26^th Session of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities – 25 to 27 March 2014

Empowering Roma youth through participation: effective policy design at local and regional levels

Statement by Orhan USEIN, Programme Coordinator, Decade of Roma Inclusion Foundation

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It is a pleasure for me, as a young Roma, to address you about the importance of policies targeting young Roma, and I thank you on behalf of the Decade Secretariat for the invitation we received.

Active participation of young Roma in international initiatives has been advocated for by many youth leaders and networks, including FERYP and Ternype, who have valued the fact that as future leaders of their communities, young Roma should be empowered and involved in the design and implementation of tailor made policies targeting Roma communities on local, regional and national level.

The Roma population is a significantly young population compared to other ethnic groups in Europe. In fact the average age of Roma is 25, compared to the average age of non-Roma, this being 40. Considering this, the challenges that the Decade of Roma Inclusion and the EU Framework for National Roma Integration Strategies aim to address affect in greater extents the younger generations, as they make the majority of the Roma population.

Within the Decade of Roma Inclusion initiative, Roma Youth has become a priority since the Croatian Presidency which recognized the importance and need for giving space and voice to young Roma. Nevertheless, the National Action Plans of the Decade Participating countries, as well as the more recent National Roma Integration Strategies of the EU member states pay little, attention to the specific needs of young Roma. It is worth to mention that while the EU strongly encourages a structured dialogue between youth organizations and individuals, on the one hand, and the policy makers, on the other hand, when creating the EU Framework for National Roma Integration Strategies, the structured dialogue was missing. As a matter of fact, there were no consultations conducted with any Roma youth networks in order to determine particular and specific measures necessary for an efficient approach to Roma integration.

Why is it important that Roma youth are specifically targeted in policy measures addressed towards Roma? For this I would like to elaborate three reasons. First, as I mentioned, the majority of the Roma are young people. Neglecting to address their specific needs increases their vulnerability. It is of particular importance, when dealing with Roma inclusion, to consider the issues of youth unemployment. As data shows, this ranks high in the majority of the Council of Europe member states. While it threatens the chances of young Roma to enter the labor market, it also affects the motivation of youngsters to pursue higher education, thus exposing them to social exclusion and poverty. Hence, policies that specifically target Roma youth empowerment and engagement are of extreme importance.

Second, focusing on policies that are substantial to Roma youth by taking advantage of opportunities such as civic and political participation, volunteering, creativity, entrepreneurship, sport and global engagement, will further integration. In fact, these policies can have cross-sectorial impact, contributing towards changes affecting simultaneously all four target areas of the Decade of Roma Inclusion and the EU Framework for National Roma Integration Strategies. For instance, promoting volunteerism among Roma Youth helps in gaining new skills and teaches about the life-long learning procedure and encourages engagement in different crucial issues for the community.

Finally, many of the policies affecting Roma would have bigger outcomes if drafted in cooperation with Roma youth representatives. As the engagement of young Roma in policy-making procedures and government affairs is extremely low, it is highly necessary to consult them for the development of Action Plans and National Roma Integration Strategies, since they are the message-carriers of the up-to-date challenges that Roma communities face. Even more, as the number of educated Roma enrolled in higher education is growing year by year, governments should apply a “bottom up” approach by providing young people with an opportunity to have a say and make their voices heard whenever Roma policies are drafted. This should include enabling access to political participation and decision making-processes.

In short, fostering Roma youth policies and engaging young Roma as facilitators of integration, especially in activism on contemporary issues, will enhance opportunities for empowerment.

Going back to the issue of Roma Youth and the Decade of Roma Inclusion, under the Croatian Presidency, in June 2013, we organized a conference which gathered young Roma and representatives of National Youth Councils from the Decade countries to discuss models of active youth participation and present concrete recommendations to the International Steering Committee of the Decade.

The following recommendations have been identified by young Roma as a pre-requisite for active citizenship on local, regional and international level.  I would like to read out their concrete ideas and requests for the kind of policies young Roma would like to see being implemented in their communities.

1)      Develop non-formal education for drop-out students who need to acquire skills required in the current labor market. In addition, specific attention should be paid to introducing compulsory secondary education and elimination of school segregation.

2)      Introduce quality internships that lead to employment at entry level; this recommendation goes both to the private sector and to the governments. Within the governments, young Roma would like to be involved in strategic places dealing with Roma initiatives.

3)      Offer youth-specific career guidance and counseling, as well as funds for self-employment.

4)      Invite youth Roma organizations and individuals to take part in the development, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of overall Roma policies at all levels.

5)      Introduce a budget line for Roma Youth initiatives at local and regional level. This is envisaged as small grant schemes for local youth organizations and informal groups to enable them to realize local initiatives and micro – level interventions.

6)      Develop opportunities for debate among public institutions and young Roma; this includes forming National Advisory Bodies on Roma Youth that would advise the governments on youth issues and function as co-management bodies.

7)      Promote dialogue between Young Roma and Non-Roma and intercultural tolerance; this also involves investments in programs and trainings that focus on strengthening the identity, leadership skills and community building to enable Roma youth to become active citizens and actors of change.

8)      Focus on prevention of drug abuse and work with abusers; as well as develop special Roma-Youth approaches to address human trafficking and prostitution;

Ladies and Gentlemen, with this being said, I would like to remind you once again that the Roma population is a relatively young population. As such, we cannot talk about integration of the largest minority in Europe without taking into consideration the voices of the youth.

I would like to thank you for your attention.