Rectricted action grants to support National Roma platforms

Date de clôture : 29 nov. 2016  
APPEL À PROJET CLÔTURÉ

Topic Description

1. Prriority and activities to be funded

1.1. Priority

The priority of this restricted call for proposals for action grants is to support the setting up or reinforcing of national consultation processes in the Member States, through National Roma Platforms convened and managed by National Roma Contact Points (NRCPs).

NRCPs were appointed by Member States, in line with the EU Framework for National Roma Integration Strategies up to 2020[1] to coordinate the development and implementation of the national Roma integration strategy.

The Council Recommendation on effective Roma integration measures in the Member States confirms that NRCPs should facilitate the participation and involvement of Roma civil society in the implementation of national Roma integration strategies and local action plans. The National Roma Platforms will contribute decisively to this process.

The National Roma Platforms are expected to encourage and facilitate dialogue and exchanges, promote mutual learning, cooperation and involvement in implementation and monitoring between all national stakeholders. Inclusion of Roma people, notably women and youth, in the Platform is strongly encouraged.

The objectives of the Platforms are:

• To empower the NRCPs in the process of Roma integration, to give them the necessary visibility towards all relevant stakeholders, whether at national, regional or local level, towards Roma and non-Roma communities;
• To ensure effective involvement of all relevant stakeholders (i.e. national, regional, local authorities, Roma and non-Roma communities including Roma youth and Roma women, private entrepreneurs, trade unions, professional associations, academia, Equality bodies, etc.) in decisions that affect Roma, taking into account the roles off each stakeholder;
• To address the gaps in the implementation of the National Roma Integration Strategy and the challenges which are specific to the national context;
• To feed reporting processes at national and EU level.

1.2. Description of the activities to be funded under this topic

This call will fund activities supporting active partnership between stakeholders in the development, implementation and monitoring of the National Roma Integration Strategies or integrated sets of policy measures in the Member States.

Proposals shall present the methodology to be used for the setting up or reinforcing and restructuring of platforms, by inclusive and transparent involvement of all relevant stakeholders with a focus on implementation and monitoring of National Roma Integration Strategies and integrated set of measures, and for the implementation of their activities.

The National Roma Platforms should not be considered as one-off events or conferences but as an ongoing, joint process in which all relevant stakeholders work closely together towards better integration of Roma.

Activities should support nationally led participatory multi-stakeholder processes of working meetings aimed at strengthening partnership across all levels, including government authorities, regional and local authorities, civil society organisations, including Roma youth and Roma women organisations, private sector, academia, etc.

Activities may include meetings and events at national, regional or local levels of National Roma Platforms, including their preparation, organisation and follow-up activities.

The following concrete activities might be included in the proposal:

Activities aimed at making stakeholder participation effective, including the identification of stakeholders, capacity building actions, integration of their inputs in shaping policies relevant to Roma integration;

Working meetings aiming at ensuring proper communication with all stakeholders;

Activities focusing on empowerment and participation of Roma youth and women organisations;

Organization of an opening "Kick Off" meeting with participation of all relevant stakeholders (with balanced geographical coverage) in order to explain the process as well as the Member State's approach towards Roma integration;

Organization of topical discussions/focused group discussions/good practices working meetings, notably on

• education, employment, health, housing and anti-discrimination issues, which would address the needs/priorities/obstacles/challenges at national/ regional/local level;
• funding opportunities;
• Roma education and how best to advance the education of Roma children, involving educators, Roma parents, representatives of municipalities, social workers, Roma mediators, Roma assistants;
• the involvement of trade unions, private sector in increasing employability of Roma and on an integrated approach in the area of housing and health;

Activities aimed at facilitating dialogue between Roma and non Roma communities and local authorities to explain the mutual benefits of Roma integration measures for both communities.

The following types of activities will not be funded by the Commission:

• Activities supporting individual political parties;
• Provision of financial support to third parties;
• Legal actions before national or international courts regardless of their grounds or objectives;

This call focuses on national activities and transnational activities are not supported (e.g. travel costs abroad are not supported).

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