COUNTERING FEAR, THE SECURITY MINDSET AND THE ‘OTHERING’ OF ROMA

Tringa Naka from Kosovar Center for Security Studies has attended the four day meeting in Brussels, organized by the Roma Initiatives Office, Open Society Initiative for Europe and Open Society European Policy Institute.

The aim of this meeting was to bring together mainstream organizations, multi-issue think tanks, rights and watchdog organizations, alongside Roma NGOs, activists and groups in order to understand the institutional hurdles, the social, economic and political barriers to Roma inclusion in all Western Europe countries.

The aim of this conference is to evaluate the Framework that was adopted by the conclusions of the Council of the European Union on 19 May 2011 and approved by the European Council in June 2011. Amongst other things, these conclusions require the member states of the European Union to: improve the social and economic situation of Roma, especially in the areas of education, employment, housing and healthcare; develop national strategies for the inclusion of Roma; and promote the active incorporation of Roma civil society and all other stakeholders. After five years, halfway through the framework’s period, many NGOs and expert state that the situation of Roma has not adequately improved in many fields.

KCSS project has been pre-selected under the Open Society Foundation call for project proposals for Countering Fear, the Security Mindset and the ‘Othering’ of Roma.