Call for proposals limited/restricted to National Roma Platforms

Topic description

Scope:

Priorities and activities to be co-financed

1. Priorities

National Roma Platforms are expected to promote and facilitate dialogue, mutual learning, cooperation, policy review between all national stakeholders. To encourage the inclusion of Roma people in the Platform, particularly women and youth, a Roma representative shall be nominated ensuring a link between the National and the European Roma Platforms. The aim of National Roma Platforms is to:

• empower National Roma Contact Points in the process of Roma integration;
• mobilise and ensure the continued engagement of all relevant stakeholders (i.e. high level public authorities, Roma and non-Roma communities, non-governmental organisations, entrepreneurs, trade unions, academia, etc.), in particular by providing a forum and encouraging self-mobilisation and cooperation of Roma and pro-Roma non-governmental organisations;
• strengthen multi-stakeholder accountability, commitment to, as well as ownership and transparency of the process of Roma integration;
• boost the commitment to and effective implementation of integration measures at the local level, improving the equal access of Roma to mainstream services and opportunities, strengthening community building between Roma and non-Roma;
• provide complementarity and increase synergies with other EU and/or national initiatives, such as the European Roma Platform and the Roma Civil Monitor project;
• address gaps and challenges in the implementation of the National Roma Integration Strategy specific to the national context, and to report at national and EU level;
• promote participation of Roma youth in the design and implementation of the National Roma Platform, such as by dedicated internship schemes.

2. Description of the activities

The call will fund projects focused on one or more among the following activities:

• mapping of all relevant stakeholders working on Roma inclusion and assessing the need and opportunity to include them in the National Roma Platform in order to increase representativity and accountability;
• actions to set-up and reinforce national Roma platforms, involving all relevant stakeholders, with a focus on implementing and monitoring of National Roma Integration Strategies;
• meetings, working groups, seminars, events at national, regional or local levels, with topical discussion as education, employment, health, housing, representation etc.
• dedicated discussion of the results of civil monitoring of National Roma Integration Strategies implementation;
• evaluation and review of National Roma Integration Strategies and Roma integration measures, exchange and transfer of practices that proved effective at the local level;
• transnational exchange between different National Roma Platforms to promote policy learning and transfer of good practices;
• exchange and participation of the nominated representative of the National Roma Platform in preparatory meetings on the European Roma Platform.

N.B.: activities supporting political parties, legal actions before national or international courts regardless of their grounds or objectives shall not be funded.

Activities must take place in countries participating to the REC Programme to be eligible for funding.

3. Expected results

• increased number of the national Roma platforms seen as an integral component of the coordination and monitoring activities of the National Roma Contact Points to foster the process for dialogue, cooperation and coordination of stakeholders;
• increased capacity of national experts and stakeholders to address issues related to Roma integration, including legislative and administrative practises;
• strengthened cooperation and exchange of information between competent national authorities in relation to Roma integration;
• increased sustainability of Roma participation in policy processes.