Know your rights!
Marginalized Roma communities on the northeast of Hungary face systematic violations of human rights, e.g. segregation at school, discrimination and often deceit on the labour market, exclusion from many kinds of basic public services, such as health care, or abuse or encroachment of police, or other public institutions, officials.
Besides living in deep poverty, with almost chanceless future to get out of the vicious circle of generational poverty, hate and hate speech is generated against Roma, even by politicians, the majority is deeply biased and infected with hatred towards Roma. That relevantly hinders efforts of social inclusion.
Therefore, we launch an intensive information campaign on human rights and closely connected issues combined with trainings and necessary low-threshold services offered for 3 selected marginalized Roma communities in Heves, Nógrád, Borsod counties). It is aimed to improve the advocacy capacities of these communities.
The main goal of the project is to set up a scalable, adaptable model program aiming at empowering three marginalized Roma communities to have better access to their basic opportunities (live with their rights) at every sphere of life. We plan to increase advocating skills, advocacy capacities of these communities for social inclusion.
As preparations a needs assessment and reconciliation meetings will be concluded. Local workshops at least once a month for 10 times on each settlement will be organized –led by relevant professionals –on such topics that relates to basic rights and opportunities that are often violated. We would like raise attention and improve capacities and knowledge of locals in this respect.
Local community development will be enhanced by the monthly organized events, and two times excursions will contribute to strengthen community cohesion that contributes to increased advocacy capacities.
Local groups will be encouraged to identify local needs, and challenges to jointly handle, and the project team will help solve them. At the end, the team of professionals, staff, local organizers will elaborate an easy to follow guide on summarizing experience of the method applied to be disseminated to other communities, parties interested in the topic as model program. Closing event will be organized with the participation of all three communities and other interested stakeholders to jointly evaluate the project and to share results to disseminate the designed model program.
Expected results:
- Strengthened capacities and awareness of local inhabitants of the involved communities related to their basic rights and possibilities of empowerment, advancement. It may result in lower number of violations of their human rights, and more efficient public participation, decreased number of reported incidents, better attainment at education and the labour market.
- Increased advocacy capacities of the involved local CSOs resulted in more effective interventions.
- Raised public awareness on the situation of marginalized Roma, people living in poverty.
For more information:
Beáta Csomós – Community Organizer – beata.csomos@cfoundation.org
Boglárka Bata – Director, Project Manager – boglarka.bata@cfoundation.org
Know Your Rights events:
Know Your Rights - Closing Conference
Best Practice Visit in Nagykálló
The project is implemented with the generous financial support of the Federal Foreign Office of Germany.