still considered a value and that Roma girls in some Roma communities might marry early. This is one of the stereotypes about why Roma get married, but this is not typical for all Roma. Indeed, in most Roma communities young Roma marry after There is a gender gap in access to formal education between Roma women and men. Girls are expected to complete a lower educational level than boys. In many cases girls are assigned to the nearest segregat- Page 6 ed school in the Roma settlement even if their parents have the opportunity to assign their daughter in a mix school, outside the settlement. Although segregated school provides lower quality education, according to some Roma, they prefer girls to study close to them so they are better protected from violence, humiliation, racist discrimination and sexual harassment. Since boys are more able to defend themselves, they are allowed to go to mixed schools. Health The health status of Roma women is critically low, as they rarely do medical checkups. When they do it, it is only when they become seriously ill. But this is not the only reason. In any case, it is not due to what a number of prejudice publications refer to, that is, both Roma women s and their children s bad health are due to their irresponsibility, and also a result of a low health care culture and negligence. One should take into consideration the physical inability of most Roma women to visit health care experts since many Roma communities are located in remote areas, lacking regular public transport. Additionally, Roma women have limited financial possibilities that allow them to cover their transport, medical examinations and prescribed medicines. The reluctance to visit a doctor is often linked to a lack of trust of and discriminatory attitude of health care staff. Roma women with children see doctors more

7 frequently but this is largely related to their children s health. Overall, a combination of discriminatory practices, high treatment costs, complex administrative procedures, and lack of ID papers and social insurance work together to effectively limit or deny health care to an overwhelming majority of Roma women in Europe. There is evidence of Roma women subjected to sterilisation. In the past, in countries like Slovakia and Czech Republic there has been a regular practice even when there was a specific policy related to Roma women. There is indication that life expectancy of Roma women in Europe is between 10 to 15 years shorter than non-roma. With regards to the health care status of Roma women, one should also take into consideration the environment they live inappropriate housing, lack of running water in many instances, which leads to low hygiene, employment often they occupy low qualified and dirty jobs. In the family Roma women as wife, sister or daughter are often subjected to domestic violence. In the traditional communities where early marriage is normal they marry to a boy who is chosen by their parents. This is an arranged marriage, not forced marriage as some prejudiced sources say. A big part of the Roma women population is occupied only with housekeeping. In reality women are those who perform domestic work and childcare in the family. The issue of trafficking should be also openly discussed. Roma women are the most vulnerable members of the society and the most vulnerable to trafficking. policies dealing with discrimination and gender equality. However, there are currently no comprehensive policies specifically addressing the situation of Roma women, either at national or at European level. Main tools to build the specific approach to achieve equal treatment for Roma women should be based on: Gender inequality Roma women face inside and outside the community and in the mainstream society multiple discrimination based on sex, ethnicity, social status and sometimes on disability. Family life The struggle of Roma women to fight poverty, maintain the family, take all traditional obligations, responsibility, to bring up children and housekeeping. The stigma that they usually hold for life if gets married no virgin. When divorced, Roma women are the ones leaving the home with no house, no savings, very little support by the family and community. They also suffer domestic violence. Education External issues: barriers to access quality education; discrimination by school authorities and students; segregation; poverty and social exclusion. Internal issues: cultural barriers, lack of role models. The situation of Roma women can be accurately addressed by focusing on the simultaneous forms of gender, racial and ethnic based discrimination that are particular to Roma women and often compounded by poverty and social exclusion. It is not enough to elaborate and implement initiatives that deal with each issue in isolation: first racial and ethnic discrimination, then gender discrimination, then poverty and social exclusion. Rather the interaction and relationship among issues and types of discrimination need to be recognised and form basic policies. There are significant national and EU level laws and Health and reproductive rights External issues: prejudices, racial discrimination, ignorance, (sterilization in hidden forms need proof); segregation in maternity wards and hospitals, not proper service to Roma women, pregnant women in the settlements; living conditions and environment affecting the health. Internal issues: lack of trust due to external factors, Paid and unpaid job discrimination based on ethnicity and sex. Work place discrimination is often demonstrated by employers who offer Roma women the worst work conditions and lowest pay jobs. Due to low education and qualifications they are not competitive at the labour market. Housing lack of infrastructure, running water, electricity and canalisations. In many cases housing is not in accordance with their life style. Page 7

8 Recommendations for the improvement of the status of Roma General recommendations: National authorities and civil society organisations should pursue research and programs using empowering methodology that includes Roma women in the elaboration and implementation of initiatives and studies for and about them. National governments and national agencies for Roma must take greater commitment into promoting Roma inclusion. They should work together to follow the European Parliament resolution on Roma women as well other European Commission Roma resolutions and mainstream strategies which could bring change to the status of Roma women. Specific recommendations: Education Positive action in school system. After school classes should be organised for under-achieved pupils in order to improve their school results. Romani girls should especially benefit from such programs. Adult education programs should be designed with special focus on Romani women. Vocational training. Teaching staff should receive discrimination free education, especially in respect to ethnicity and gender based discrimination. Carrier councillors in schools should promote gender desegregation in job orientation, by encouraging Romani girls to pursue studies and application for vocational schools and colleges. Culturally designed school curriculum classes on Roma culture focusing on the cultural specificities of this community. Health Discrimination free education for health authorities. Responsible bodies to monitor for segregation practices in hospitals and maternity wards. To organise information campaigns in Roma communities about the negative medical consequences of giving birth at an early age for both mother and infant. Issues surrounding the health and psychological risks involved in early marriage should also be addressed. The Ministry of Health and authorised statistical offices, should strengthen their capacity to collect gender-disaggregated and gender specific health data for Roma communities. Specific programs for immunisations and regular control of pregnant Romani women. Employment Government policies to identify gender discrimination as an important cause of unemployment among Roma women. Adopting employment policy for diversity at the working place. Positive action. Employers should be offered incentives (such as tax exemptions) to hire Romani women. Special course for increasing the professional qualification for Romani women and programs linked to the labour offices to find jobs for Roma women according to their interests, skills and qualifications. Access to credit should be facilitated to Roma women who want to start small business. Gender segregation in job training should be combated at the level of unemployment offices and providers of professional training for unemployed Roma. Encourage active Roma women movement Romani women movement is not well organised. There are few Roma women active, trying to raise awareness on the issues, but there is not a well structured entity and movement to follow a concrete strategy or action plan based on anti-discrimination and social inclusion principles. The activity of Roma women activists is limited to raising the difficulties Roma women face in their everyday lives, with no support of concrete advocacy initiatives. Usually researches are conducted by specialised non-roma NGOs or intergovernmental institutions, coming with reporting on a fact finding missions and research. Draft recommendations of these organisations for improving the situation of the Romani women usually are not well communicated with the Roma women organisations whose involvement is also limited. Roma women organisations themselves are not very much. These organisations need capacity building on antidiscrimination, national and European principles of equal treatment and legislation, as well as policies to base their future advocacy message. National authorities should promote programs involving Roma women, increasing their capacity to advocate and participate in the decision making process at all levels. Develop an effective awareness raising mechanism where information on the benefits of education and active participation will reach a larger number of young Roma women and men. Culture specific training to educational, health care and local authorities to overcome prejudices and stereotypes concerning Roma women are also needed. Page 8 The European Roma Information Office (ERIO) is supported by the European Community program for Employment and Social solidarity PROGRESS ( ). The sole responsibility lies with ERIO and the Commission is not responsible for any use that may be made of the information contained therein.