The Ministry of European Funds, through the National Contact Point for Roma, hosted today, on the International Day of Minorities, the launch meeting of the project "National platform of good practices for Roma", confined by the European Commission, the General Directorate of Justice and Consumers through the Program for Rights, Equality and Citizenship 2014-2020.

The project has an implementation period of 11 months and will end on August 31, 2020. Its value is 65 thousand euros.

The event was attended by representatives of the Ministry of European Funds, the press and NGOs working in the field of Roma communities.

The objective of this project is to facilitate and strengthen the dialogue between local and national authorities, Roma communities and members of the Roma community, as well as to strengthen collaborative relationships between them.

The project is addressed to Roma communities, NGOs and representatives of national, local and regional authorities, who represent the direct beneficiaries of the project.

Description of the "National platform of good practices for Roma" project

The "National platform of good practices for Roma" project is co-financed by the European Commission - Directorate General Justice and Consumers through the Program for Rights, Equality and Citizenship 2014-2020 and has a value of 61 thousand euros.

Expected results within the project:
– Improving communication and cooperation between the actors involved in the project: national, regional and local authorities, NGOs and members of the Roma community regarding the implementation of the Romanian Government Strategy for the inclusion of Romanian citizens belonging to the Roma minority 2015-2020;
– Improving the organizational capacity of the National Contact Point for Roma by hiring two people for the entire duration of the project;
– Removal of communication barriers between actors, members of Roma communities, NGOs and local, regional and national authorities;
- Creation of a National Platform of Good Practices for Roma - completed and functional, used for providing information and for ensuring the rapid coordination of the actions of the interested parties;
– Organization of 16 workshops for Roma communities, NGOs and representatives of local, regional and national authorities;
– Drafting a progress report on the communication and coordination platform;
– Drafting a report on best practices related to communication and cooperation models between network members.

The beneficiaries of the project will be Roma communities, NGOs and representatives of national, local and regional authorities as follows:
– 160 people from Roma communities, NGOs and representatives of local and national authorities beneficiaries of the workshops;
– 500 people who will access the communication and cooperation platform.

Within the project, two series of workshops will be organized that will take place in each of the 8 regions of Romania, in order to facilitate and strengthen the dialogue between local authorities, Roma communities and members of the Roma community. The workshops will be supported by authorized trainers with experience in the field, who, in the first series of workshops, will identify the needs of Roma communities and the problems they face, and in the second series of workshops will offer intervention models adapted to the specific needs identified in the four areas (education, health, housing and employment) pursued by Romania's Government Strategy for the inclusion of Romanian citizens belonging to the Roma minority.