On 8th of April we are celebrating International Roma day, a day dedicated to Europe’s largest ethnic minority and who have faced the most severe forms of discrimination historically throughout the continent and globally. International Romani day is dedicated to celebrating the richness of Roma culture – a culture that was marginalised for centuries. The day seeks to bring light to the communities’ history of exclusion and persecution, and it looks at present-day challenges for the community caused by widespread and normalised anti-Gypsism. This day of celebration was established in 1971 during the first World Romani Congress organised in London by Comité International Rom (CIR); during this Congress a Roma flag and anthem was also decided on.
International Romani Day
Mark your April calendars!
Our Programme’s contribution
All the purposeful work we do at the Equality and Intercultural Programme from resource development, bespoke supports, training to the youth sector and research is about centring the voice of young people furthest from the mainstream, and is about amplifying the voices of young racialised people in the Irish context, including young Roma. With this in mind NYCI’s Equality and Intercultural Programme is bringing youth work practitioners together to share information, practice, learning and insights about working with the Roma youth in an online shared space on the 23rd of April 2024. Come join us in this event to build better understanding, to share, and to support your practice. To register and find out more, please follow this link: Networking and capacity building event for Youth Workers working with young Roma – National Youth Council of Ireland
Harness your power to ACT this April: practical things YOU can do
Look Out for Injustice: Start by building your analysis of the big picture
Sharpen your social justice tools
In April we can be more proactive in learning and understanding the local and national context in which we are navigating our work with Roma young people. Start by sharpening your social justice tools and go deeper in analysing the impacts of social injustice and inequalities on young people. A major part of this is about understanding systems of oppression and recognising racism as a system of oppression. Before tackling and transforming racism, including anti-Gypsism as a specific form of racism, it is important to understand what it is and how it manifests in young people’s lives. We have practical resources to help you in building your analysis and social justice vocabulary:
-start by enrolling into our e-learning course, which takes about 45-60 min to complete: Inclusive Youth Work – Social Justice as a Core Principle E-Learning Course – National Youth Council of Ireland
– deepen your understanding and practice with: 8 Steps to Inclusive Youth work – National Youth Council of Ireland and Transforming Hate in Youth Work Settings – National Youth Council of Ireland
Bring curiosity into your practice: learn about Roma history and culture
The term Roma encapsulates diverse communities such as the Sinti, the Manouche, the Romiche and the Kale, present in Europe and around the world. In Europe, Roma represents the largest ethnic minority (approximately 6 million), with most residing in Bulgaria, Slovakia, and Romania. In Ireland, according to last census (2022) there were 16,059 people who identified as Roma[1]; it is important to acknowledge that only since the 2022 census Roma ethnicity was introduced in the census. The history of Roma throughout Europe is marked by persecution, slavery (in Romania) and policies of assimilation, which have had severe consequences in all aspects of their lives; systemic oppression of Roma is still a reality, with Roma children being the most vulnerable ethnic minority in countries across Europe.[2]
It is important to highlight that Roma people were also the invisible victims of the Holocaust (half million Roma lost their lives between 1939 and 1945 in Europe). This event is referred to as the Roma Genocide, the Porrajmos, or the Samudaripen[3]. To this day appropriate reparations are still awaiting, alongside recognition of the Roma Holocaust in school curriculums throughout the EU countries. While a Roma Holocaust Day is dedicated on 2nd August, there is still much work to do to make this history visible across Europe.
You can take a deep dive into Roma history and culture in Europe by checking out great resources developed by Council of Europe, in which you can access anything from factsheets and latest policies concerning the Roma communities. On a national level we encourage you to learn from resources created by Pavee Point Traveller and Roma Centre, and we particularly recommend the study Roma in Ireland – A National Needs Assessment which is informed by Roma living in Ireland. You can further your learning by attending local and national events celebrating or connecting with Roma visibility and inclusion in the Irish context. Apart from the learning and sharing event organised by our Programme , take some time to search for opportunities offered by national expert organisations like Pavee Point – Traveller and Roma Centre – Pavee Point.
Look In – Be Honest: craft your self-awareness
It is significant to acknowledge that the persecution and stigmatization faced by the Roma community was informed historically by prejudice and a white settled supremacy which can still be traced in policies and public discourse here in the Irish context but also across Europe. Therefore, a first step in building our self-awareness in connection with working with racialised groups, including Roma, is being conscious of how we come to believe what we believe: in short, asking ourselves how the historically placed prejudices and ideology of supremacy have informed our mindsets? We can do that by courageously questioning and working on our own biases, on our preconceived ideas and how they can influence our feelings, assumptions, and expectations in youth settings and in our communities. A bias is a judgement or pre-conceived idea about a person or group, often resulting in favouring a person or group over another. Unconscious bias refers to the ingrained judgements we hold, from which we act, often without being aware that we may be discriminating against a person or group.[4]
As youth workers, there are certain aspects we may have little to no control over, for example:
- The social and economic circumstances surrounding us and the young people,
- The resources to create a socially inclusive space free
- The policies, or decisions made by others, that affect our work.
However, there is one thing we have control over, and it is ourselves: how we understand our role, the values of youth work, and what kind of a youth worker we aim to be. [5]
Foster Change – simple actions you can take at this time of the year
If you are only started working with Roma young people, search for best practice examples to get some inspiration; connect with colleagues that are already working with Roma youth, and look out for what is happening in the sector:
- For instance, this video produced by Pavee Point highlights a youth music project in Longford, alongside real-life stories from the community: Romani Kultura: Roma Voices in Ireland .
- You can also check the learnings from this case study on Roma project in Roscommon: Roma Case Study Report (gretb.ie).
If you don’t work directly with Roma young people, you can still bring your contribution for them to feel safer, respected, and to have a sense of belonging in Ireland; inclusive practice is not only about working with young people and groups experiencing systemic oppression, it is about holding space and speaking up for these groups while working with young people from the white settled majority. Stimulate and animate conversations in your youth groups about communities experiencing discrimination using a rights-based approach, bring examples of identities outside the assumed ‘norm’, or gather real life stories and make them visible in your setting.
After building your knowledge and analysis about systemic oppression experienced by Roma communities, you can start sharing your learning with your youth group. This will increase their awareness and empathy. You can work on activities we have created for you in our newly edited Beyond Hate toolkit. For example, after setting up a safer space to have conversations on difficult topics (Activity 1, p.10), you can build up the group’s understanding through activities that explain systems of oppression and who experiences discrimination (Activity 3 and 6, p.14 and p.20); moreover through the Game of Life (Activity 7, p.22) young people can embody different identities and cultivate their compassion while experiencing the various scenarios based on real life accounts. In Game of Life a Roma identity card is also present, so use your learning as an opportunity at the start of game to shed light on the potential story behind the card; proceed the same way for all identities represented in the game.
These are only a few examples of concrete things you can do, so… what actions are you taking this April to support Roma youth inclusion and participation?
P.S don’t forget about our connected upcoming event, looking forward to seeing you there!