Roma MATRIX

All Workstream Meeting - Athens, Greece

28th November 2013

Cath Peart - Roma Matrix Partnership Manager

Workstream 0Management & Coordination Activity 0

So Far …

Kick off meeting in Leeds – April 2013

Workstream 2 meeting in Valencia, Spain – June

Workstream 3 meeting in Tiszodob, Hungary July

Workstream 4 meeting in Varna, Bulgaria September 2013

Logo/Templates

Leaflets

Newsletter

Press Releases

TV,Tabloids

Brochures

Partner extranet coming soon!

Website company appointed

Workstream 1Research & UnderstandingActivity 13 - Research

Workstream 2Redress, Reporting and Support

The first partner meeting held in Valencia in June 2013.

Share experiences of the reality of anti-Roma racism in their countries as well as their plans to improve practice through the Roma MATRIX project.

Discussions regarding the ways racism manifests in different member states

Partners shared and discussed how best to work with Roma

Highlighted the importance of engagement and collaboration at a political level and networking that enables joint work with different organisations.

Workstream 2

Activity 1 – Reporting and Care Centres

Meetings to promote Roma Matrix project

Counselling and employment drop-in: counselling services and support for Roma clients in the area of discrimination and redress for racial oppression

Individual counselling for people who have/are suffering discrimination

Training

questionnaire circulated to find out what training our networks want: education, equal treatment, antidiscrimination, civil activity, elections, public administration, communication

training sessions and meetings held for people who will work with Roma who are suffering discrimination

Leaflets created for Reporting and Care Centres

Visits to inform Roma people about services on offer

Report to local stakeholders about racism against Roma and experience of the reporting centre

Discussions with workers from the Office of Public Defender of Rights: discrimination case, possibilities and limits of the testing, agreement on the next steps

Identification of discrimination issues and potential key-witnesses and community leaders in communities

Writing up reporting cases related to discrimination – serious work is going to take place with lawyers and project managers as decisions need to be made as to how to proceed with each of the cases

25 health mediators in various areas instructed how to collect cases related to discrimination based on ethnic background

Templates: to record cases of discrimination and register individual psychologists

Activity 2 – Providing information to Roma about reporting, redress and rights

Sent information about the project to all local administration with a remit on Roma, including social workers operating in camps etc

Talks with Governments and municipalities

Identified Stop Hate UK as contractor to run hate crime workshops across Yorkshire

Activity 3 – Improving Redress Mechanisms with Law Enforcement, Judicial Authorities and other Public Authorities

Working with Police Scotland to improve bi-lateral relations between them and local Roma community

Roma Matrix have been asked to be a member of the working group devising an Enforcement, Policing, Information and Communication Plan

Helping the police manage redress mechanisms with the Roma community

Helping local and national media to develop a positive flow of information and positive news stories involving the police and Roma

Established contacts with law environment & leaders of Roma. Make direct contact with Roma to break down barriers and prejudices

Training with law enforcement/ judicial authorities/ public authorities to improve redress mechanisms

Consultation meetings with law environment, Roma leaders, elderly and Roma community

Activity 4 – Policy, practice and dissemination Networks

Local, Regional & National Networks created to address issues such as Education, Health Employment, Public Policy for Roma

Media professionals, creative people, sociologists, psychologists and Roma people have come together to think about effective campaigns for antidiscrimination & antiracism

Seminars held for policy-makers, local and regional authorities, NGOs, Roma where decisions can be made

Survey carried out on Roma employment

Conference planned for November, over 250 invited

Meetings carried out with experts to agree and coordinate activities.

Preparation of training materials ready to deliver ‘Working with Roma family’, Children´s home, History of Roma

Workstream 3Combating racism through inclusion

A meeting of all the partners involved in this workstream was held in Tiszadob, Hungary in July.

It gave partners working on the same issues an opportunity to plan future activities together, to discuss workplans, and how to achieve common goals in each country.

Partners recognised the similarity of the issues facing Roma people and Roma children in child care across member states

The meeting provided a valuable opportunity to share experience of what does and doesn’t work

Workstream 3

Activity 5 – Preparation for Roma children leaving care

•Preliminary research to identify the needs of children & ways to approach issues. Aim to support children to obtain life skills (survive independently)•Visits Roma neighbourhoods to discuss with parents and children about the difficulties , needs and life conditions.

Workstream 3

Awareness raising groups held for Roma on the dangers of human trafficking & neglect in caring for children.

Partnership agreement between RWAR and City District 5 - General Directorate of Social Assistance and Child Protection

“Jump into Life” training delivered educational programmes for young adults before their departure from children´s homes

Workstream 3

In depth communication with heads of children´s homes and children (choosing children for training)

Questionnaires given to children to adapt programmes to audience. (Topics for training).

