This project, implemented by the ERRC in partnership with the Bulgarian Helsinki Committee, the Milan Simecka Foundation and osservAzione, aims to identify rights violations and other problems associated with Romani children in State care in Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Italy, Romania and Slovakia. It aims to assess whether or not Romani children are disproportionately represented in State institutional care and their chances for family reunification or alternative family placement. Discrimination, exclusion and inadequate access to housing, education, health care, and employment place Romani families at a particular risk of family break-up and means that they are poorly equipped to navigate the child protection system. Through ...

To date, research and data have been very limited on the issue of trafficking of Romani youth and women in Central and Eastern Europe, despite numerous reports on trafficking highlighting the fact that minority groups, particularly Romani communities (in Europe) are particularly vulnerable to this modern from of slavery. The availability of data regarding trafficking has been linked to better policies and improved anti-trafficking work, thus concrete information on how the Romani community is affected by THB is vital to addressing this issue. Consequently, the ERRC in partnership with People in Need Slovakia (Clovek v tisni) on a project to analyse trends in and the current state of legislation, data collection, framework policies and ...

In September 2008, the ERRC began work on a 2-year project to empower grassroots Romani organisations to participate effectively in the development of legal and policy tools for protection against discrimination and to increase the prominence of issues of non-compliance of domestic law and practice with international human rights standards. Capacity-building actions in Romani grassroots organisations will include targeted training by the ERRC; collaboration between the ERRC and Roma NGOs in formulating advocacy strategies to amend legislation and policies which have an adverse impact on Roma; and joint advocacy actions at the national and international levels. Such domestic and international advocacy actions are intended to prompt a ...

In December 2009, the ERRC began work on a study commissioned by the Fundamental Rights Agency concerning the movement of Romani EU citizens within the EU, focusing on the movement of Roma to Finland, France, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom. The ERRC is implementing this study in consortium with Fundacíon Secretariado Gitano (FSG), Fédération nationale des associations solidaires (FNASAT), Finnish League for Human Rights (FLHR), European Roma Information Office (ERIO), European Dialogue (ED) and several independent expert researchers. Within this study, the ERRC will conduct qualitative research on the respect, protection and promotion of the right of Romani EU citizens to move freely and reside in other EU Member States, in order to ...

In response to widespread recognition of persistent discrimination and social exclusion of Roma, stakeholders including European Union institutions, European governments, inter-governmental bodies, funding institutions, and civil organisations have focused increasingly on policy and programming measures to effect positive change in the lives of Roma. The ERRC, in consortium with the Roma Education Fund (REF), will conduct a study to evaluate these efforts.

In January 2009, the ERRC in partnership with Pavee Point Travellers Centre, began a project to explore the housing problems of Roma and Travellers across the EU, as well as highlight significant initiatives that would improve their living conditions. The study is intended to provide the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) with the essential evidence to develop conclusions and opinions for the EU institutions and Member States and assist them in developing appropriate evidence-based policies and measures to improve the housing situation of Roma and Travellers.