News

Deadline for OSF RIO Barvalipe School funding is 1 July

10.6.2015 22:01 The Roma Initiatives Office (RIO) of the Open Society Foundations has opened a call for organizations interested in running a Barvalipe School to provide a creative experience for Roma university graduates interested in progressing from academia to public leadership. Proposals are invited from Roma NGOs in the Czech Republic, Hungary, Italy, Slovakia, Spain, and Turkey for projects providing opportunities to rebuild Roma dignity and pride, as well as develop competence, confidence and self-reliance among Roma university graduates between the ages of 25 and 35.  full story

Czech Government project holds contest for a "HateFree Song"

10.6.2015 21:09 The "HateFree Culture" project has announced an open contest for music performers, whether groups or solo artists, called "SLOŽ TO!" ("COMPOSE IT!") whose work reflects on themes such as coexistence; extreme nationalism; hate violence; intolerance for members of minorities, social groups and subcultures; prejudice; racism; respect; right-wing radicalism; or xenophobia. The composers of the winning piece will be provided with a backup team to produce a professional video.  full story

The European Roma Institute: Frequently Asked Questions

10.6.2015 18:33 The Roma Initiatives Office of the Open Society Foundations, which is one of the founding members of the nascent European Roma Institute (ERI), has released a set of answers to the "Frequently Asked Questions" now circulating about the ERI. The responses were drafted jointly by the Open Society Foundations, the Special Representative of the Secretary General for Roma Issues of the Council of Europe, and the spokespersons for the Alliance for the European Roma Institute; an abridged version of the text is below and the full paper can be read here.  full story

Interview with Sabina Badžová: "Jump, your wings will unfold on the way"

10.6.2015 17:06 When Sabina Badžová was supposed to go to primary school, her mother stood up to those who told her that she didn't have what it takes. Instead of attending a "practical school" in the Czech Republic, she enrolled in a regular primary school, completed her studies at a business academy, and now has just completed her second year at the College of Information Services.  full story

UN Human Rights Council review of anti-Gypsyism will be webcast live next week

10.6.2015 3:12 Rita Izsák, the UN Special Rapporteur on minority issues, will present her study of the human rights situation for Romani people worldwide before the United Nations Human Rights Council on Monday, 15 June 2015. Last year the Human Rights Council adopted a resolution recognizing that Roma have faced widespread discrimination worldwide, in all areas of life, for half a millenium or more.  full story

Czech police file is labeled "GYPSIES + DRUG ADDICTS", but no one will be held responsible

8.6.2015 22:36 The online Czech daily ECHO24.cz has reported on the case of a police inspector who had a file labeled "GYPSIES + DRUG ADDICTS" on the shelf among others he was working on. The label was noticed by a person who came to the Prague II District Police Directorate in mid-April to be deposed.  full story

New Czech EdMin will be Kateřina Valachová

6.6.2015 15:07 The Czech Social Democratic candidate for the post of Education Minister, according to new information from the party leadership, is Kateřina Valachová. Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka was scheduled to inform President Miloš Zeman about his chosen nominee yesterday.  full story

From the Balkans to the Baltics, Roma groups express support for a European Roma Institute

4.6.2015 21:10 During the past week, three declarations of support for the establishment of a European Roma Institute (ERI) have been issued by Roma from very different parts of Europe, in English, through the Roma Virtual Network listserv. Zeljko Jovanovic, director of the Open Society Foundations' Roma Initiatives Office (RIO), also discussed the idea of the ERI at a conference in Prague last week as part of the Khamoro World Roma Festival.  full story

Commentary: Hypocrisy takes center stage in Czech housing policy across the spectrum

4.6.2015 19:20 Hundreds more people have become potentially homeless in the Czech Republic over the past few days. They are impoverished, and up until now they have been living in residential hotels.  full story

Roma Health Fellowship Program for EU advocacy extends deadline to 12 June

4.6.2015 18:13 The European Public Health Alliance (EPHA) has launched a one-year fellowship program for 2015-2016 to mentor and train two advocates for Roma health in the EU with the support of the Open Society Foundations' Public Health Program. The program is intended to empower Roma Health Advocates from Central and Eastern Europe to engage with EU policy designers and increase the capacity of the Romani community to provide leadership at EU level on health issues affecting them.  full story

