PACT Foundation’s chosen theme: Intercultural dialogue and integration
Justification:
For Romania, the necessity to focus on intercultural dialogue and integration emerge from the many issues that Roma population is still facing, especially in rural communities: segregation, discrimination in the field of employment, housing rights, education and health, use of excessive force in Roma communities, racial administration of justice, and discrimination of Roma women and children[1].
There is general awareness of the fact that continuous self marginalization and discrimination towards Roma population stems from the lack of knowledge of Roma culture, which is often invoked by the non-Roma as one of the main factors of segregation. The Romanian government, as well as the non-governmental sector has started to tackle all these aspects especially after the 1990s, yet many of them remain to be dealt with. Self-marginalization, especially among Roma youth in small communities, is a pressuring problem, which stems from lack of trust and denial of their own identity, in tight relation to Roma traditions and culture, which are being rejected by the larger society. Ultimately, in most communities, Roma integration means that Roma citizens are being assimilated by the rest of the community, and this usually happens when Roma people adhere to local traditions.
Hence, given the fact that Roma inclusion is a prerequisite not only in Romania but also all over Europe, Foundation PACT intends to address it by creating a framework for intercultural dialogue. PACT Foundation’s team has been working in rural and small or medium urban localities with groups of citizens representing disadvantaged people in their communities. In many of these communities, the situation of Roma people is very diverse:
- there are communities where Roma citizens are totally assimilated and there are no visible differences from the Romanians – and here the relations are relatively good,
- there are communities where Roma people have their own specific traits of culture, and the relations are based on common interests, and yet the two groups are quite distinct,
- and there are communities where the distance between the Roma and Romanians is very clear, the relations between them being at the limit of conflict,
Therefore, Foundation PACT proposes as a sub-theme identifying means of enabling intercultural dialogue for improving Roma and Romanian citizens’ perception, towards a better joint collaboration and participation to community development, therefore a genuine integration of Roma people in the local communities, within the localities where, through its programs and projects, Foundation PACT has developed civic initiative among community members.
The 5 local meetings are meant to identify and enable discussions regarding efficient and effective means through which intercultural dialogue may improve the relations between the Roma and Romanians, both within their own communities, and in general, in localities where Roma and Romanians live together, yet separately.
In the given context, the main question is: can intercultural dialogue contribute to the improvement of interethnic relations? And aspects of this issue would be:
- What can we do (which would be the means) so that through intercultural dialogue there may be better relations between Roma and Romanians, may improve the perceptions, in all the 3 stages mentioned above?
- How well do we know the other’s culture?
- How well do we understand and how willing are we to accept the specifics of other ethnics?
- Why do assimilated Roma (who no longer have an ethnic specificity) have better relations with the larger majority, and those who still keep elements of culture and tradition are being marginalized or marginalize themselves? Why do Roma people accept to lose their identity?
- How could Roma communities which are geographically segregated participate in intercultural dialogue?
All these questions will be addressed through various discussion and work themes to be sustained by Foundation PACT and other organizations with experience in interethnic communities in Romania, regarding ways in which the relations among Roma and Romanians influenced the process of community development/facilitation, the extent to which the good development of local projects have depended on the quality of interethnic relations, and whether Roma and Romanians working together has contributed (and in what way) to an improvement of interethnic relations in these communities or vice-versa.
[1] Overview of the Roma Situation in Romania for European Commission Consideration at 2006 Country Report – Romani Criss, Roma Centre for Social Intervention and Studies
Justification:
For Romania, the necessity to focus on intercultural dialogue and integration emerge from the many issues that Roma population is still facing, especially in rural communities: segregation, discrimination in the field of employment, housing rights, education and health, use of excessive force in Roma communities, racial administration of justice, and discrimination of Roma women and children[1].
There is general awareness of the fact that continuous self marginalization and discrimination towards Roma population stems from the lack of knowledge of Roma culture, which is often invoked by the non-Roma as one of the main factors of segregation. The Romanian government, as well as the non-governmental sector has started to tackle all these aspects especially after the 1990s, yet many of them remain to be dealt with. Self-marginalization, especially among Roma youth in small communities, is a pressuring problem, which stems from lack of trust and denial of their own identity, in tight relation to Roma traditions and culture, which are being rejected by the larger society. Ultimately, in most communities, Roma integration means that Roma citizens are being assimilated by the rest of the community, and this usually happens when Roma people adhere to local traditions.
Hence, given the fact that Roma inclusion is a prerequisite not only in Romania but also all over Europe, Foundation PACT intends to address it by creating a framework for intercultural dialogue. PACT Foundation’s team has been working in rural and small or medium urban localities with groups of citizens representing disadvantaged people in their communities. In many of these communities, the situation of Roma people is very diverse:
- there are communities where Roma citizens are totally assimilated and there are no visible differences from the Romanians – and here the relations are relatively good,
- there are communities where Roma people have their own specific traits of culture, and the relations are based on common interests, and yet the two groups are quite distinct,
- and there are communities where the distance between the Roma and Romanians is very clear, the relations between them being at the limit of conflict,
Therefore, Foundation PACT proposes as a sub-theme identifying means of enabling intercultural dialogue for improving Roma and Romanian citizens’ perception, towards a better joint collaboration and participation to community development, therefore a genuine integration of Roma people in the local communities, within the localities where, through its programs and projects, Foundation PACT has developed civic initiative among community members.
The 5 local meetings are meant to identify and enable discussions regarding efficient and effective means through which intercultural dialogue may improve the relations between the Roma and Romanians, both within their own communities, and in general, in localities where Roma and Romanians live together, yet separately.
In the given context, the main question is: can intercultural dialogue contribute to the improvement of interethnic relations? And aspects of this issue would be:
- What can we do (which would be the means) so that through intercultural dialogue there may be better relations between Roma and Romanians, may improve the perceptions, in all the 3 stages mentioned above?
- How well do we know the other’s culture?
- How well do we understand and how willing are we to accept the specifics of other ethnics?
- Why do assimilated Roma (who no longer have an ethnic specificity) have better relations with the larger majority, and those who still keep elements of culture and tradition are being marginalized or marginalize themselves? Why do Roma people accept to lose their identity?
- How could Roma communities which are geographically segregated participate in intercultural dialogue?
All these questions will be addressed through various discussion and work themes to be sustained by Foundation PACT and other organizations with experience in interethnic communities in Romania, regarding ways in which the relations among Roma and Romanians influenced the process of community development/facilitation, the extent to which the good development of local projects have depended on the quality of interethnic relations, and whether Roma and Romanians working together has contributed (and in what way) to an improvement of interethnic relations in these communities or vice-versa.
[1] Overview of the Roma Situation in Romania for European Commission Consideration at 2006 Country Report – Romani Criss, Roma Centre for Social Intervention and Studies
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