Engagement with civil society is a cornerstone of effective policy development. Bearing in mind the mandate of the Council of Europe, civil society is needed to reflect on what should be the focus of the Organisation in order to better respond to the current challenges and to better advance inclusion for Roma and Traveller communities.
On 3-4 December 2024, the Council of Europe held its 18th Dialogue Meeting with Roma and Traveller civil society, focusing on how to integrate Roma and Traveller-related findings of monitoring bodies into the future Council of Europe Strategy on Roma and Traveller Inclusion (2026-2030).
The civil society representatives took stock of findings and recommendations of the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance and the Advisory Committee on the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities related to Roma and Travellers rights. They discussed how to make use of such instruments to advocate at national level for protection of the rights of Roma and Travellers. Possible solutions to tackle issues such as school segregation, hate speech and hate crimes, were brought forward by participants.
Before the 18th Dialogue Meeting, Roma and Traveller organisations were part of a capacity building initiative, led by the European Roma Rights Centre, which focused on the Council of Europe standards and mechanisms.
The conclusions and recommendations emanating from this Dialogue meeting, currently being finalised by the General Rapporteur, will be published on this website in due course.
The term “Roma and Travellers” is used at the Council of Europe to encompass the wide diversity of the groups covered by the work of the Council of Europe in this field: on the one hand a) Roma, Sinti/Manush, Calé, Kaale, Romanichals, Boyash/Rudari; b) Balkan Egyptians (Egyptians and Ashkali); c) Eastern groups (Dom, Lom and Abdal); and, on the other hand, groups such as Travellers, Yenish, and the populations designated under the administrative term “Gens du voyage”, as well as persons who identify themselves as Gypsies. The present is an explanatory footnote, not a definition of Roma and/or Travellers.
