Following the provisions of the Amsterdam Treaty concerning European Union (EU) social policies, Member States decided to take decisive steps to combat social exclusion and poverty in Europe by 2010. A consequence of these political decisions is the rise of the National Action Plans for Social Inclusion (NAPincl), a key instrument for social cohesion that could contribute to the active incorporation of the most vulnerable groups in their respective societies as full European citizens.

The Roma and Traveller community is an ethnic minority living in all EU countries which is comprised of, after the recent EU enlargement, approximately six million citizens. Moreover, the Roma and Traveller minority is probably one of the most marginalized ethnic groups in the EU characterised by poor accommodations and living conditions, low educational level, pervasive unemployment and a lower quality of life.

This project is been undertaken within the framework of the EU Transnational Exchange Programme to combat social exclusion (2002-2006) in two phases from November 2002 to November 2005. The main objective of the project is to foster trans-national, inter-institutional and inter-sectoral cooperation among all agents involved in the field of social inclusion of the Roma and Traveller minorities. It is focused in two main areas:

1. Institutional action: to provide the impetus for and follow-up on the social inclusion measures affecting Roma and Traveller communities, and specifically to increase the relevance of the Roma and Traveller minorities issue at the NAPincl.

2. Capacity building: to empower the Roma and Traveller minorities and their participation in the decision-making process in the field of social inclusion

In order to meet these objectives, the project foresees a number of activities including:

§         Collaborative work on policy analysis and identification of certain key indicators to show the repercussion and impact of social inclusion measures affecting Roma and Traveller communities.

§         Publication of an awareness-heightening and policy-building manual the purpose of which is to contribute to providing the NAPincl with greater visibility and to spreading information on how to improve their impact on the Roma and Traveller minorities.

§         Specific training in each partner country. A number of different seminars are being planned: Two training seminars targeting the Roma and Traveller communities focusing on how to become involved in the social inclusion process and one seminar addressing the awareness-heightening of public agents with competencies in the implementation of social inclusion policies.

Partner countries. This project involves 7 countries and 14 partners in a trans-national association comprised of public partners responsible for the NAPincl within Member States and Candidate Countries, as well as NGOs and social entities with a wealth of experience in inclusion policies affecting the Roma and Traveller communities.