Contact Point for Roma and Sinti Issues

Last updated
Mlodziejowski Palace in Warsaw, the seat of ODIHR Mlodziejowski Palace in Warsaw.JPG
Młodziejowski Palace in Warsaw, the seat of ODIHR

The Contact Point for Roma and Sinti Issues is the main structure within the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) assisting governments in implementing their commitments relating to the rights of Roma and Sinti populations. The Contact Point is located within the Warsaw-based OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR).

The Contact Point was created by the participating States of the OSCE at the 1994 Budapest Summit. Its mandate was strengthened at the 1998 Ministerial Council in Oslo.

One of the Contact Point's main tasks is to assist the participating States of the OSCE to implement the OSCE Action Plan on Improving the Situation of Roma and Sinti [1] adopted with consensus in 2003.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe</span> Security-oriented intergovernmental organization

The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) is a regional security-oriented intergovernmental organization comprising member states in Europe, North America, and Asia. Its mandate includes issues such as arms control, the promotion of human rights, freedom of the press, and free and fair elections. It employs around 3,460 people, mostly in its field operations but also in its secretariat in Vienna, Austria, and its institutions. It has observer status at the United Nations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Romani Holocaust</span> Genocide against Romani in Europe

The Romani Holocaust or the Romani genocide was the planned effort by Nazi Germany and its World War II allies and collaborators to commit ethnic cleansing and eventually genocide against European Roma and Sinti peoples during the Holocaust era.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">La Strada International Association</span> Organisation combatting the trafficking of persons in Europe.

La Strada International (LSI) is an international NGO network addressing the trafficking of persons in Europe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lívia Járóka</span> Hungarian politician (born 1974)

Lívia Járóka is a Hungarian politician. She is a Member of the European Parliament, first elected as part of the Fidesz list in 2004. Járóka is the second Romani ever elected to the European Parliament.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Decade of Roma Inclusion</span>

The Decade of Roma Inclusion was an initiative of 12 European countries to improve the socio-economic status and social inclusion of the Romani people across the region. The initiative was launched in 2005, with the project running from 2005 to 2015, and was the first multinational project in Europe to actively enhance the lives of Roma.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thomas Hammarberg</span> Swedish diplomat and human rights defender

Thomas Hammarberg is a Swedish diplomat and human rights defender.

The office of the OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities (HCNM) is charged with identifying and seeking early resolution of ethnic tension that might endanger peace, stability or friendly relations between and within the participating states of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Congress of Local and Regional Authorities</span> Pan-European political assembly

The Congress of Local and Regional Authorities is the pan-European political assembly representing local and regional authorities from the forty-six member states of the Council of Europe. Its role is to promote local and regional democracy, improve local and regional governance and strengthen authorities' self-government, according to the principles laid down in the European Charter of Local Self-Government. It is made up of two chambers, the Chamber of Local Authorities and the Chamber of Regions and holds its plenary sessions twice a year at the Palace of Europe in Strasbourg, where its permanent Secretariat is located.

Pavee Point (PP) is a government-funded non-governmental organisation based in Dublin, Ireland that was formed to improve the human rights of Irish Travellers and to bridge the economic and social inequalities between Travellers and settled people. Irish Travellers are an ethnic minority group that originated from nomadic tradespeople.

The Central Council of German Sinti and Roma is a German Romani rights group based in Heidelberg, Germany. It is headed by Romani Rose, who lost 13 members of his close family in the Holocaust. The organization is a member of the Federal Union of European Nationalities.

The Fighting Discrimination Program of Human Rights First focuses on the violence known as hate crimes or bias crimes. Because equality is a cornerstone of human rights protection, discrimination in all its forms is a violation of human rights. Discrimination can take the form of violence generated by prejudice and hatred founded upon a person's race, ethnicity, religious belief, sexual orientation, gender, disability, age or other such factors. Through the Fighting Discrimination Program, Human Rights First seeks to combat discrimination by reversing the tide of antisemitic, anti-immigrant, and anti-Muslim violence and reducing other bias crime in North America, Europe, and the Russian Federation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Romani people in Bosnia and Herzegovina</span>

The Xoraxane in Bosnia and Herzegovina are the largest of the 17 national minorities in the country, although—due to the stigma attached to the label—this is often not reflected in statistics and censuses.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights</span>

The Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) is the principal institution of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) dealing with the "human dimension" of security. The Office, originally established in 1991 under the 1990 Paris Charter as the Office for Free Elections, is still best known for its role in observing elections although its name changed in 1992 to reflect the broadening of its role by the Helsinki Summit.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Documentation and Cultural Centre of German Sinti and Roma</span>

The Documentation and Cultural Centre of German Sinti and Roma was established in Heidelberg, Germany, in the early 1990s, as a memorial to Sinti and Roma people who were killed by the National Socialists Party. After several years of extension work collecting stories from the victims, conducting research, and conversion, the building complex was ceremonially opened to the public on 16 March 1997, and was supported by the attendance of many Roma and Sinti survivors. It is the world's first permanent exhibition on the genocide perpetrated upon the Sinti and Roma by the Nazis. The documentation Centre has three levels and covers an area of almost 700 square meters, and traces the history and stories of the persecution of the Sinti and Roma under National Socialism. The institution is overseen by Central Council of German Sinti and Roma, supported by the city of Heidelberg, and is the beneficiary of special funds from the German Federal Government and the land of Baden-Württemberg.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United Nations Security Council Resolution 1160</span> United Nations Security Council resolution

United Nations Security Council resolution 1160, adopted on 31 March 1998, after noting the situation in Kosovo, the council, acting under Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter, imposed an arms embargo and economic sanctions on the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, hoping to end the use of excessive force by the government.

The European Civil Rights Prize of the Sinti and Roma was founded in November 2007 in Heidelberg by the Central Council of German Sinti and Roma, the Documentation and Cultural Centre of German Sinti and Roma and the Manfred Lautenschläger Foundation. The international prize is endowed with 15,000 Euro by the Foundation. It was awarded for the first time in December 2008.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maria Grazia Giammarinaro</span> Italian judge and policy-maker (born 1953)

Maria Grazia Giammarinaro is an Italian judge and policy-maker.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">European Alliance of Cities and Regions for Roma Inclusion</span>

The European Alliance of Cities and Regions for Roma Inclusion is an initiative from the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe. The Alliance currently gathers 130 Cities and Regional authorities from 29 countries.

Roma Routes was established in 2007 to encourage the study of European heritage and culture. The project was established by the European Union and ended in 2013. The main purpose of Roma Route was to break the "cultural barrier" between the Roma and Non-Roma. Roma is a very lonely group in Europe, and most European countries have "discrimination" against Roma. Discrimination in most European countries also prevents Roma's culture from spreading worldwide. Through Roma Route, the European Union hopes to change the living conditions of the Roma and enhance the cultural communication of the Roma to the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine</span>

The OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine was an international civilian observer mission of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) mandated to contribute to reducing tensions and to help foster peace in Ukraine. The mission was deployed in March 2014, following the Russian annexation of Crimea and the outbreak of open conflict in eastern Ukraine. The mission ended on 31 March 2022, following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

References

  1. "Action Plan on Improving the Situation of Roma and Sinti within the OSCE Area". www.osce.org. Retrieved 2020-12-22.