Vernetzung & Selbstorganisation

National and international networking creates new possibilities for youth groups and youth organizations. The national and international Roma youth networking intends to mobilize and empower young people as we are the ones ourselves to carry the responsibility and to decide upon our lives and our interests. Networking can help us to build up long-term partnerships and co-operations. Project examples:

National Youth Networking in Germany

How can we create an open space for young people to become active, to exchange themselves about their voluntary engagement, to discover and reflect on their Roma identity and to fight stereotypes through their active citizenship? The national Roma youth networking intends to mobilize and empower young people as we are the ones ourselves to carry the responsibility and to decide upon our lives and our interests. The first national meeting took place in April 2009 in Worms, followed by a weekend to discover the Centrum for Documentation and Culture of German Sinti and Roma in Heidelberg in July 2009. Over 55 young people from all over Germany came together in October 2009 to discuss in workshops about education, empowerment of young women, dialogue between Roma and Sinti, music and antiziganism in Europe. Moreover, concrete actions were planned in workshops about the residence and eviction issue, about education, about further networking and about publicity and media work. website in German

Roma Youth Round Table 2008

Aiming to train youth workers to use (inter)national youth projects to enhance the participation of Roma youth they are working with.

On the 7th and 8th April 2008 the SALTO Cultural Diversity Resource Centre organised in cooperation with the Hungarian National Agency a "Roma Youth Round Table" in Budapst. The meeting looked at Roma youth participation within the Youth in Action programme. In attendance were more than 20 Roma youth organisations from twelve different European countries. After the meeting the participants determined the Roma youth needs and specified that there is a lack of information for the Youth in Action programme towards the Roma youth people. A better connection and communication will be necessary between the Roma communities and the National Agency structure to facilitate their participation and inclusion in the European Union. SALTO website

Empowerment and Mobilization of Roma Youth

The first international contact-making seminar of Roma Youth NGO’s in Berlin defines a starting point for cooperation and project development on the European level.

Under the motto “Empowerment and Mobilization of Roma Youth”, Amaro Drom e.V. and Roma Active Albania invited 50 Roma youth activists from 17 countries to Berlin Schmöckwitz. The partnership-building seminar, financed by the “Youth in Action” Programme of the European Commission, aimed to strengthen the co-operation and networking of Roma youth organizations. The involvement was not limited to European Union member countries: Besides Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Kosovo, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Spain and Sweden also representatives from South East Europe (Albania, Bosnia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia) participated in the seminar. read more