Author: Ana Rozanova

Conference on the Future of Europe: call to include marginalised communities

Open letter to Executive Board: civil society organisations call for Conference to include marginalised communities

The Conference on the Future of Europe is a citizen-led series of debates and discussions that will enable people from across Europe to share their ideas and help shape our common future that was opened on 19th June. However, marginalised communities are hardly considered in the conference. ERGO Network alongside many other organisations signed an open letter prepared by Citizens Takeover Europe calling to include marginalised communities

The inaugural meeting of the Plenary of the Conference on the Future of Europe took place on 19 June, but the Conference risks excluding marginalised communities, undermining the whole exercise.With several civil society organisations and networks, we have drafted an open letter to the Conference Executive Board, calling upon them to address our concerns:

Dear Co-Chairs and Members of the Executive Board,

The inaugural plenary of the Conference on the Future of Europe is taking place on Saturday, 19th of June. According to the Joint Declaration, the Conference aims “to give citizens a say on what matters to them,” and to take action in response. However, we fear that the Conference will lead to the further marginalisation of citizens and residents that are already sidelined given the process and plans that have been made until now.

The Conference has so far not made adequate provisions to include marginalised and underrepresented communities. The European Citizens’ Panels are the main innovation of the Conference, and a key instrument to reach underrepresented people. Unfortunately, no quotas have been set to ensure the representation of underrepresented groups such as racialised people, LGBTQI+ people, people with disabilities, etc. Additionally, EU residents without EU passports and non-binary people seem to be categorically excluded from the panels. Furthermore, the Conference Plenary – the main decision-making body – does not seem to foresee adequate representation of these groups either.

It is no secret that political institutions, and the European Union in particular, have failed at times to include marginalised communities in their work. For this reason, many people from marginalised communities do not feel represented by the very institutions that are meant to serve them. Instead, they perceive them as contributing to their oppression.

It is in our common interest that this Conference becomes a success, but it can only become a success if all of Europe’s citizens and residents are provided access, included and treated as equal partners in this dialogue. If the EU fails to involve the most marginalised in our society, it will not only fail these communities but it will also fail to gather crucial knowledge about fundamental societal challenges, and the appropriate measures needed to build stronger, inclusive and cohesive societies.

We urge you to meet with us in the coming period to consider the concerns expressed in this letter, and to consult with organisations representing and working with marginalised communities such as some of the co-signatories of this letter. 

Moreover, we call on you to develop a strategy of inclusion in relation to the Conference to ensure that marginalised communities are adequately represented and involved in the Conference, and to do so in consultation with civil society actors. We are at your disposal to support this process.

Together we win, divided we fall. We will only make this Conference succeed if it includes all citizens and residents.

We look forward to hearing back from you.

Sincerely,

Provisional list of civil society organisations co-signing the letter:

  • #DiasporaVote!
  • A Buon Diritto Onlus
  • Alliance4Europe
  • Allwedo e.V.
  • Balkan Civil Society Development Network (BCSDN)
  • BIL:Armenia
  • Citizens Take Over Europe
  • Civil Society Europe
  • Culture Action Europe (CAE)
  • ECOLISE
  • EFF – European Future Forum
  • Equinox Initiative for Racial Justice
  • Eurochild
  • Europe for Scotland
  • European Alternatives
  • European Anti-Poverty Organisation
  • European Association for the Education of Adults
  • European Center for Not-for-profit Law Stichting (ECNL)
  • European Citizen Action Service (ECAS)
  • European Civic Forum
  • European Environmental Bureau
  • European Federation of National Organisations Working with the Homeless
  • European Forum of Muslim Women
  • European House
  • European Movement Italy
  • European Network Against Racism
  • European Network on Religion and Belief (ENORB)
  • European Pride Organisers Association (EPOA)
  • European Roma Grassroots Organisations Network
  • European Youth Parliament
  • Extinction Rebellion Czech Republic
  • Generation Climate Europe (GCE)
  • Gong
  • Greek Forum of Migrants
  • Green liberty
  • IGLYO
  • Institute of Public Affairs
  • Junge Islam Konferenz
  • KISA – Equality, Support, Antiracism
  • Mundo en Movimiento
  • Music Theatre International
  • Oxfam
  • PICUM – Platform for International Cooperation on Undocumented Migrants
  • Regional Roma Educational Youth Assocation-RROMA
  • School of Political Hope
  • Schwarzkopf Stiftung
  • SDG Watch Europe
  • Society for Sustainable Living/STUŽ
  • SOLIDAR
  • Stand Up For Europe
  • Tereza Čejková
  • The ECI Campaign
  • The European Council of doctoral candidates and junior researchers (Eurodoc)
  • The Good Lobby
  • Understanding Europe
  • Young European Federalists (JEF)

Civil society organisations can co-sign this letter by filling out the following form. The deadline is Friday, 18th of June, 18:00 CEST. The letter will be sent to the members of the Executive Board on Saturday morning, 19th of June. 

