About Romani Week – Romani Week 2024

9-11 April 2024, Brussels

Policymakers, experts, activists and organisations concerned with persistent antigypsyism in Europe are planning to collaborate for Romani Week in the European Economic and Social Committee and Committee of Regions (CoR), European Committee of the Regions and other EU institutions after the International Roma Day (8 April) and ahead of the Roma Resistance Day (16 May).

The Future of Roma in Europe:

Ongoing Challenges and European Elections in 2024

Context

Over the last decade, we have witnessed a rise in anti-racism movements and protests across Europe, primarily inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement. On the other hand, we can also observe a rise in far rights trends at the national level and increased vilification and shrinking of the civil space of non-governmental organisations and human rights defenders. At the political level in the European Union, many parties gaining ground display xenophobic, anti-immigrant, and nationalist tendencies. Far-right political groups are becoming increasingly influential at the European Parliament level, where they could become the third-biggest contingent in the European Parliament with the upcoming elections in June 2024.

At the heart of ongoing challenges of Roma equality, inclusion, and participation are the complexity of national governance processes to deliver effective inclusion of Roma, Sinti, and Travellers, combined with disconnected policies on Roma inclusion from mainstream policies and the lack of political will to bring about concrete results in fighting antigypsyism and social exclusion of Roma, Sinti, and Travellers. Often, EU governments fail to make sufficient progress to implement the National Roma Strategic Frameworks or to adequately translate the Action Plan Against Racism for 2020-2025 into national policy.

As an umbrella term, the reference to ‘Roma’ encompasses a wide range of people of Romani origin such as: Roma, Sinti, Kale, Romanichels and Boyash/Rudari. It also encompasses groups such as Ashkali, Egyptians, Yenish, Dom, Lom, Rom and Abdal, as well as traveller populations, including ethnic Travellers or those designated under the administrative term Gens du Voyage and people who identify as Gypsies, Tsiganes or Tziganes, without denying their specificities. This terminology term was approved on 20 October 2010 at the high-level meeting on the Roma with the adoption of the Strasbourg Declaration by the Council of Europe and has been used ever since by EU and international institutions.

What is Romani Week?

Romani Week is a yearly event organised in Brussels by civil society organisations, European institutions, and other international and intergovernmental organisations in the context of Roma International Day. It aims to raise awareness of the situation of Roma, Sinti, and Travellers in Europe. All relevant stakeholders, including Roma representatives and European youth, attend the event.

Objectives

Romani Week 2024 aims to discuss how the Roma agenda fits within this broader political European discourse and priorities, especially in the context of the upcoming European elections.

Thus, Romani Week aims to provide a platform for Roma, Sinti and Travellers representatives and stakeholders to discuss the ongoing political, economic and human rights changes Europe faces today and ways to ensure that Roma, Sinti and Travellers become a more prominent priority within the mainstream political discourse and policy priorities at the EU level to provide stronger accountability and political will by governments, both in the EU and Enlargement countries, to deliver on the equality, inclusion and participation of Roma, Sinti and Travellers.

In addition, Romani Week will discuss several concrete topics, such as the threats of increased antigypsyism and structural discrimination, as well as promoting Roma, Sinti and Travellers’ participation, implementing and monitoring National Roma Strategic Frameworks, Roma history, truth and reconciliation processes and so on.