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)

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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.

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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.

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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

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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

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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.

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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)

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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

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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.

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