 

Antigypsyism and statelessness in DENK election manifesto

Antigypsyism and statelessness in DENK election manifesto

As a follow-up of the political recognition of antigypsyism in the Netherlands, the same political party who addressed this in October 2020 – DENK -, included antigypsyism and statelessness among Roma in their election manifesto 2021-2025.

After the elections took place in March 2021, DENK MP Stephan van Baarle addressed several questions on this matter. In the Netherlands, some Romani people who have been living here legally for over more than 40 years with residence permits are still being sent away when applying for Dutch citizenship.

This is in contravention with European and international law since covenants on preventing and eliminating statelessness have been ratified by the Dutch government. Even tough much has been done already by Roma NGOs and their political supporters and activists in addressing the issue of statelessness, things are moving (too) slow. Numerous children are at risk of becoming stateless or are confronted with “unknown nationality”.  This is a major obstacle in their daily lives and affects their education and their future.  Statelessness is one manifestation of antigypsyism, which impacts heavily on the position of Roma in society. It is vital to combine powers and to see that proper written solutions shall be put into practice, as everyone has a right to a nationality. Although people who are stateless do not have voting rights, thanks to the cooperation between DENK and Roma Utrecht Netherlands we managed to address this in the Dutch Parliament. Roma Utrecht Netherlands remains in close contact with the DENK party.

News from Pavee Point, Ireland

News from Pavee Point, Ireland

Pavee Point Traveller & Roma Centre focused our work in recent months on helping to ensure Traveller & Roma uptake of the COVID19 vaccines. We lobbied and advocated for vaccine priority for Travellers and Roma and published a briefing paper, Approach and Recommendations for COVID-19: Vaccination Prioritisation & Roll Out for Travellers and Roma.  Subsequently the Health Department recommended vaccine prioritisation for Travellers & Roma aged 18+ for the COVID-19 vaccination. To coincide with the vaccine roll-out Pavee Point released a series of videos to combat vaccine hesitancy – Travellers Take the Vaccine Campaign.  All videos can be found here.

 

In April we celebrated 50 Years of Activism (1971 – 2021) on International Roma Day .We hosted a webinar to commemorate 50 years of activism since the first World Romani Congress on the 8th of April in London in 1971. To mark the milestone, Pavee Point’s Co Director Martin Collins talked to Roma MEP, Romeo Franz and to Irish Traveller Senator Eileen Flynn about who and what inspired their activism. The video also includes a photographic look back over 50 years, Traveller and Roma music, and we heard from young Roma and Travellers on their hopes for the future. You can watch it here. 

In May 2021, Pavee Point was thrilled to be awarded funding by Rethink Ireland Equality Fund to support work in promoting Traveller education. These funds will enable us to raise issues of education discrimination – made worse by COVID-19 – and the need for a National Traveller Education Strategy. You can see a short video on our planned education programme here.

First ever EU Anti-Racism Coordinator

First ever EU Anti-Racism Coordinator
Today, the European Commission has appointed Michaela Moua as first ever EU Anti-Racism Coordinator. We warmly welcome Ms Moua in her new role and appreciate that the European Commission has appointed someone coming from civil society and with so much experience in the anti-racism movement.
For a successful start of this new position, ERGO Network, together with many member organisations, the European Network against Racism (ENAR), the Equinox Initiative for Racial Justice and other anti-racism organisations have issued a statement regarding the mandate of the new EU Coordinator on Anti-Racism. We call upon the new coordinator to work towards mainstreaming racial equality in the work of the European Commission, implementing the EU Action Plan against Racism and engaging actively and inclusively with civil society organisations.
Find our full statement here.

 

For more information about ERGO Network’s work on anti racism contact Isabela Mihalache , Senior Policy Adviser in the ERGO Network Brussels team.

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Ana Rozanova – Page 42 – ERGO Network

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