22nd Session of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe

John Warmisham: “I encourage cities and regions to join the Alliance and make this project a success"

Strasbourg, 21.03.2012 - “The Alliance of Cities and Regions for Roma Inclusion, which is in the process of being put together, will be a very concrete follow-up to the Summit of Mayors on Roma”, John Warmisham, Congress thematic Rapporteur stated during the debate held on Wednesday 21 March.

He explained that the Alliance will be a flexible framework for exchanges of experiences and provision of specific services, a kind of platform for individual cities and regions and for existing networks and initiatives in the field of Roma inclusion. Its main objectives will be to improve local and regional capacity for project implementation and to help secure funding for these projects, in particular from EU and international donors.

The representative of Open Society Foundation, Kenneth Davey, underlined the complementarity between the projects led by the Foundation and the future Alliance. “Links and possible fields of cooperation will have to be explored”, he said. The Alliance is planned to be launched in September 2012.