Christine Sudbrock – Page 34

Call for consultant for external evaluation

Call for external consultant

Download the Call for external consultant.

We are searching for an external consultant to assess the achievements and lessons learned of the Framework Partnership Agreement between ERGO Network and DG Employment (2018-2021) entitled ‘Roma Included in Social Europe’.

The expert will be contracted for the evaluation of the first year of the work programme – 2018 – but we foresee a longer-term cooperation for the whole duration of the Framework Partnership Agreement for annual evaluations in order to improve our work through the consultant’s feedback and recommendations. This longer-term cooperation is subject to receiving the annual operating grant of DG EMPL and the success of the cooperation in the first year.

Specifically, the evaluator is expected to:

Conduct interviews with ERGO members participating in the implementation of the FPA as well as with ERGO staff in order to assess how well the objectives of year 1 have been achieved and how well the management structure of the work programme functions.
Conduct one evaluation visit to Hungary in order to interview organisations participating in the FPA.
Draft a report describing lessons learnt and providing recommendations for improvement for the next three years of the FPA.

Profile:

Excellent knowledge of evaluation methodology and experience with programme evaluations
Expertise on Roma issues and policies on European Union and member state level
Experience working with civil society organisations in the fields of advocacy, capacity-building and network building
Excellent writing skills and ability to concisely summarise evaluation results for different audiences
Excellent research and analytical skills
Ability to work independently
Additional language skills desirable

Conditions

The evaluation will be conducted from September to December 2018, with the final report expected for the end of December 2018.

Times for the evaluation visit and interviews will be agreed together with ERGO staff and partner organisations.

Contract and budget: The independent evaluator will be subcontracted to fulfil part of the work programme in the Framework Partnership Agreement between ERGO Network and DG Employment. The expert has no rights vis-à-vis the European Commission.

The expert shall be paid for the execution of the activities and services a fee of maximum 5,000 EUR, all taxes and VAT included. The expert is expected to pay her or his own travel and accommodation to Hungary (2 days) and Brussels (2 days).

Application procedure

Interested and qualified candidates should submit the following documents:

CV, highlighting past similar assignments
Motivation letter, including proposed methodology

We will select the expert according to the principle “Value for money”. Please send your application to info@staging.ergonetwork.org by August 20th 2018, 23:59 CET.

A detailed project summary can be provided upon request.

For further questions, please contact Christine Sudbrock: (c.sudbrock@staging.ergonetwork.org)

Call for applications: Study Session on Antigypsyism

Study Session: Knowledge is Power – Strengthening the voices of young people against antigypsyism

7-13 October 2018 – Budapest, Hungary

Are you an anti-racist and human rights activist? Are you a youth worker or a youth leader combatting antigypsyism with young people? Then you should apply to take part in our study session ‘Knowledge is Power: Strengthening the voices of young people against antigypsyism.

When? 7-13 October 2018 (including arrival and departure)
Where?          European Youth Centre, Budapest
Who?              18-30 year olds from Council of Europe member states
Deadline        Sunday 26 August, 23:59 (CET)

The study session is organised by TernYpe International Roma Youth Network and ERGO Network in the framework of the Alliance against Antigypsyism together with the European Youth Centre Budapest of the Council of Europe.

The study session will advance a common understanding of the roots, mechanisms, manifestations and implications of antigypsyism among youth activists so that they can actively contribute to combating it.

The participants will contribute to producing a ‘youth-friendly’, easy-to-read version of the Reference Paper on Antigypsyism that the Alliance against Antigypsyism has developed in 2016.

The study session will introduce participants to the concept of antigypsyism, discuss its manifestations and give the space to develop activities, case studies, counter-strategies and visuals that will foster the understanding of antigypsyism.

Objectives

To advance a common understanding of the roots, mechanisms, manifestations and implications of antigypsyism
To contribute to the development of a ‘youth-friendly’ version of the reference paper on antigypsyism for better use in youth work, human rights education and advocacy
To share approaches of combatting antigypsyism and other forms of racism
To experience, develop and test activities that introduce the concept of antigypsyism to empower young people to articulate and fight antigypsyism
To further the work of the Alliance against Antigypsyism through education, advocacy, communication and networking activities

Profile of participants

We aim to invite a diverse group of Roma and non-Roma participants from a variety of organisations that are active in their respective (youth) organisations with experience and commitment to combat antigypsyism. We aim to have a wide international outreach and diversity, as well as multiple experiences of activists (grassroots, European, non-formal education, youth participation, advocacy, from general anti-racist and minority organizations).We aim to have a gender-balanced group.

