SOLIDARITY WITH THE ROMA - MINORITIES AS BRIDGE-BUILDERS
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Federal Union of European Nationalities Föderalistische Union Europäischer Volksgruppen ФEДЕРАЛИСТСКИЙ СОЮЗ ЕВРОПЕЙСКИХ НАЦИОНАЛЬНЫХ МЕНЬШИНСТВ Union Fédéraliste des Communautés Ethniques Européennes SOLIDARITY WITH THE ROMA - MINORITIES AS BRIDGE-BUILDERS “Time and history do not work towards simple-mindedness, but instead towards intellectual diversity; for a European society where the human dignity of each individual citizen is a condition for the human dignity of all citizens; a European society where all situations in which man is an oppressed, abandoned, abject creature shall be changed. That’s European!” (Heinz Winfried Sabais (1922-1981), former mayor of the town of Darmstadt and president of the P.E.N.- association in Germany, at the European Culture Congress of Europa Union Germany in 1979) www.fuen.org www.fuen.org 1
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Executive Summary All strategies to improve the economic and social position of the Roma require underpinning and accompanying measures to increase the More participation in acceptance and social participation of the numerically largest minority of society Europe. The autochthonous national minorities united in the Federal Union of European Nationalities (FUEN) want to contribute to this. People belonging to minorities have show to have a specific social and Minorities as bridge- intercultural competence, which make them fit to act as intermediaries and builders bridge-builders to the minorities. In alliance and cooperation with other minorities the Roma will experience more acceptance from the part of the majority population, they will develop a strengthened awareness of self- esteem and will be encouraged to become active in the workings of state and society. The solidarity amongst the minorities that we aim at is not only relevant Minorities embody for the Roma population. It will enhance the reputation of all minorities added value and the perception of them within the total population, because it offers a contribution to solve a concrete problematic situation and makes it clear that minorities embody an added value for the society as a whole! The methodology is based on building trust through getting to know and Minorities help understand one another, which is made easier because both sides come minorities from a minority situation. Minorities help minorities through exchanging their own experiences and backgrounds and best-practice experiences from their often long and difficult journey from the fringes to the centre of society. The focus of the encounter between Roma and other minorities in the framework of a “Democracy Project” is on: - Promotion of a feeling of self-esteem and self-confidence, - Encouragement of emancipation and empowerment, Main focus - Enhancing social reputation, - Overcoming isolation and segregation, - Development of cooperation structures, - Inclusion of the Roma in political and social life and their - active participation in it on an equal footing with the majority population. These goals are given concrete shape by measures on local and regional Support through specific, level. The main emphasis is on projects in the fields of education, schools concrete projects and culture, and training and schooling based on infrastructural measures in the framework of youth encounters and in the agricultural field. Participants who participate in the “Democracy Project” assume the role of Mediators mediators and contribute to the utilisation of the things they have learnt in the day to day life of the Roma. www.fuen.org 3
Solidarity with the Roma- Minorities as bridge-builders 1. Necessity of civil-society commitment Many of the ten to twelve million Roma in Europe are confronted with Situation of the Roma as prejudices, discrimination, intolerance and social exclusion in their everyday challenge at all levels life. Their living situation is not just a challenge for Europe as a community of justice, values and solidarity. Notwithstanding the primary responsibility of their individual home states it is also a serious issue for internal peace and social cohesion on our continent and a task that has to be solved as a matter of priority. Even though national strategies especially in the field of providing basic Promotion of acceptance needs are needed within the European multi-level system – they will remain and participation in without sustainable effect if they are not coming together with measures society to promote acceptance and participation in society of Europe’s numerically largest minority. This task can neither be fulfilled by the state level, nor by the regional or municipal level alone. Close cooperation between state institutions and the forces of civil society is required. It appears to make sense that supplementary to the public services by the state and municipalities, in particular in education, health care, employment Make more use of civil and housing, accompanying steps are initiated to improve social integration society commitment and civil society participation of the Roma. In such a process, with the aim of bringing minority and majority closer together, the potential of civil society commitment should be used more. 2. Acceptance through approaching one another For the actors of civil society it is easier than for state or municipal authorities to enhance social inclusion of the Roma and their participation in society. Acceptance and recognition cannot be imposed by rules; they Rethink unprejudiced evolve in a mutual process of cautious rapprochement without direct state