confidence |creation | celebration

A seminar on confidence and pride for Roma youth participation on the occasion of the celebration of the International Roma Day

BACKGROUND

The Youth Sector Strategy 2030 of the Council of Europe aims to create spaces for young people to live together in peaceful and inclusive societies, with special emphasis on allowing young people, including those experiencing any form of discrimination and exclusion, to benefit from opportunities that develop their commitment to and exercise of democratic citizenship. It also emphasises the interest of the Council of Europe youth sector to develop a stronger profile regarding the inclusion of inter alia minorities and vulnerable groups, intersectionality, and inclusiveness across its programming.

The Council of Europe Strategic Action Plan for Roma and Traveller Inclusion (2020-2025) concurs in this priority by noting that:

Roma and Travellers, particularly women and youth encounter a variety of social barriers and prejudices that severely impede their capacity to effectively participate in public and political life. They are consequently largely absent from the local or national political arenas and decision-making processes affecting them. This invisibility undermines their potential to reverse embedded marginalisation and discrimination.

In their Youth Statement issued on the occasion of 8 April 2021, the participants in the first conference Roma Youth Together call on the Council of Europe member states to seek active dialogue with Roma youth organisations and to ensure lasting mechanisms of empowerment and participation of young Roma. These calls result from the fact that many Roma youth continue experiencing multiple discrimination, or live in specific situations of vulnerability, with impact on their social inclusion and lower levels of participation in society.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

The Roma Youth Together 2025 seminar should highlight the contemporary contributions of Roma youth in Europe, emphasising Roma pride, action, and resistance.

The seminar aims at strengthening the confidence of Roma youth leaders from across Europe by celebrating the sense of Roma identity and belonging and developing their skills as agents of change on the International Roma Day. Its specific objectives are:

• to share experiences and realities of Roma youth across Europe, especially in relation to meaningful youth participation;
• to empower Roma youth and Roma civil society to act as agents of change and multipliers in their communities;
• to support participants' potential for leadership, advocacy and action for human rights and the fight against antigypsyism;
• to associate young Roma with the Council of Europe's work in the field of Roma youth participation, namely in the light of the 75th anniversary of the European Convention of Human Rights;
• ⁠to celebrate the International Roma Day with Roma youth as front-runners in shaping it;
• ⁠to strengthen the sense of Roma youth community and connect with European youth organisations and networks in the field of Roma participation.

PROGRAMME AND METHODOLOGY

The methodology of the seminar will be based on the principles of human rights education particularly to address antigypsyism, peer to peer learning, exchange of practices and dialogue among participants by using the participatory methods of learning, such as working groups, creative workshops and facilitated discussions. It will be structured in connection to the previous work done by the Council of Europe in the area of Roma youth participation emphasising the Recommendation CM/Rec(2023)4 and its friendly-for.Roma youth version.

Specific of the 2025 event is the focus on celebration of creativity, co-creation and expression as a form of celebrating the International Roma Day. There will be three main and interconnected phases of the programme:

• Sharing: discussing achievements and good practices from the Roma youth communities across Europe and the related approaches of the Council of Europe and priorities of Roma youth organisations which support Roma youth participation.
• Creating: putting together resources, skills, and knowledge to co-create narratives and content that promote Roma identity, heritage, and culture, and establishing working groups focussing on strategies to address anti-discrimination online and offline, advocacy and leadership.
• Celebrating: preparing and partaking in the programme for the celebration of the International Roma Day.