Participants must:

be able and committed to act as multipliers in youth work and activism on the theme of combating antigypsyism and other forms of racism.
Have some experience in nonformal education and knowledge on antigypsyism or other forms of racism.
be motivated to develop their competences in human rights education and to share their experiences with other participants.
be motivated to contribute to developing the youth-friendly version of the Reference Paper on Antigypsyism and corresponding tools during the study session.
Come with an open-minded and sensitive attitude towards discussing antigypsyism and share related experiences.
be aged 18 – 30.
be committed to attend for the full duration of the course.
be able to work in English.
be resident in a member state of the European Cultural Convention of the Council of Europe.

We welcome applications from all candidates who fulfil the specific profile of activities, irrespective of gender, disability, marital or parental status, racial ethnic or social origin, religion belief or sexual orientation.

Costs

The following costs will be reimbursed by the Council of Europe Youth Department:

Travel from and to your place of residence
Accommodation and meals
Visa costs

There is a participation fee of 50 € per person, which will be deducted from the participant’s travel reimbursement.

If you are interested to participate, please apply through our online form by 26 August 2018.

Download the call for participants

Questions? Contact Christine Sudbrock from ERGO Network: c.sudbrock@staging.ergonetwork.org or +32 2 893 10 49

Roundtable in the European Parliament on Transparency Criteria

Transparency and Accountability Criteria for Roma Grassroots NGOs

Brussels, 28 June 2018

At a round table discussion in the European Parliament ERGO Network and its members from the Western Balkans, Turkey and the ‘Visegrad countries’ Hungary, Slovakia and Czech Republic presented a new project that will strengthen Roma civil society as independent and transparent watchdog organizations.
The event was kindly hosted by Soraya Post (Greens/EFA), Peter Niedermuller (S&D), Tomas Zdechovsky (EPP) and Javor Benedek (Greens/EFA).

Being transparent and accountable are important prerequisites for the effectiveness of civil society that is taken seriously by its institutional counterparts and other partners, and at the same time gives the right to demand transparency and accountability from other stakeholders.
–Therefore ERGO Network developed a set of ‘transparency and accountability criteria’ and a corresponding capacity-building tool to improve the quality in governance, financial management and performance of grassroots organisations.

The discussion was opened by ERGO Network Director Jamen Gabriela Hrabanova who stressed the importance of promoting transparency and accountability within NGOs and among institutions.

Benedek Javor MEP welcomed the transparency criteria through a video message. “In particular I found especially meaningful the goal for equal partnership with the institutions for the better connection with the grassroots level and greater sustainability of NGOs” Benedek Javor said. He also stressed the importance of funding for NGOs in order to be able to fulfill the duties as watchdogs organisations. Tomas Zdechovsky MEP added that the spotlight on Roma participation in the European Parliament needs to happen all year long and not only during the Roma Week.

Jelena Jovanovic, Policy and Research Coordinator of ERGO Network presented the transparency criteria and explained the cooperative development process between all partners, followed by Andras Nun, director of the one of Hungarian ERGO member organisations Autonomia Foundation who introduced the participants to a board game ‘to help you fall in love with the dreadful issues of accountability and transparency’.

In the second panel of the day participants heard from Vitor Teixeira, Transparency International Europe, about the importance of not just being transparent as civil society, but more so holding institutions to account. Gabriella Civico from Civil Society Europe discussed the shrinking space for civil society in Europe and repeated the call for better funding for civil society’s watchdog role.

The debate was closed by Bodil Valero MEP and Natacha Katatchkine, Head of the EU internal policy team for the Open Society European Policy Institute. Bodil Valero and Natacha Katatchkine added that the lack of transparency has been used by those who want to silence things. She closed by pointing out that NGOs are ready to take the lead and are able to bring tools like those of ERGO Network.

The project was implemented with financial support from the European Commission and the International Visegrad Fund.

Download the Transparency and Accountability Criteria

Call for expert on CLLD

Call for expert

ERGO Network is contracting an expert on Community-Led Local Development and Roma inclusion to coordinate part of our work programme on CLLD in 2018

Role of the expert

We are searching for an expert to coordinate ERGO Network’s capacity-building and advocacy work on Roma inclusion in the CLLD in 2018, which is part of our Annual Work Programme ‘Roma Included in Social Europe’ funded by DG Employment.

2018 is a crucial year for CLLD in Europe, as important steps are taken on EU and Member State level for the new programming period 2020-2027 and the Urban CLLD is expanded. The expert is expected to support ERGO and its member organisations in Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Bulgaria and Romania in their capacity-building and advocacy work and to build on the experiences and achievements of the network in the area of CLLD from the past years.

