ROMED2 in the Media

Roma citizens in Portugal organised over the past two years as Community Action Groups, building a tight relationship with local authorities and presenting their priorities in a participative manner. "Experiencing ROMED2", developed by the National Support Team in Portugal, captures the essence of the ROMED spirit, and brings up touching stories of change.

To learn more about the implementation of ROMED2 in Portugal, visit: http://coe-romed.org/romed2/countries

Also watch "Parovel", capturing the beginning of the ROMED2 process in Moura: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_KVb3VzOTo

Evaluation of the ROMED Programme available here: http://coe-romed.org/articles/romed-external-evaluation-report-published

Date of release: 23 September 2016

via Radio Malva (only in Spanish)

On the first edition of the show, Demetrio Gomez - National Project Officer for ROMED2 in Spain, and Mitica Baiculescu as facilitator, talk about the beginning of the programme in Valencia and about the situation of Roma in the neighborhood of Cabanyal.

Vorba Romani is a monthly programme on Radio Malva that aims to bring to radio the  voice of Roma of the neighborhood of Cabanyal, Valencia.

Diario de Noticias - 09/05/2016 - "Who says Roma cannot respect working hours?" (excerpts)

Torres Vedras invests in the integration of the Roma community through employment. The problem is when national and Community programmes end. Without basic education one cannot have access to a job in the public sector. [...]

Lindo Cambao, 37, is a facilitator for the Roma and public institutions. He is the driving force of the Community Action Group (CAG) of Torres Vedras, a town that along with six others joined the European programme ROMED 2. [...]
Lindo used to sell goods in markets, and has been collaborating with the Municipality of Torres Vedras since 2014 under the CEI + measure for unemployed and beneficiaries of social insertion income (RSI). Now as an employee, he earns 620 euros per month as well as meal allowances - a salary paid by the municipality.

Besides Lindo Cambao, there is also Carina (working in the cafeteria), Filomena (kindergarten), Mario and Danilo (green spaces). These four work have been working since January [2016] under the CIS + measure, receiving 530 euros per month net including meal allowance. Soon a fifth member [of the CAG] will join them as a gardener. They have a full-time working hours and there is no attendance problems. "[Carina] respects working hours like the others,  we ​can ​all have unforeseen events in life, if she has to leave she talks to me, as usual," says Joana Lima, Carina's supervisor. [...]

The jobs were created as a result of the work of the Community Action Group (CAG). The group consists of Roma volunteers who identify community problems. And one of the proposals made was that the municipality employs Roma. Another request was the support the payment of the rent of the Evangelical Church local headquarters and, in turn, [the CAG] organised a collection of food for population in need [of Torres Vedras]. The next initiative is to present examples of Roma cuisine.

See the full article here

"The Roma Community says that everybody must change"
09/04/2016 - Diario de Coimbra

The Community Action Group from Figueira da Foz organised  an exhibition for the International Roma Day within the municipal centre for arts (CAE) under the title "the Roma Figueira da Foz". 
The CAG wanted to show through this exhibition the everyday Roma traditions and was accompanied by an event intended to help combat prejudice and persecution that still exist.
The event has as main objectives the interaction and sharing of knowledge about the Roma communities in Figueira da Foz. The news appeared in one of the local newspapers - Diario de Coimbra. 
Full article in the image to the right (portuguese only).

More on the exhibition on the official page of the Centre for Arts of Figueira da Foz