Fundación Secretariado Gitano

The Plenary of the Spanish Congress approves Report from the Subcommittee for a State Agreement against Antigyspyism and the Inclusion of the Roma people [editar]

• Equal treatment
• National level

After its approval by the Commission on Social Rights and Comprehensive Policies on Disability, the plenary session of Congress has finally approved the report of the Subcommittee for a State Agreement against Antigyspyism and the Inclusion of the Roma people.

This culminates a very relevant process to the extent that this initiative has made it possible to address the situation of the Roma people within the Congress of Deputies, the constitutional body that represents the Spanish people and, therefore, also Roma men and women as well.

From the Fundación Secretariado Gitano we congratulate ourselves on the approval of this Report, in the preparation of which we have participated, as FSG is one of the first entities to appear in the Subcommittee, and we trust that it really does represent a firm political and institutional mandate to advance equality of the Roma people.

This Report, in accordance with the purpose of the Subcommittee, should serve to "guarantee the effectiveness and efficiency of the prospective responses required by the challenges posed by the new EU Roma Strategic Framework for Equality, Inclusion and Participation 2020-2030”.

For FSG, and we reflected this in our appearance, it is essential to advance in guaranteeing the social and economic rights of Roma people to combat structural inequality, a structural inequality that can be based on concrete data; but it is necessary to do so in a parallel manner with the fight against persistent and widespread anti-Roma discrimination, and within the framework of a process to promote the participation of Roma people in all spheres of life, and social and institutional recognition of the Roma people. In short, we support this comprehensive approach to the Roma people, from a specific political framework, giving value to the National Roma Strategy for Equality, Inclusion and Participation 2021-2030, which lays the foundations and is a good starting point for advance.

We see, however, in the Report a lack of specificity in the priorities and most urgent steps to be taken by the public powers which, in our opinion, are: addressing the serious educational inequality of Roma students, reducing school failure and combating segregation; eradicate slums and substandard housing; improve opportunities for access to employment, especially in the case of Roma women; and fight against antigypsyism. The report is a list of proposals that includes the contributions of many actors, but we fear that it could remain a mere declaration of intent by not drawing up a true roadmap.

For all these reasons, from the Fundación Secretariado Gitano we ask Congress to find the formula that allows it to assume within this constitutional body the monitoring of the National Strategy and of the public policies that must guarantee the rights of the Roma people in line with the proposals of the Report.

It has been a long process that started on April 28, 2021 with the approval in the Commission on Social Rights and Comprehensive Disability Policies, the creation of a Subcommittee for the study of a State Pact against Antigypsyism and the Inclusion of Roma, promoted by the Socialist party, the Confederal parliamentary groups of Unidas Podemos - En Comú Podem - Galicia en Común, Republicano and Ciudadanos. This proposal was approved unanimously by all the groups in the plenary session of the Congress of Deputies held on 20 May 2021, and in whose promotion and development the three Roma deputies of the current legislature have played an important role: Sara Giménez (Ciudadanos), Beatriz Carrillo (Socialist Group) and Ismael Cortés (Unidas Podemos).