interference. That requires open-mindedness and the will to rethink unprejudiced both in the population at large as amongst the members of the Roma-communities. Dialogue and exchange are the most important and most effective steps for Building trust through getting to know and understand one another. The first step to be taken is to dialogue and exchange start up a conversation with one another, get a view of the experiences of the other side, discover sensibilities and sensitivities and regularly also traumas, which are the result of generations-long stigmatising and exclusion by the majority population, but also of a tendency to separation and self-isolation on the part of the Roma minority. In an atmosphere or intercultural openness the basis for trust can be developed, which is needed to address prejudices, fears and conflict potential relating to someone’s personal array of experiences. www.fuen.org 4
Recognise being different It is crucial, in the specific situation of minority and majority to accept one as added value another and to not consider being different as a threat, but to regard it as enrichment arising from diversity and to recognise the added value that is specific for the minorities. Consequently short-term-oriented pragmatism is not what is required Emotional intelligence and here, but rather emotional intelligence, empathy and authentic personal empathy as key commitment, in order to achieve acceptance through approaching one another in intercultural dialogue. 3. Minorities as bridge-builders When it comes to approaching one another and building bridges of trust, representatives of national minorities and ethnic groups are particularly Use common background qualified for the task. They frequently have a similar background and and experiences experience and have themselves suffered from exclusion and distrust. Not a few of them however also found ways and possibilities for getting minority and majority population to work together constructively and developed this process confidently and targeted in the interest of both parties. It is not unusual that representatives of minorities draw a special “self-confidence” More self-confidence from their experience and knowledge from their personal efforts to improve their original situation and the opportunities in society to be involved that they become aware of. It qualifies them to support others to help themselves and while doing so take account of the principle of subsidiarity. From this starting point the minorities almost by itself get the task of an Minorities as intermediary. The intermediary-role is one of the skills that characterise intermediaries minorities and that apart from other skills show their added value for cohesion in state and society. Minorities have, as academic research shows – e.g. the Competence Analysis by the European Academy Bozen/Bolzano Scientifically proven (EURAC): “Minorities as Standortfactor in the German-Danish Border Region”, added value Bozen/Bolzano 2007 – a specific social and intercultural competence, which goes hand in hand with a keen awareness for justice and equal treatment. 4. Solidarity amongst the minorities Solidarity amongst persons belonging to minorities and their specific social- Solidarity amongst the cultural character should be used Europe-wide to raise more awareness and minorities acceptance for the Roma minority in its particular social situation. Efforts must be made to create a solidarity alliance of people belonging to the Roma with other minority organisations in order to involve them in social Better advocacy by wor- processes. By establishing trustful contacts internally and joint external king in tandem action in regard to voicing common interest (“in tandem-principle”), the negative stance that the Roma initially run across if they act isolated and on their own can be broken down. Experiences in the German-Danish border region prove that consistent The example of the inclusion of the Roma minority in the “Dialogue Forum North” – a joint Dialogue Forum platform for communication and speaking up of all the autochthonous www.fuen.org 5
minorities in the region – led both to a clear effect of more solidarity amongst the minorities as well as to improved representation of their interests and also increased the sensitivity for their interest amongst parts of the majority population. 5. Minorities as factor for establishing businesses With its specific background and experience the minorities organised in the Converging interests of Federal Union of European Nationalities (FUEN) can amongst other things minority and majority use their competence in regard to the Roma to identify converging interests of the minority and majority population. Early involvement of the These steps can only be followed with success, where the ethnic group of Roma in conceptuali- the Roma is involved extensively and at an early stage in the planning of sation and planning concrete projects. In this way they will be able to accept the project as their own. The concentration on thus identified commonalities will be much more than a process of awareness-raising. From it, concrete conclusions can be Minorities as regional derived, not just for more social inclusion, but also about the importance factor for establishing of minorities as regional factor for establishing businesses. Especially businesses this aspect gains also increasing economic importance in the light of the demographic development of the Roma population in South East Europe. 