Specifically, the expert is expected to:

Develop stage 3 and 4 of ERGO Network’s CLLD Quality Audit on Roma participation and implementation, coach members in using it, collect results and preparing the synthesis report
Develop stage 1 and 2 of a CLLD Quality Audit for the Urban CLLD
Develop a capacity-building trajectory for Roma NGOs and LAGs on Roma inclusion in the Urban CLLD
Support ERGO Network in setting up an EU advocacy strategy to ensure the next programming period includes Roma experiences in the CLLD.

Profile:

Excellent knowledge of Community-led Local Development in rural and urban settings and in the contexts of Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary, Czech Republic and Slovakia
Expertise on Roma issues and policies on European Union and member state level
Experience working with civil society organisations in the fields of advocacy and capacity-building
Good contacts with relevant stakeholders, such as Federations of LAGs, Rural Development Network, DG Regio
Good writing and analytical skills and ability to concisely summarise results for different audiences
Ability to work independently and at the same time coordinate regularly with the ERGO team and the member organisations

Conditions

Contract and budget: The expert will be subcontracted to fulfil part of the work programme in the Framework Partnership Agreement between ERGO Network and DG Employment. The expert has no rights vis-à-vis the European Commission.

The expert shall be paid for the execution of the activities and services a fee of maximum 5,800 EUR, all taxes and VAT included.

Application procedure

Interested and qualified candidates should submit the following documents:

CV
Motivation letter
Proposed methodology and timeline

We will select the expert according to the principle “Value for money”. Please send your application to info@staging.ergonetwork.org, indicating in the subject of the email “Application CLLD Expert” by 10 July 2018, 23:59 CET.

A detailed project summary can be provided upon request.

For further questions, please contact Gabriela Hrabanova (g.hrabanova@staging.ergonetwork.org)

Download the Call for expert

Evictions of Roma Travelers in Brussels

Evictions of Roma Travelers in Brussels: Is Antigypsyism the last accepted form of racism?

On 28 June 2018, evictions of Roma Travelers are to take place in Anderlecht, Brussels. The group of Roma who are going to be evicted are Belgian Roma for centuries. They were born here, as well as their parents and their grandparents. Roma Travelers have always been living on the territory of the Municipality of Anderlecht – part of the European capital Brussels.

Nevertheless, Belgian Roma Travelers remain one of the most neglected communities in Europe. During the Second World War, a big part of the Belgian Roma Community who is traditionally travelling and living in caravans were deported to the Nazi concentration camps. Today, a generation later, Belgian Roma Travelers are being constantly evicted from site to site, unwanted and unwelcomed by the local authorities.

Only two weeks ago, the Anderlecht Municipality announced to the Belgian Roma living on Dante Street that they needed to leave the site. The motive: the land where the camp is located is polluted.

Apparently, this is not the first attempt of the Mayor of Anderlecht Eric Tomas from the Socialist Party to get rid of the Belgian Roma Travelers site. Many times the police have come to the site and ordered them to move without any official order or notice. In April 2018, the local police went to the Belgian Roma Travelers site on Dante Street and ordered them to move, again without any document. However, this time the Roma refused to follow orders without the needed legal attributes.

The owner of the land where the Roma camp is located is not the municipality of Anderlecht. The land of the camp is the private property of the Boghossian Foundation – an Armenian philanthropist family. So far, the Boghossian Foundation refused to cooperate with local authorities and police and to support the eviction of the Roma from their private land. Despite this, the municipality have found an excuse to still conduct the evictions – the pretext is that the land is polluted. This is happening in the context of the coming local elections that will take place in October.

The questions are many. Is Antigypsyism acceptable in the very heart of the European Union and its values? Is the Socialist Party ready to take responsibility for such an act and do they propose any alternative for the Belgian Roma who actually are Belgian citizens? What is the moral right of an Armenian foundation to evict another minority that went through the very same persecution and genocide? Is Antigypsyism the last acceptable form of racism?

There has been the possibility for several years now to create a Travelers site with allocated land and facilities. There is even a special fund from the Brussels Region that can be used for this. However, no municipality so far showed an interest and took advantage of this funding (except Haren).

Three days before the evictions part of the camp was set on fire. Тhe perpetrators remain unknown. The evictions will still take place as planned on 28 June 2018. Where will the Belgian Roma go? Will their children attend school? Will they be provided an alternative? The answer is No. Until the next evictions.

Written by Atanas Stoyanov