Czech PM may nominate Deputy Human Rights Minister as new Education Minister

4.6.2015 17:38 Kateřina Valachová, Deputy Minister for Human Rights, Equal Opportunities and Legislation, may become a candidate for the next Czech Education Minister. Several sources close to Czech PM Bohuslav Sobotka (ČSSD) said today that he is ready to propose a female candidate to replace outgoing EdMin Marcel Chládek (ČSSD).  full story

Bulgaria: Regional governor says situation in Garmen is calming down

4.6.2015 17:03 The Focus Information Agency (FIA) reports that the Regional Governor of Blagoevgrad, Biser Mihailov, met with Bulgarian Interior Minister Rumyana Bachvarova this week to discuss recent anti-Romani unrest in the town of Garmen. "CCTV will be installed in the municipality by the municipal administration at the order of the mayor," Mahailov said.  full story

Sociologist says Czech Republic is creating two states, an impoverished north and a wealthy center and south

3.6.2015 22:03 Sociologist Ivan Gabal says the Czech Republic is now beginning to look like two states in one. The center and the south of the country are prospering, while the north is worried about poverty.  full story

Czech towns begin to "produce" hundreds of newly homeless people after law has potentially catastrophic effect

3.6.2015 21:13 Reality has turned out differently than Czech Labor and Social Affairs Minister Michaela Marksová believed it might. "Most municipalities behave rationally, they know they cannot afford to create dozens or hundreds of homeless people," she said last week.  full story

Tasks awaiting the Czech Education Ministry need more than a temporary replacement in charge

3.6.2015 19:16 Even though it may seem that Marcel Chládek is leaving office primarily because he has not treated women and colleagues not involved with sports well at the Czech Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport, there are more reasons than that for his dismissal. The degree of his misconceived ideas, such as the distribution of tablet computing devices to schoolchildren, or the introduction of "practical" classes in the primary schools, had in fact exceeded all tolerable limits.  full story

Does the Czech Human Rights Minister grasp the purported dispute between the "ethnic" and "social" approaches to inclusion?

3.6.2015 17:35 Two important events took place recently that may fundamentally influence the approach to Romani integration policy and combating socially excluded localities for a long time to come. A new report on socially excluded localities was presented by the GAC company, and several hours later, Czech Human Rights Minister Dienstbier announced that the new director of the Czech Government Agency for Social Inclusion will be Radek Jiránek.  full story

UK: Gangs are abusing impoverished women from Eastern Europe, including Roma, for fake marriages

3.6.2015 16:49 Klara Balogová was 18 years old, without a cent, and in an advanced stage of pregnancy when she traveled 1 000 kilometers from Slovakia to England to marry a man she had never met. She knew that neither she nor her child were any of his concern.  full story

Commentary: Not everyone has luck or talent - response to Julius Zajac about options for ghetto children

3.6.2015 15:40 Julius Zajac's recent commentary presented a proud, self-aware perspective on the problems of Roma - in his view the key to overcoming these problems is education, and anyone can access a decent education in the Czech Republic. Racism, he says, does not stand in the way.  full story

Norwegian photographer fascinated by Roma ability to maintain cultural heritage in desperate conditions

3.6.2015 15:15 In Oslo a book about Norwegian Romani people was recently been published featuring the photographs of Gorm K. Gaare. He has also documented the lives of Roma in Bulgaria, in the Czech town of Bělá nad Radbuzou near Plzeň, and in Slovakia.  full story

Czech Republic: Café says it will only serve "adaptable" customers

3.6.2015 0:46 There probably is no need to extensively justify the unwritten social rule that if someone disrupts the social order of those peacefully sipping espresso at the Chat Noir Café in Brno to such an extent that it is intolerable, that person can understandably be asked to leave. When, however, the café announces it is forbidding entry to "inadaptables", some prefer to suppress their desire for coffee and give the place a miss.  full story