6. Model for the resolution of social conflict One of these recommendations for action aims at making it clear on the Loyalty and minority basis of a model that on the one hand loyalty of the minorities vis-à-vis the protection state and society and on the other hand the freedom of affiliation guaranteed by the state and protection and support for minorities are interconnected. Reliability, accountability and partnership built on mutual trust are the credo of every successful minority policy. On this basis, the minorities and the majority in the German-Danish border Minority model of the region entered into a symbiotic relationship leading them from originally a German-Danish border conflictual situation, through a neutral situation to a situation of harmony region and cooperation. Today this minority policy has been embedded in a legal, institutional and social framework. The experiences from the German- Danish border region serve as a model for peaceful resolution of minority conflicts for other regions of Europe as well. The focus should be foremost on the Roma as a target group, but not exclude Model, also for other other groups living under similar social-economic and cultural conditions. groups The project avoids – in line with the recommendations of the Roma portal of the European Commission from 24 April 2009 (http://ec.europa.eu/roma) – considering the situation of the Roma as a singular case or focussing on general terms such as poverty and (traditional) way of living, which is www.fuen.org 6
rightfully criticised by the Central Council of the German Sinti and Roma. Instead, it is an exemplary action programme that also can be used on a wide basis for all inclusion endeavours. 7. Exchange of experiences and best practices In how far these model approaches of minority policy can be transferred Pilot “Democracy Project” or are suitable in practice and how they could be transformed into action- oriented elements should be tested as a first step in a pilot project. According to its main focus, it is a “Democracy Project” with the aim that multipliers of the Roma and people belonging to other minorities from the host country outside of their normal living situation come together – preferably in a centre for academic education in the German-Danish border region – where they can get to know each other personally and start a dialogue. The exchange of experiences and best-practice examples on regional and local level will encourage the Roma to participate more than before in political and social life and acknowledge their own importance as local factor both in the economic as well as in the cultural field. Use peer-group expe- Following other experiences with peer-groups, the minorities will work as riences partners on an equal footing with the people belonging to the different local Roma communities. The peer-groups consist of representatives of the Roma, members of other autochthonous minorities from the region and the majority population. The heterogeneity of the individual minorities represented in FUEN offers good conditions to initiate and implement complex programmes and projects tailored to the specific needs of the Roma communities, who live across Europe in different circumstances. 8. Target group The target group on the part of the Roma will be multipliers from all field Concentration on three of state, municipal and social life. We strive for a balanced composition in groups of addressees terms of age and sex. In the starting phase of the project the efforts will in particular be aimed at three groups of addressees. Where possible, we strive to include a balanced number of female participants. Young people in focus As a forward-looking project we will first of all focus on young people. As a high and homogeneous education and qualification level will be the most suited to achieve sustainable results, the programme primarily targets students, post-graduates and academics at the beginning of their careers as well as persons with a similar education. www.fuen.org 7
Secondly participants will be recruited from the representatives of the Local represantatives Roma ethnic group, who are either politically active as elected municipal representatives or who bear responsibility as executives on the municipal level. The third group consists of people belonging to Roma-communities who Voluntary workers are active voluntarily and who have already experience based on their engagement in the “pre-political” sphere, especially in regard to representing the interests of their minority. Commonalities and diffe- From these three sources not only the commonalities based on their identity rences as persons belonging to minorities will form the basis of the project, but also their different life situations, experiences, perspectives and views. 9. The Democracy Project in stages Multi-stage project The Democracy Project consists of several stages. Stage 1: The peer-groups are invited by FUEN to the German-Danish border region together with representatives of the majority population from the respective Seminar based on mo- regions of origin, in order for them to get to know the German-Danish model. dules This takes place during a seminar consisting of several modules according to the following model: Module 1 “The key experience“ People belonging to a minority tell from their own perspective about negative Key experience and positive experiences in dealing with majority and minority. The central subject is a key experience that showed the person involved the way from the margin of society to become a confident representative of his minority, who regards belonging to his ethnic group as enrichment and added value for society as a whole. Module 2 “Sankelmark model” Model of the European Study visits and discussions at several establishments of minorities and the Academy Sankelmark majority population (following the example of a well-known programme for internships at the German Federal Parliament) Module 3 “Converging interests” Identify converging in- Through dialogue, representatives of minorities and the majority population terests identify common interests. Module 4 “Way of life” The significance of cultu- Learn from one another: the significance of minorities for cultural diversity ral diversity in general and the contribution of the Roma to art, culture and way of life. Minderheiten und der Mehrheitsbevölkerung (in Anlehnung an ein bewährtes Akademieprogramm für Stipendiaten des Deutschen Bundestages) www.fuen.org 8
