22 – 25 June, 2016
Budapest, Hungary

Štefan Simončič, President of the Association EPEKA, Soc. Ent., attended the international conference Volunteering in the Roma Community – Reality or Utopia, which took place from 22 to 25 June in Budapest, Hungary.

The conference brought together people from different countries (Hungary, Slovakia, Romania, Czech Republic, Austria, Slovenia) to bring together civil society organisations, volunteers, experts and decision-makers, to open up the European debate and to contribute to greater visibility and recognition of their local action in the fight against stereotypes, racism and antigypsyism. In addition, the 2-day conference discussed how volunteering can be a good tool for young Roma to get involved; what are the barriers for young Roma that make it more difficult for them to be part of European mobility programmes; what are the motivations of Roma and Roma youth organisations to fight antigypsyism.

The conference was part of the larger project Community Organising. The project promotes the notion of community organising as a new form of civic engagement; it seeks activities involving volunteers that also make a significant contribution to active citizenship and strengthen bottom-up action, while promoting democracy and long-term intercultural dialogue.

The conference was organised by Phiren Amenca from Hungary and Roma Youth Centre from Macedonia.

Some highlights from the conference:

GALLERY