Workshops Communication

- Teamwork

- Self-knowledge

- As a leader

- Confidence

- Social skills

- Gender identity

- Discrimination

- Confidence and self-esteem

- Personal Development

Workstream 3

Activity 6 – Integration of Roma children, young people and parents

Meeting held with local authoritiess to discuss potential project work

Workshops organised with Roma parents, children and teachers. The aim is to highlight the importance of diversity, acceptance & team work through drama pedagogy, role play, dances, common activities

Many workshops with Roma children who do not attend school organised together with Roma organisation and communities

Workstream 3

Workstream 3

Schools & Participants identified

7 Workshop for Roma and non-Roma children held on Differences, Exclusion, Prejudices. Children learned about the topics in a non formal way with the methods of drama-pedagogy

Integration day organised where all the inhabitants of the village attended, children performed

Group/individual work taken place with kids, youth and parents.

Prevention activities (workshop with local police) and personal skills development and the groups

Social workers for families worked with 12 adult clients focusing on education and the stabilization of family; finding new housing, keeping current housing,children returning back to parents’ care and finding a job

Workstream 3

Activity 7 – Employment programmes

Career Guidance seminars held with Roma people. Objectives to inform Roma people of career counselling and career consultation.

Practical Guide for employers on employment of representatives of the Roma minority - published

Mentoring scheme launched, contact made with employers, attend regular job fairs and exhibitions

Workstream 3

Workstream 3

Planning meeting held with young people’s “Pathway to Employment” project coordinators to discuss what to deliver

Educational programme organised for young adults following departure from children´s homes. Focusing on development of skills, Topics were: introductory meeting, current situation, theory of change, differences between rich & poor, their principles and rules of social classes

Activity 8 – Cross-community mediatorsMediation in neighborhood has taken place due to police ordering Roma families to leave their homes. This caused huge problems, many families have now gone but there are others who do not want to leave.

Cross-community mediation activity planning meeting held with project coordinators and key partners. Included representatives from Neighbourhoods services, Ward Councillor, Police and Voluntary and Community Sector

Workstream 3

Activity 9 – Roma women community health mediators

Workshop on Roma MATRIX funding opportunities, contracts now given in 4 areas in region, working with new organisations

Roma women to be selected and trained in order to become health mediators for Roma women

A Health guide is to be produced about hygiene, first aid, what to do in case of an emergency

Workstream 3

Workstream 3

First training organised for Health and Vaccination specific to the health of Roma women – challenges, problems, practices, perspectives

Mother and child healthcare

Discriminative practices and their visible and invisible manifestations

Sexual and reproductive health

Workstream 3

Participants who attended training gave feedback, main recommendations were: • More time and additional information on

prophylactic women’s health programs and diseases

• More time for discussion as there were many questions related to women’s health

Activity 10 – Roma mentoring in Public Authorities

Secured involvement in mentoring scheme, identified Roma issues for positive news story

Meetings with public authorities to organize internships in pubic educational sector such as schools or municipalities where Roma people could work as intercultural mediators

Workshops with public authorities & Roma association held to discuss how Roma people could benefit for national initiatives targeted at Roma people in the field of education, health and employment

Workstream 3

Workstream 3Building of mutual trust between local municipality and clients continues, worker supporting client in resolving cases directly with municipality representatives, which has proved very successful

Housing Department worker negotiated the possibility of establishing a janitor in one of the 'excluded' houses. The debate was initiated directly by the Roma client, who expressed her interest to be involved in the mentoring scheme in the future

Workstream 3

A member of Roma community expressed his interest in the mentoring scheme in order to be efficiently involved in decision-making processes in the town

Prepared an internal Working Paper with suggestions for content, case studies and readership of the GPG

Workstream 3

Discussion with Local Authority regarding plans for recruiting and mentoring Roma

Programme to consist helping train Roma to become Community Researchers who will be supported to design and develop their own research projects of interest to themselves and the wider community

Workstream 4Promoting positive images of Roma

Meeting held in Varna in September 2013

Partners involved in the public media campaign began to develop key messages and campaign plans.

Extensive discussion on negative and positive images of Roma

Agreed to avoid images of squalor and social exclusion

Also agreed to avoid over-use of positive but clichéd images of traditional Roma culture.

Agreed to make more use of ‘positively surprising’ images of successful, integrated Roma.

Activity 11 – Public Media Campaign

• Campaign preparation – striving for the best campaign setting

• Focus on: target audiences, objectives, key messages and tactics. This allowed the partners to start to set out their campaign plans within a proper planning framework

• Looking for more efficient and effective campaigns• Publishing materials concerning the project;

websites created, materials uploaded

Workstream 3

Workstream 4

Roma moderators have continued in their training for radio shows: reportage, public inquiries, rhetorical skills

Graphic design for creating posters and billboards; developed numerous slogans that offer a strong impact on society

Increasing marketing & advertising experience, communicating with media & journalists

Activity 12 – Promoting positive images of Roma

Questions