Recording of the event
Subject of the Event
In Serbia, Slovakia, Romania, Bulgaria and Hungary, large Roma communities face extremely precarious living conditions. They often have to cope with severe poverty and social marginalisation. Even in countries that have joined the EU, the situation has hardly changed in recent years.
Church and non-church actors support these people in concrete ways, for example with humanitarian aid and health promotion. They aim to ensure access to education and to enhance social participation. Only true participation and self-organisation of the Roma can result in sustainable improvements.
Our dialogue partners reported on local projects and political commitment at local, national and European level. Since the members of the largest ethnic minority in Eastern Europe should also be able to live in dignity!
We listened to and spoke with:
- Zsanett Bánlaki, Coordinator of the Sója Miklós Association, Secretary-General of the Commission Caritas in Veritate (Justitia et Pax) of the Hungarian Catholic Bishops’ Conference, Budapest (Hungary)
- Stevan Nikolić, President of the organisation „Edukativni Centar Roma“ (Educational Center of Roma), Subotica (Republic of Serbia)
- Moderation: Thomas Müller-Boehr, Responsible for Dialogue and Partnership at Renovabis, Freising
The event was held with translation in German and English.
About the Online Series „Listen to the East“
Experiences, perceptions and analyses of the social and societal situation in Eastern Europe are the subject of the online discussion series „Listen to the East“. It is organized by Renovabis, the ZdK and the Catholic Academy in Berlin.
Contact
Heike Faehndrich, Renovabis, hf@renovabis.de
Claudia Gawrich, Central Committee of German Catholics (ZdK), claudia.gawrich@zdk.de
Dr. Maria-Luise Schneider, Katholische Akademie in Berlin, schneider@katholische-akademie-berlin.de