Chronicle
13 November 2006
April 20: Published "Bytj ravnimi" (To be equal), targeting Romani women in Russia. The pamphlet includes Russian legislation relevant in race- and gender discrimination matters, as well as information about Romani women rights around Europe.
July 25: Published the second issue of the Russian version of Roma Rights (“Prava Tzigan”) on anti-Romani hate speech issues.
Campaigning, Conferences, Meetings and Training
April 6-9: Conducted an international advocacy skills training for Romani, Sinti and Traveller activists, with partners Irish Traveller Movement and Milan Simecka Foundation and within a project funded by the European Commission's Action Programme to Combat Discrimination, in Dublin, Ireland.
April 8-9: Acted as trainer at a workshop for Romani activists convened by the National Democratic Institute, Bucharest, Romania.
April 14: In cooperation with "Memorial" (Saint-Petersburg) organized a seminar with journalists and Romani activists, followed by a roundtable on hate speech, in Saint Petersburg, Russia.
April 18-21: Conducted a training on effective advocacy for Romani, Ashkaeli and Egyptian activists, funding by Save the Children Kosovo, in Pristina, Kosovo.
April 24-25: Participated an Anti-discrimination and Diversity training: Good Practices & Future Needs (2006 Annual Conference of the Action Programme to Combat Discrimination), in Warsaw, Poland.
April 25: Conducted an effective media skills training for Croatian and Macedonian Romani activists, with partners National Roma Centrum and Croatian Law Center and within a project funded by the European Commission's CARDS program, in Skopje, Macedonia.
April 25-26: Assisted and participated in a meeting with Romani women on trafficking organized by OSCE in Budapest, Hungary.
April 28-29: Gave presentations at the "Roma and Equal Access to Education" conference organised by the European Network Against Racism (ENAR) and European Roma Information Office (ERIO), Brussels, Belgium.
May 3: Attended a conference on Roma policy issues convened by a number of organizations under the auspices of the Romanian chairmanship of the Council of Europe, Bucharest, Romania.
May 8: Held a public event to review housing rights matters in Italy, on the occasion of publication of the decision in European Roma Rights Centre v. Italy, a collective complaint on the systemic frustration of the rights of Roma to adequate housing. In the case, the European Committee of Social Rights found three violations of the Revised European Social Charter. The ERRC event was attended by Committee members, and funded by the European Union. It took place in Rome, Italy.
May 10-11: Delivered a presentation on responses to extremists populism, at conference "The Challenge of the New Populism" organised by Centre for Liberal Strategy, Sofia, Bulgaria.
May 12: Attended Holocaust memorial services at the site of the World War II Romani concentration camp at Lety near Pisek, Czech Republic. Despite a decade of efforts by civil society, the Czech government persists in failing to move a massive pig farm currently located on the site.
May 17-21: Conducted training on human rights monitoring for Turkish researchers, within a project funded by the European Commissions EIHDR program, in Istanbul, Turkey.
May 19-21: Co-hosted the Ninth Annual meeting of the International Council on Human Rights Policy, Budapest, Hungary.
May 23: Spoke at a conference on Roma and Structural Funding, organized by the Slovak Ministry of Construction and Regional Development, Bratislava, Slovakia.
May 26: Held a presentation for American law students on Roma rights in the Institute of International Education, Budapest, Hungary.
May 29-31: Organized and participated the in 10th Study Session on the European Convention on Human Rights for persons involved in legal assistance to Roma and Travellers in Strasbourg, France.
May 30: Presented issues related to the situation of Roma in Bulgaria ar a hearing in the European Parlament, Brussels, Belgium.
June 2: Organized a seminar in cooperation with "Amala" (Rostov), for journalists and Romani activists, followed by a roundtable on hate speech, in Rostov, Russia.
June 8: Participated in an ALDE Round Table in European Parliament: "How the EU membership will improve the situation of Roma in Romania" in Brussels, Belgium.
June 8: Held a presentation at a conference on minorities and education organized by Civic Initiatives, in Belgrade, Serbia.
June 15-18: Participated at the Open Society Network's Jamboree, Istanbul, Turkey.
June 17-18: Held training for Romani activists and a strategy meeting for action, as part of an ongoing ERRC project in Ukraine, supported by the European Union, Kiev, Ukraine.
June 19: Held a press conference on racial discrimination issues facing Roma in Ukraine, in Kiev, Ukraine.
June 22: Held a seminar on Roma rights issues at the European Academy, Bolzano, Italy.
June 23: Met with public officials to discuss the problem of Roma living in toxic areas, Bolzano, Italy.
June 29-July 2: Conducted an effective media skills training for Romani, Sinti and Traveller activists, with partners Irish Traveller Movement and Milan Simecka Foundation and within a project funded by the European Commission's Action Programme to Combat Discrimination, in Bratislava, Slovakia.
June 30: Organized a seminar together with the Hungarian Ministry of Education and Culture and the Ministry of Social and Labor Affairs, in Budapest, Hungary.
July 1: Organized a seminar on women rights for Romani women in Smolensk, Russia.
July 10-13: Participated at the Second World Forum on Human Rights, Nantes, France.
July 12: Attended a meeting of the European Commission's DG Enlargement on the 2006 Autumn Reports of Accession and Western Balkan countries, in Brussels, Belgium.
July 16: Organized a seminar on women rights for Romani women in Tambov, Russia.
July 17: Organized a seminar on women rights for Romani women in Lipeck, Russia.
July 27: Organized a seminar on women rights for Romani women in Volgograd region, Uryupinsk, Russia.
August 8-11: Participated the 12th Session of the United Nations Working on Minorities in Geneva, Switzerland.
August 9: Participated in a training for researchers, conducted jointly with the Helsinki Citizens Assembly and EDCINKAY within a project funded by the European Commissions EIHDR programme, in Istanbul, Turkey.
August 11: Provided detailed comments on Ukraine's compliance with international human rights law to the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD), Geneva, Switzerland.
August 15: Provided testimony on coercive sterilization matters in the Czech Republic and Slovakia for the US Congressional Record, Washington DC, USA.
August 17: Provided detailed comments on the Czech Republic's compliance with international human rights law to the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), New York, USA.
August 17: Attended a demonstration and the opening of an exhibition of photographs on Czech sterilization issues, Ostrava, Brno, Czech Republic.
August 23: Organized a seminar on womens rights for Romani women in Ulyanovsk, Russia.
August 25: Organized a seminar on womens rights for Romani women in Samara region, Chapaevsk, Russia.
August 25: Participated in a meeting organized by the Organization for the Protection of Roma Women, Budapest, Hungary.
