Fundación Secretariado Gitano participates in a consultation meeting on the main challenges for Roma in Europe, invited by the Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe. [editar]
Upon taking in charge of his position in April 2024, Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights Michael O'Flaherty identified the human rights situation of Roma and Travellers as one of the priorities of his mandate.
A wealth of publications, surveys and the findings of the Commissioner and his predecessors show that systemic and structural antigypsyism, intergenerational exclusion, as well as poverty, continue to affect many Roma and Travellers in their daily lives. The Commissioner is therefore committed to prioritising progress in guaranteeing the rights of Roma and Travellers within his mandate.
To this end, he intends to frame his activities in a strategic and innovative way to best ensure renewed visibility of this issue across Europe and to trigger high-level support leading to greater respect for the human rights of Roma and Travellers. To this end, he is committed to working with Roma and Traveller communities, to better understand their lived experiences and how best to address the challenges they face, in order to drive positive change. The Commissioner has also pledged to pay particular attention to the situation of Roma children, youth and women, and to help strengthen key civil society actors and partners.
The Commissioner is working on the development of a Roma and Traveller Human Rights Action Plan that will guide his future work in this area as a ‘roadmap for change’. The strategic objectives and the most effective tools to achieve them will be determined in the early stages of the Commissioner's mandate.
It is intended to be a document that will serve as a door-opening instrument for continued engagement with policy makers, with the aim of placing the human rights of Roma and Travellers high on their agenda and encouraging them to take meaningful action. It also aims to raise public awareness of the human rights situation of Roma and Travellers as one of the major issues of our time, and to provide a reference material for various actors, including NGOs, to draw on in their work to support positive change in the human rights situation of Roma and Travellers.
The consultation promoted by the Commissioner brought together a group of experts on the human rights situation of Roma and Travellers across Europe, including FSG. The aim of this meeting was to provide guidance to the Commissioner on how best to promote the protection of the human rights of Roma and Travellers in a strategic and innovative way.