Marie B. Hagsgård, President of the Advisory Committee on the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities, participated in the Webinar “Working together for Roma Rights - online conference on Roma equality, inclusion and participation in the EU” organised by Portugal's Presidency of the Council of the European Union and by the General Secretariat of the Council on 15 April 2021.

Referring to feedback received from members of the Roma and Traveller communities met during monitoring country visits of the Advisory Committee, Ms Hagsgård referred to the importance they attached to access to employment and quality and inclusive education, and highlighted the importance of teaching Roma and Traveller history in all schools and for all children, minority and majority alike, as a practical way to help Roma and Traveller children feeling part of our societies and reinforcing their self-esteem. In this respect, she referred to the Council of Europe Recommendation CM/Rec(2020)2 of the Committee of Ministers on the inclusion of the history of Roma and/or Travellers in school curricula and teaching materials adopted last year.

In her intervention, Ms Hagsgård also referred to the importance of raising awareness of these communities about existing legal remedies to report discrimination and antigypsyism, of ensuring effective participation in decision-making for matters concerning them and to the support the empowerment of Roma and Traveller NGOs referring to Pavee Point Traveller and Roma Centre in Ireland as a remarkable example of what a NGO can achieve at local, regional, national and international levels, and in an inclusive manner, in terms of advocacy for participation, social justice and genuine equality.