The First ROMED Training Session for Roma Information Centres and Free Legal Aid for Roma took place in Ohrid, “The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia”, from 7 to 11 May 2013. The Session was organised in partnership with SONCE with Alexandra Raykova and Ramiza Sakip as trainers. Thank you to everyone involved for your hard work.

The Fifth Meeting of the Council of Europe's Ad Hoc Committee of Experts on Roma Issues (CAHROM) will take place in Strasbourg from 14-16 May. Thirty nine member states will be represented, as well as observers, including various representatives of the European Commission, FRA, OSCE-ODIHR, UNHCR, OHCHR, World Bank, Amnesty International, ERTF and the Holy Sea. The agenda includes the presentation of the latest developments concerning ROMED and two new thematic reports, namely on encampment sites for Travellers and other related issues and on school attendance of Roma children with a specific focus on Roma girls.

The Database of Policies and Good Practices produced by the Support Team of the SRSG for Roma Issues of the Council of Europe is constantly updated. Included in the Database are transferrable, innovative, long term impact-oriented projects that have been identified as good practices through cross-cutting assessments, including by beneficiaries, and validated as such by the Council of Europe or other national or international partners. Please go and visit to find out more and even submit your own examples so that this resource continues to be enriched.

The 4th Conference of the European Mediation Network Initiative (EMNI) entitled Mediation - Help Paving the Way out of Crisis took place in the City Hotel, Bratislava, Slovak Republic, from 18 to 20 April. The Conference was co-sponsored by the ROMED Programme. Calin Rus, ROMED Pedagogical Coordinator, presented the highlights and results of the ROMED Programme to date, as well as the future prospects and activities for ROMED in the period 2013-2014. More information is available here. 

" Developments in mediation - current challenges and the role of ROMED"

The training programme for Roma mediators launched in 2011 has certain features which make it unique in terms of the fundamental effects it produces, both in Europe at large and in the member states.

This work sets out to contextualise the initiatives taken, highlight their utility and evaluate them.  It is intended to provide guidance for the programme leaders, enable active participants – trainers, mediators, employers and others – to see their efforts as part of an overall scheme, help policy-makers to take the right decisions and describe and explain the operation to a broader readership.

On the occasion of International Roma Day, in a podcast issued through Human Rights Europe, Jeroen Schokkenbroek, Special Representative of the Secretary General of the Council of Europe for Roma Issues, explains his strategic objectives - meaningful cooperation between member states, matched by capacity-building and the empowerment of Roma communities - and analyses the rise and persistence of anti-Roma prejudice and the work of the Council of Europe to challenge this "very nasty situation".

The second training session of the ROMED Programme on Intercultural Mediation for Roma, Gypsies and Travellers in the UK is being held in Manchester from 25-27 March.

Brussels, 17-18 January 2013 - The Congress of Roma mediators from the Council of Europe/European Commission ROMED programme took place at the Crowne Plaza Hotel. As well as Roma mediators and trainers from several different countries, participants at the event included EU Commissioner Androulla Vassiliou and the Special Representative of the Secretary General of the Council of Europe for Roma issues, Jeroen Schokkenbroek. The message of the Council of Europe Secretary General is available online.