19/02/2025
FSG
This funding will enable FSG to develop actions in more than 70 Spanish localities to reach the more than 35 000 people who participate annually in its programmes.
The Roma live in a situation of socioeconomic disadvantage with respect to the population as a whole, which leads to a lack of real opportunities and a situation of structural exclusion and discrimination. In response to this, the Fundación Secretariado Gitano, with the co-financing of the 0.7% income tax allocation for social projects and the European Social Fund Plus, is launching a series of actions to contribute to the promotion and socioeconomic inclusion of the Roma with equal opportunities.
The main lines of action are aimed at raising awareness, training and accompanying the Roma community and victims of discrimination so that they are aware of their rights in the face of inequality, discrimination and stigmatisation. In addition, they will raise awareness in society as a whole in order to improve the image and knowledge of the Roma community and culture, and to inform about the magnitude of social exclusion and discrimination.
The actions also include training key actors, such as the State security forces, to improve their knowledge, response to social exclusion and action protocols.
For sixteen years, Fundación Secretariado Gitano has been running the Diploma of Specialisation in Social Intervention with the Roma Community course. This is a degree from the Public University of Navarre that is taught jointly, with the support of the Ministry of Social Rights, Consumer Protection and Agenda 2030 through the call for grants from the Secretary of State for Social Rights.
Its objective is to offer specialised university training for intervention in the social sphere and to enable students to develop innovative and quality work in the field of social intervention with their own community and to promote equality for the Roma community. The funding for the course allows for 30 scholarships to be awarded to Roma students in each annual edition.
In addition, the programme promotes access, continuity and success for Roma women in university studies, committing to positive action in relation to gender barriers, through the ‘Fundación Secretariado Gitano - Luis Sáez’ University Scholarships for Roma Women.
The year 2025 will mark the 600th anniversary of the arrival of the Roma on the Iberian Peninsula. This historic event was recorded in the document which attests that on 12 January 1425 the King of Aragon granted Juan, Count of Egypt Minor, a safe-conduct authorising him to travel freely on his pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela. Since then, the Roma have been present on the Iberian peninsula, contributing their rich artistic expression, their lexicon, art, gastronomy, their trades... It is therefore impossible to imagine Spanish culture without the Roma component forming part of it. The configuration of the Spanish nation and identity over the centuries has also been unequivocally constructed with the elements contributed by the Roma.
This project contributes to this important commemoration with a proposal to mobilise a large number of Roma from all over Spain so that they themselves can send a message to society as a whole about their historical presence in Spain and their important contributions to national culture and identity.
Finding employment is key in the fight against social exclusion and discrimination. For this reason, with co-financing from the European Social Fund Plus and also thanks to the contribution of the Secretary of State for Social Rights, Fundación Secretariado Gitano promotes the improvement of the employability of the Roma through the development of individualised pathways to labour inclusion and the qualifications and professional skills necessary for full labour incorporation, in an intercultural context.
The Acceder training and employment programme is consolidated as an effective initiative with a great impact on social and labour inclusion, helping to generate social and institutional changes that foster an environment conducive to the fight against discrimination against the Roma population.
With Mercaemprende, Fundación Secretariado Gitano carries out actions aimed at improving the competitiveness of Roma street trading (through professionalisation, modernisation, qualification and digitalisation), generating a framework of training and support that allows for real and tangible changes in business models and in the lives of Roma engaged in street trading.
With the co-funding that Fundación Secretariado Gitano receives from the 0.7% income tax allocation for social projects and from the European Social Fund Plus, it also promotes educational success and continuity in the studies of Roma youth through the Promociona programme, to break the generational transmission of poverty. It implements actions so that Roma students obtain the Compulsory Secondary Education Certificate and can access post-compulsory studies that favour a future with opportunities.
With the Calí programme, co-financed by the European Social Fund and 0.7% income tax allocation for social projects, Fundación Secretariado Gitano supports Roma women in situations of high social vulnerability, on socio-personal development pathways to promote their development and their active participation as full citizens.
With this programme, Fundación Secretariado Gitano promotes the social participation of Roma, mainly young people under 30, and reinforces the channels for the social participation of the Roma population created in previous editions. A network of participation facilitators has been set up, as well as forums for the improvement of mechanisms for the promotion of participation and intercultural citizenship, launching actions that bring Roma closer to active citizenship. In addition, it promotes participation at an early age through the Child and Adolescent Participation Group.
