Roma and Sinti Youth Conference – Call for Applications

The OSCE/ODIHR Contact Point for Roma and Sinti Issues invites interested individuals to apply for participation in the 2014 Roma and Sinti Youth Conference in Belgrade, Serbia.

The youth of Roma and Sinti communities represent a demographic of growing importance in many participating States of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). Nevertheless, exclusionary mechanisms due to stigmatization in employment and education stop young Roma and Sinti from developing their full potential. In 2013, in its Decision No. 4/2014, the OSCE Ministerial Council confirmed that Roma and Sinti youth need to be provided with more opportunities to act as agents of change in their communities.

The OSCE/ODIHR Contact Point for Roma and Sinti Issues continues its engagement on empowering young Roma and Sinti in the OSCE region. The Roma and Sinti Youth Conference aims to provide a platform for Roma and Sinti youth to raise their voices on the issues that concern them.

The Roma and Sinti Youth Conference will bring together youth representatives of Roma and Sinti from across the OSCE region for a two-day conference taking place on 8-9 December in Belgrade, to discuss engagement of Roma and Sinti youth at local level addressing the following three fields:

• Empowerment and social inclusion of Roma and Sinti communities through youth activism;
• The participation of Roma and Sinti youth in politics and democratic processes;
• Roma and Sinti youth and security.

Roma and Sinti youth will be actively engaged in the meeting by sharing their experiences, moderating working sessions and proposing solutions and recommendations on the listed topics.

The conclusions of the conference will be put forward as the Roma and Sinti youth recommendations to the OSCE participating States for empowering Roma and Sinti youth participation at the local level, for promoting the inclusion of their communities, as well as to help further develop ODIHR’s work with Roma and Sinti youth issues.

Up to 35 Roma and Sinti youth representatives from the OSCE area will be invited to attend the event, based on the following selection criteria:

• Young Roma and Sinti aged 20 to 35;
• Minimum two years of experience and proven track record of engagement with Roma and Sinti youth issues, especially in the areas of the conference topics outlined above;
• Gender and geographic balance;
• Fluency in English (the official language of the conference will be English);
• Availability to attend and actively participate in the Roma and Sinti Youth Conference.

Accommodation and travel costs for selected participants of the event will be covered by OSCE/ODIHR.