On February 6-7, 2013, in Hungary, it was held the second meeting of PAIRS on “Effective Programs for the Active Integration/Inclusion of the Roma in South-East Europe”
On February 6, the participants introduced the good and bad practices of inclusion of the Roma Community in the society of the SEE.On February 7, in Tarnabod, Hungary, it was held the Launch Event of PAIRS “Share experience, encourage inclusion”.
The PAIRS partnership involves 18 partners (11 financing) from 8 SEE countries, where the exclusion of Roma population represents a high policy priority – Albania, Bulgaria, Hungary, Italy, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia and Ukraine.
The partners from Albania are: Malteser Albania, Teuleda-Local Economic Development Agency, and Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities.
The PAIRS project aims at collecting good examples of sectoral and local policies that have served effective inclusion of Roma communities in eight countries and provides a platform for international exchange of knowledge and expertise in order to facilitate the inclusion of Roma minorities throughout the region.
The Roma minority is the largest ethnic minority in Europe. Approximately 10-12 million Roma live in Europe, approximately 68/% (7.5 million) of them in countries covered by the SEE program.
The Launch Event was held in Tarnabod, a village where 90% of the population is Roma people and the Malteser Hungary has a Multidisciplinary Center with a kindergarten, a school and a workshop.
The agenda of the day started with the welcoming speech by the Mayor of Tarnabod, and some of the other speeches held were:
– “The aims of the project”, by Mr. László Moravcsik, project manager Hungarian Charity Service of the Order of Malta
– “Common goals should be achieved together”, by Ms. Livia Jároka, member of the European Parliament (video message)
– “Roma strategy”, by Ms. Dora Husz, expert European Commission
– “EU Funds and Roma – the gap between papers and reality”, by Mr. Gelu Duminica, executive director Imreuna Agency.
Then, there was a tour in Tarnabod, where the participants could visit the Multidisciplinary Center.