Stage 2: In the second stage the peer-groups identify according to their local situation Transferability of the which elements from the model of the German-Danish border region may model of the border be transferable to their own situation. FUEN, will continue to play the role of region moderator or coach. The process on-site must be continuously supported, until it develops a momentum of its own and can sustain itself. Stage 3: The peer-groups from the partner countries involved will come together on Evaluation and best- the invitation of FUEN, in order to exchange experiences, to evaluate the practice examples processes in their home countries and to develop best-practice examples for minorities and majorities to live together. These will be document in a suitable way and disseminated through the European-wide network of FUEN. 10. Support through concrete project Because it is important to stay close to practice and to take into account the realities of life of the addressees, the Democracy Project will be Make the connection to complemented with education and infrastructure measures on local and everyday life regional level. They both have a bearing on everyday life, which will create the necessary link between theoretical knowledge and increased social awareness on the one hand and the utilisation of what has been learnt in Core competences in improving the concrete life conditions on the other hand. Corresponding focus with the core competences of the minorities, the main emphasis will be on giving assistance in acquiring qualifications in the field of education, schools, cultural and intercultural skills. Additionally, training measures in the field of organic horticulture and agriculture will be offered – where possible Multidimensional based on shared support by both minority as majority representatives and approach with an integrative approach. Self-sufficiency from gardening, cooperative marketing models for small scale farmers, nutrition and health aspects will be covered in a holistic multi-dimensional approach. Specific infrastructural projects with the emphasis on youth and sports will Youth encounter additionally give good starting points for work camps and other forms of youth encounter. 11. Fact finding mission and financing The Federal Union of European Nationalities (FUEN) welcomes the measures initiated during the Hungarian Presidency of the Council to improve the Initiative of the Hungarian situation of the Roma in Europe (Communication from the Commission EU Presidency from 5 April 2011, Conclusions of the Council for Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs from 19 May 2011 and the acceptance by the European Council on 23/24 June 2011). Additional to the national strategies developed on the basis of these National implementation documents, FUEN sees the necessity and wide scope for complementary strategies civil society engagement in the form of the project that was described on the www.fuen.org 9
previous pages. This is the case both in regard to the relevant report of the Federal Republic of Germany to the European Commission from December 2011 (www.bmi.bund.de) and to the national Roma-strategy published by the Hungarian Minister / State Secretary for Social Inclusion, also from December 2011. Now that both the ambassador of the Republic of Hungary in Germany Cooperation project with and the Hungarian minister responsible for issues of the Roma, whom we Hungary reached through the ambassador’s good offices, expressed their interest, two fact finding missions will take place in Hungary in 2012 with the support from the German minority in Hungary. The main emphasis is to get into Roma in focus contact with representatives of the Roma: the main point is to have direct talks with them and hear from them about their needs and expectations and to take their proposals and suggestions into account in formulating the final project design. In this context FUEN considers it encouraging and an acknowledgement Central Council of the of its involvement that the Central Council of the German Sinti and Roma German Sinti and Roma expressly welcomed the minority project and supported it with given valuable substantive suggestions. FUEN thanks the Hermann-Niermann-Foundation in Düsseldorf for its financial contribution to this mission. FUEN is grateful as well that Gratitude for “seed money the Robert-Bosch-Foundation recognised the project as worthy of being financially supported and that it made a commitment to provide funding for the current year. In order to be able to create a broader basis for the project, we will try to obtain funding from the EU budget and complementary funding from national sources. Additional to this project, FUEN is working to make sure that the importance Minorities on the EU of Europe’s minorities for social peace, social cohesion and regional Council agenda development is taken into account on the agenda of the incumbent EU Council Presidency. www.fuen.org 10
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