26^th Session of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe

Roma youth inclusion through respect for their rights and access to education

26.03.2014

The Congress is calling on local and regional authorities to make it easier for young Roma to access social rights, education and employment, while at the same time combatting discrimination. In a resolution and recommendation adopted on 26 March 2014, the Congress pointed out that young Roma suffer not only the difficulties encountered by Roma, but also the difficulties faced by young people: “Being young today is not easy, being a Roma has never been easy, but being a young Roma is tough,” observed John Warmisham (United Kingdom, SOC), who co-wrote the relevant report with Inger Linge (Sweden, EPP/CCE).

The adopted texts call on local and regional authorities to publicly commit to working with young Roma and their organisations, and to ensure that youth policies address their specific needs. They advocate numerous measures focusing on education, including notably reducing the number of school dropouts, challenging non-inclusive practices in schools and adopting a zero tolerance approach to bullying and discrimination. In her speech, Inger Linge said that local and regional authorities must ensure that Roma children attend school regularly, and must work with their parents to safeguard the rights and duties of young people.

There is also a need to develop extra-curricular activities to improve Roma pupils’ educational levels, and to promote the recognition of competences and skills gained through non-formal education. The document calls for better liaison between schools and Roma families, and for the recruitment of Roma teachers and teaching assistants, and invites local and regional authorities to help strengthen young Roma people’s identity by promoting their culture and history. It is also important to inform young Roma about their rights, within their own communities, and to involve them more in decision-making structures, and in youth organisations in general, including youth councils.

The Congress further calls on local and regional authorities to improve access to employment by recruiting Roma mediators, while at the same time improving vocational training for young Roma. Municipal institutions are invited to offer work placements to facilitate the transition from education to the labour market.

Speaking in the debate, Orhan Usein, Programme Coordinator, Decade of Roma Inclusion Foundation, expressed disappointment that the programmes introduced to promote Roma inclusion did not sufficiently address the needs of young Roma… even though the average age of the Roma population was 25 years, i.e. much younger than the EU average. In order to succeed in this area, therefore, it was vital to listen to what young people had to say and to take account of their specific needs. “We have a major responsibility towards the Roma people as part of our wider commitment to human rights at local and regional level,” concluded the Congress president, Herwig van Staa.