Invitation to civil society organizations to establish a National Coalition for Roma Civic Monitoring
Nature and objectives of the Roma Civic Monitoring 2021-2025
Following the adoption of the EU Strategic Framework for Roma Equality, Inclusion and Participation on 7 October 2020 and at the initiative of the European Parliament, the European Commission has launched the Roma Citizenship Monitoring (RCM) initiative for the next four years from 2021 to 2025. This initiative is a continuation of the Roma Civic Monitoring 2017-2020 pilot project and aims to involve at least 90 (pro)Roma civil society organisations and individuals from 26 EU Member States in monitoring and reporting mainly on Member States’ National Roma Strategic Frameworks (NRSFs), but also on other policies relevant to Roma.
The Roma Civic Monitoring 2021-2025 initiative aims to build the capacity of Roma CSOs to contribute to the monitoring of national strategies by applying a bottom-up methodology based on local knowledge and experience to influence national decisions that effectively reflect the needs of Roma communities.
To contribute to this goal, Roma Civic Monitoring will:
- Empower Roma and pro-Roma civil society to enable them to participate in monitoring and reporting on the implementation of national Roma strategic frameworks, action plans and other policies to effectively reflect the needs of Roma communities;
- Facilitate constructive dialogue and equal partnership between (pro)Roma civil society, national Roma contact points, equality bodies, and other stakeholders to reflect the needs and interests of Roma;
- Prepare and disseminate reports on civil society perspectives and assessments on the implementation of national strategic frameworks for Roma, key policy measures or relevant new developments with significant impact on Roma.
- Roma Civic Monitoring Initiative 2021-2025 with the full title “Preparatory Action – Roma Civic Monitoring – Strengthening the capacity and participation of Roma and pro-Roma civil society for policy monitoring and review”, is implemented by a consortium led by the Institute for Democracy of the Central European University (DI/CEU), European Roma Grassroots Organisations Network (ERGO Network), Fundatión Secretariado Gitano (FSG) and the European Roma Rights Centre (ERRC), under a service contract with the European Commission’s Directorate General Justice and Consumers.
In Bulgaria, the Roma Civic Monitoring 2021 – 2025 is coordinated by Amalipe Centre and Integro Association.”
Role of the members of the National Coalition for Roma Civic Monitoring
It is envisaged that the Roma Civil Monitoring will involve larger and inclusive coalitions of Roma and pro-Roma civil society organisations to reflect the diversity of experience, opinion and target groups of the policies and to ensure transparency, collaboration and a participatory approach. This will also allow for the inclusion of a wide range of professional expertise in the development of the report.
For Bulgaria, it is envisaged that at least 7-8 civil society organisations will participate in the National Coalition for Roma Civic Monitoring.
The CSOs that will join the National Roma Civic Monitoring Coalition are expected to participate in activities organised by the National Roma Civic Monitoring Coordinators under the guidance and with the support of the Roma Civic Monitoring Consortium.
These activities will be aimed at building the capacity of civil society organisations needed to:
– Critical monitoring of public authorities’ actions (or lack of actions) for equality, inclusion and participation of Roma at different levels (local, regional, national);
– participation in the design, implementation and monitoring of public policies with an impact on Roma equality and inclusion.
The National Coalition for Roma Civic Monitoring will coordinate and support its members to engage in dialogue with public authorities and other stakeholders (including media and mainstream civil society) and to participate in policy-making structures and processes to advocate for the needs and interests of the Roma community.
Within the framework of the Roma Civic Monitoring initiative, according to their competences, the members of the National Coalition will have the opportunity to participate in:
– Development of national monitoring reports,
– development of transnational thematic reports,
– development of national annual plans for sustainable cooperation
– transnational cooperation and networking with other civil society organisations participating in the Roma Civic Monitoring,
– developing and implementing a small project funded by Roma Civic Monitoring.
The participation of members of the National Coalition for Roma Civic Monitoring in the development of the national monitoring reports will depend on their capacities and interests. Depending on the mutual agreement reached within the Coalition and with the National Roma Civic Monitoring Coordinators, this participation may take different forms and degrees of intensity: informing the reports through a consultation process, reviewing and commenting on draft reports at different stages of their development, developing brief notes to feed thematic chapters of the reports, developing (local) case studies, co-authoring the report or chapters of the report.
Important! Only for the “higher” forms of participation – development of short notes for the thematic chapters of the reports, development of (local) case studies, co-authorship of the report or the chapters of the report – remuneration for the work on the development of the reports can be foreseen.
In all cases, National Coalition members will be involved in a minimum of two consultations in the development of the national monitoring reports, enabling them to inform the report and share their experiences, views and assessments.
Eligibility Criteria for Membership in the National Roma Civic Monitoring Coalition:
– The organization must be registered as an NGO under the LJLLC;
– The organization must have at least a two-year history of active participation in the Roma/pro-Roma movement or related social movements (human rights, anti-racism, anti-discrimination),
– The organization must demonstrate experience in at least one of the following thematic areas: education, employment, health, housing, social services, community organizing, anti-discrimination, anti-Roma attitudes
– Demonstrate a willingness to collaborate with other civil society organisations from the country and Europe.
Selection criteria
– The organisation represents a diversity of voices from different Roma communities in the country;
– The organisation has experience of working at local level in Roma communities;
– The organisation has advocacy capacity.
How to apply to the National Coalition for Roma Civic Monitoring
Interested (pro)Roma organizations should complete and submit the attached application form by January 14, 2022 to the following email address: info@integrobg.org and cor.amalipe.vt@abv.bg