A seminar on Roma youth empowerment
and pride for the celebration of the International Roma Day

 

The seminar Roma Youth Together 2024 will bring together young people who are youth leaders and/or youth workers in Roma and Travellers communities and organisations across Europe.


 It aims at empowering Roma youth leaders from across Europe to realise their potential through positive actions and narratives celebrating Roma identity and cultural diversity on the International Roma Day. 
 The seminar is organised by the Youth Department and the Roma and Travellers Team of the Council of Europe, in cooperation with the European Roma Institute for Arts and Culture (ERIAC), the International Roma Youth Network - TernYpe, the European Roma Grassroots Organisations (ERGO) Network and Phiren Amenca.
 

 OBJECTIVES 

The specific objectives of the seminar are:

  • To share experiences and realities of Roma youth across Europe, especially in relation to meaningful youth participation;
  • To empower Roma youth and Roma civil society to act as agents of change and multipliers in their communities;
  • To support participants’ potential for expression of cultural identity and pride, action and visibility, both online and offline;
  • To associate young Roma with the Council of Europe’s work in the field of Roma youth participation, namely in the light of the 75th anniversary of the Council of Europe;
  • To celebrate International Roma Day with Roma youth as front-runners in shaping it;
  • To strengthen the sense of Roma youth community and connect with European youth organisations and networks in the field of Roma participation.
     

  METHODOLOGY AND PROGRAMME

The methodology of the seminar will be based on the principles of human rights education, peer to peer learning, exchange of practices and dialogue among participants by using the participatory methods of learning, such as working groups, creative workshops and facilitated discussions. It will be structured in connection to the previous work done by the Council of Europe in the area of Roma youth participation.

Specific of the 2024 event is the focus on celebration of creativity, co-creation and expression as a form of celebrating the International Roma Day. This will take the form of workshops during which participants will share talents and put their creativity and aspirations in forms of cultural expressions such as media and visual arts, music, danse or plastic arts. The programme will thus be built on participants’ experiences, interests, and inputs with an emphasis on sharing and co-creation.

 There will be three main and interconnected phases of the programme:

  • Share: discussing achievements and good practices from the Roma youth communities across Europe and the related approaches of the Council of Europe and priorities of Roma youth organisations which support Roma youth participation;
  • Create: putting together resources, skills, and knowledge to co-create narratives and content that promote Roma identity, heritage, and culture, and establishing working groups focussing on strategies to address anti-discrimination online and offline, and connection with youth policies and programmes.
  • Celebrate: preparing and partaking in the programme for the celebration of the International Roma Day.