Fundación Secretariado Gitano

Fundación Secretariado Gitano 2017 Awards recognise the commitment to the defense and support of Roma people [editar]

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• Communication

These Awards recognise the commitment and efforts of persons and organisations that work hard to defend and support the Roma community.

 

Fundación Secretariado Gitano (FSG) held its 2017 Awards ceremony in Madrid on 26 February, at the headquarters of the General Society of Authors (SGAE). The ceremony was attended by more than 100 people from the Third Sector, Public Administrations, private sector, etc.

Two young Roma from FSG team, Ana Segovia, journalist and Fernando Morión, teacher and pedagogue, were the masters of ceremonies for the event.

Pedro Puente, founder and president of the Foundation, opened the ceremony with a welcome speech where he stressed that "a society that aspires to be better, more supportive and cohesive cannot afford to leave behind such an important part of its citizenship, as are the Spanish Roma".

MEP Benedekt Javor accepted the award on behalf of the European Parliament Anti-Racism and Diversity Intergroup (ARDI) and emphasised the crucial work of FSG and civil society organisations. “Civil society organisations are vital components of healthy democracies. Governments and institutions must work more closely together with civil society, we should not view civil society organisations as threats but rather as partners in ensuring governments, and institutions uphold fundamental rights”, he said.  

"It is an uncomfortable truth to recognize that there is ethnic segregation in the Spanish schools“ said Fernando Rey, Education Councilor of Castilla Y León, one of the 2017 honorees of the awards.

The Fundación Secretariado Gitano Awards annually recognise, across five categories, the commitment and efforts of persons, companies, institutions, entities and initiatives that make a significant contribution to changing the lives of the most vulnerable Roma people and/or which work tirelessly to defend and support the Roma community in their access to citizenship, in the promotion of more equal treatment or in their social recognition.

A panel of judges made up of personalities  of the business world, the third sector, the media and the world of culture, evaluated the nominations and chose the winners.

This year's Awards went to:

• Transformative Company: Orange Foundation, for its firm support to improving the employability of vulnerable Roma women through digital training.
• Solidarity with "R" Individual: Jesús Salinas, for its involvement and commitment to the Roma community and the associative movement in the fight for equality and non-discrimination from education, culture and art.
• Conscious Communicator: Canal Sur Radio Televisión, for dignifying the Roma community with specific programs that show the reality of Roma people, away from stereotypes and topics, showing their heterogeneity and cultural richness.
• Education is the Future: Department of Education of the Regional Government of Castilla y León, for being a pioneer in including the history and culture of the Roma in the school curriculum and contributing this way to achieve greater respect for the Roma community in Spain.
• “Tío Peret" category: Former MEP, Juan De Dios Ramírez Heredia, for opening a new unexplored path of participation in the public and political life of the Roma People and for being one of the first promoters of the Roma association movement in Spain. For a lifetime as a person of reference.