June 5, 2011

From 1 – 4 June 2011, the Federal Union of European Nationalities (FUEN) together with the Croatian Cultural Association in Burgenland, organized in Eisenstadt (Austria), the 2011 FUEN congress which gathered 86 member organizations from 32 European countries. FUEN is the largest umbrella organization of national minorities in Europe.

More than 180 guests from all over Europe, people belonging to the European minorities, political decision makers, sponsors and promoters, speakers and experts,  cooperation partners and academic institutes, as well as the media attended the event in Austria.

The second day of the congress was dedicated to the Roma issue with a particular focus on understanding how NGOs can tackle the situation of Roma around Europe. Among the panel speakers was also Raluca Negulescu, Policy Officer at the Policy Center for Roma and Minorities, who focused on the presentation of innovative methods that strive to challenge the negative attitudes against Roma as tested and implemented through the REACT campaign. The presentation focused on the role of the Alternative Education Club in the Ferentari ghetto area in Bucharest and on the role of sports and non-formal education in stimulating active citizenship while facilitating the social inclusion of vulnerable groups.

REACT (Responsibility, Empowerment, Activism, Citizenship, Transparency) is a pilot awareness raising campaign that focuses on the active participation of Roma and non-Roma citizens in the civic life, which is developed by three NGOs in Romania, Italy, Bulgaria and Albania under the umbrella of the European Roma Grassroots Organization (ERGO).

While the NGOs in Bulgaria and Albania are focusing on direct interventions in Roma communities, Policy Center for Roma and Minorities is implementing in Romania and Italy an awareness raising campaign designed to challenge the negative attitudes towards Roma through an innovative mainstream approach.  The main actions rely on films and documentaries, sports and education as vehicles designed to stimulate active citizenship among both Roma and non-Roma.

With a number of speeches, examples and panel discussions, the FUEN Congress offered the prerequisite for developing a resolution which aims to address the Roma situation across Europe, available on FUEN’s Facebook page.