Development Centre Murska Sobota has prepared the first International Roma conference at the RIS Mansion Rakičan, which was aimed to exchange views on education and political-social activation of the Roma community.

The purpose of the event was to analyse the current situation of the Roma community in different countries, highlight opportunities and obstacles in the field of political participation of the Roma community, present examples of good practice and talk about education and political-social activation of the Roma community.

Representatives of the Roma community and experts from six different countries, namely Slovenia, Croatia, Hungary, Great Britain, Serbia and North Macedonia, spoke at the conference. In the first part, presentations on Roma people in a national and transnational perspective were given by various institutions from Slovenia, Croatia and Great Britain. Director of the Office for Nationalities, Stane Baluh, estimated that in Slovenia the legal and formal issues regarding participation are well regulated, but there is lack of participation in practice. Member of the European Parliament, dr. Milan Brglez, in his speech presented the Roma issue in the European context. Dr. Andreja Zevnik from the University of Manchester and prof. Andrew Russell from the University of Liverpool spoke about the opportunities and obstacles to Roma political participation.

In the second part, examples of good practices from Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia and North Macedonia were presented. Božidar Nikolić from Educational Cultural Union of Roma “Romanipen” presented the situation of the Roma community and examples of good practices in Serbia. Tamara Muhič from RIS Mansion Rakičan spoke about an example of good practice and presented the Danube REgion project for improved Access and eMpowerment of ROMA Development (DREAM ROAD).

This was followed by a round table in which the participating guests from Serbia, Croatia, Hungary and North Macedonia exchanged views and experiences on empowering the Roma community.

At the same time, the conference was an excellent opportunity to get to know each other and establish contacts between the participants, which will be reflected in closer international cooperation in the future. The participants in the conference agreed that it is crucial that the situation of the Roma community is not ignored and that only together, through active participation, can they participate in the further development of the Roma community.

Source of photographs: Development Centre Murska Sobota.