Today, Eurodiaconia published a new briefing on the National Roma Platform aimed at providing its members with more information on the purpose of the Platforms and on ways to get involved.
Each year, the European Commission organizes a European Roma Platform, a two-day international conference in Brussels which brings together representatives from the EU institutions, national governments, local authorities and (pro-) Roma civil society.
In 2015, the Platform was dedicated to two topics: combating Anti-Gypsyism and improving multi-stakeholder coordination. This briefing is aimed at providing Eurodiaconia members with more information on the purpose of the Platforms and on ways to get involved. In response to this latter challenge, the European Commission committed to support EU Member States in the development of so-called National Roma Platforms. The aim of these Platforms, coordinated by the National Roma Contact Point in eachcountry, would be to bring together relevant actors from the national level on a regular basis, in order to enhance mutual
transparency and cooperation.
Whilst National Roma Platforms represent an important step forward in improving multi-stakeholder coordination, a lack of publicly available information is currently preventing them from being as effective and inclusive as they could be; indeed, many (pro-) Roma civil society organisations operating at the national
and local level are not aware of the existence of National Roma Platforms and don’t know how to get involved.
To find out what the Platforms are and why they matter, check our new briefing.