The aim of this project is to develop a network of Roma youth active in politics and public life and to enable them to represent their communities in national and international political fields and structures. The project will involve 60 young Roma people to share their experiences, ideas, and thoughts on national politics with a special focus on Roma issues and to learn from professionals and from each other as well, about effective advocacy. In September, October, November and December RGDTS is going to organize 4 meetings, as a continuation of its National Roma Youth Congress organized in September 2019.
The trainings in Balassagyarmat, Pécs and Budapest will give space for 60 young educated Roma to discuss politically important topics with the help of professionals through non-formal educational methods, and to strengthen the participation of young Roma in public and political life as well as in mainstream public structures.
These conferences will have previously agreed agendas with different themes and topics that every participant needs to follow. Every meeting is going to have invited guests who have experiences and knowledge that should be shared with young Roma in order to improve their skills and knowledge. Since we know many of the US Embassy’s former Roma Fellows and one of our colleagues was also a fellow in 2012, we think that they could be important guests of these meetings as experts of diplomacy and also could help us with their network in order to invite political professionals who could show us positive examples of successful political movements from the US.
As a final product we are going to publish a handbook about successful advocacy and lobby activities with the help of professionals and the training participants. This toolkit will be available online and in hard copies too, so those young Roma and non-Roma who are interested in taking part in public and political life can learn some useful practices from us.
The project is funded by the US Embassy Budapest.
