SolidarityNow Celebrates International Roma Day in Collaboration with Municipalities of Ampelokipi-Menemeni and Katerini

SolidarityNow, through the program “Amaro Magipe” and in collaboration with the Municipality of Ampelokipi-Menemeni, the Municipality of Katerini, the Faros tou Kosmou, the Community Center with a Roma Center of the Municipality of Ampelokipi-Menemeni, and the Municipality of Katerini, celebrates International Roma Day in both cities on April 7th and 14th.

The goal of these events is to inform and raise public awareness on issues of inclusion and to break down stereotypes and prejudices associated with the Roma community.

Free Admission

One Year of “Amaro Magipe”

For one year, the “Amaro Magipe” program, implemented by SolidarityNow in collaboration with “Faros tou Kosmou” and the Cultural and Educational Association of Roma Women “Elpida” in Drosero, Xanthi, in Pelekas Katerini, in the Municipality of Pavlos Melas, in Drosero Xanthi, and in Dendropotamos Thessaloniki, has been supporting Roma women and youth through workshops and activities, achieving:

• Participation of 223 women
• Participation of 89 youth
• Participation of 153 children, including 83 girls
• Implementation of 2,095 meetings across the four areas

International Roma Day

International Roma Day is celebrated on April 8th in remembrance of the first congress held in London on April 8th, 1971, which laid the foundations for the Roma’s claims and recognition by the international community. Today, more than 50 years after that first congress and hundreds of years since the first presence of the Gypsies in Byzantium, the Roma continue to be victims of stereotypes and prejudice, often deprived of basic rights such as housing, access to health, education, employment, and equality before the law.

Given that the eradication of anti-Gypsyism starts with the preservation, promotion, and understanding of the Gypsies’ history for the development of an identity based on their experiences and needs, and placing them equally in all European events, it is important that international days are honored and established in the consciousness of both Roma and non-Roma. Below is the schedule for the first Sunday of the events, April 7th, in Thessaloniki:

Detailed Program

Sunday, April 7, 2024

• Venue: Outdoor area of the KAPI Agios Nektarios – Roma Branch, Odysseos Androutsou 2, Dendropotamos

Start: 18:00

• Greetings
• Presentation of Roma History and Identity – Council of Europe Recommendation Booklet
• Screening of the Amaro Magipe and Roma Connect AID video
• Roma Literature – Presentation of Gypsy Fairy Tales
• Recitation of poems by the children of Dendropotamos
• Screening of the Amaro Magipe video “Breaking Stereotypes”
• Live Gypsy music
• Tasting of traditional Roma dishes and delicacies

Parallel Events

• Background music from a relevant music CD
• Photography exhibition
• Children’s Corner

Notes for Editors

The “Faros tou Kosmou” Youth Center is a place of protection and creative engagement for the youth of Dendropotamos. Through continuous and relentless effort, it has not only highlighted the problems of the area but has found pioneering solutions in education, health, and employment. “Faros tou Kosmou” stands by all those in need and lights the path toward development and progress. https://farostoukosmou.com/el

The Cultural Educational Association of Roma Women of Drosero, Xanthi “Elpida” is an NGO founded in June 2006 by 20 Roma women. The desire and need of these women were to create an institutional body through which they could express themselves collectively as Roma women, with rights and obligations within Greek society. https://drosero.eu/

The “Amaro Magipe: Actions for the Empowerment of Roma Women and Youth” initiative, implemented under the Small Grant Scheme 1 “Empowerment of Roma Women and Youth” of the “Social Inclusion and Empowerment of Roma” program, is funded with a grant of €199,909.69 from the EEA Grants (European Economic Area Financial Mechanism 2014-2021) and from national resources, representing the contribution of Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Norway for a green, competitive, and inclusive Europe. The three donor countries work closely with the EU based on the European Economic Area (EEA) agreement. The donor countries have provided €3.3 billion through successive grant programs between 1994 and 2014. For the 2014-2021 period, the EEA Grants have allocated a total of €2.8 billion, of which €116.7 million has been allocated to Greece through Protocol 38c. The priorities for this period are:

• #1 Innovation, research, education, and competitiveness
• #2 Social inclusion, youth employment, and poverty reduction
• #3 Environment, energy, climate change, and low carbon economy
• #4 Culture, civil society, good governance, and fundamental rights
• #5 Justice and home affairs

The EEA Grants are jointly funded by Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Norway, whose contributions are based on their GDP.