The International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) is an intergovernmental body whose purpose is to place political and social leaders’ support behind the need for Holocaust education, remembrance and research both nationally and internationally.

The International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) consists of representatives of government, as well as governmental and non-governmental organizations. Its purpose is to place political and social leaders’ support behind the need for Holocaust education, remembrance, and research both nationally and internationally. IHRA currently has 31 member countries, ten observer countries and seven Permanent International Partners.

This institution is committed to the Declaration of the Stockholm International Forum on the Holocaust.

The Alliance has also established specialised committees regarding antisemitism and Holocaust denial, the situation of the Roma, memorial sites, information projects, comparative genocide, and special challenges in Holocaust education. The IHRA is also in the process of implementing a Multi-Year Work Plan that focuses on killing sites, access to archives, educational research, and Holocaust Memorial Days.

On the three main committees that bring experts working on IHRA’s three principle areas of activity, one is dedicated to the Genocide of the Roma. This committee aims at raising awareness about the genocide of the Roma under National Socialism. It also encourages the inclusion of this genocide into school curricula. Its goal is to draw attention to the continuity of prejudices about Roma before, during and after the Second World War as well as to demonstrate the link between the history of discrimination and persecution and the present situation of the Roma. This calls for educational programs that combat stereotyping, that include a focus on Roma resistance rather than on a victim status, and that emphasize the resilience of Roma culture.

Therefore, the IHRA offers project grants regarding the the Genocide of the Roma. The work of the Committee includes supporting organizations with a focus on the Roma in the IHRA’s Grant Programme application process, raising visibility of the issue through outreach and networking, and by organizing a conference held in London in 2014.

In 2014 the Committee also initiated two research projects: an annotated bibliography of academic publications on the Genocide of the Roma, and an overview of international organisations working on the Genocide of the Roma and contemporary Roma-focused issues.
 

 Read more information about the activities concerning Roma developed by the IHRA members.