What is the European Roma Rights Centre?
(Last modified: 2008-11-26 09:39:22)
The European Roma Rights Centre (ERRC) is an international public interest law organisation engaging in a range of activities aimed at combating anti-Romani racism and human rights abuse of Roma. The approach of the ERRC involves, in particular, strategic litigation, international advocacy, research and policy development, and human rights training of Romani activists. Since its establishment in 1996, the ERRC has endeavoured to give Roma the tools necessary to combat discrimination and win equal access to government, education, employment, health care, housing and public services. The ERRC works to combat prejudice and discrimination against Roma, and to promote genuine equality of treatment and equality of respect. Since 1996, among other achievements, the ERRC:- has increased public attention to the human rights situation of Roma in Europe as an issue of primary public concern and a highest priority on the European human rights agenda;
- has exposed and condemned the systemic abuse of Roma rights in a number of countries, including both countries of the former Communist block and EU member states;
- has furthered the effective access to justice for Roma and the redress of human rights violations;
- has contributed to the development of public interest law in the region, through litigation and legal training in the field of Roma rights;
- has written the most significant European Union (EU) policy document on Roma, "Roma in an Enlarged European Union", a report published in October 2004 by the Directorate General of Employment and Social Affairs of the European Commission;
- has influenced the human rights aspects of EU enlargement, through regular monitoring of compliance with the so-called "Copenhagen criteria" by the EU candidate countries and ensuring that the situation of Roma is addressed as a priority issue by both EU Member States and candidate countries;
- has become one of the leading advocates in implementing anti-discrimination law in Europe, through participation in efforts related to the promotion of recent landmark instruments, including the EU Race Equality Directive and Protocol No. 12 to the ECHR;
- has secured that racial discrimination against Roma is acknowledged and addressed as a top priority issue for the European region, in the framework of the process leading up to the World Conference Against Racism in Durban, South Africa, September 2001;
- has contributed significantly to the first ever thematic session of the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, held in Geneva in August 2000 and devoted entirely to the issue of discrimination against Roma.
Romani organisations and Romani individuals throughout Europe contribute time and expertise to the ERRC. The ERRC is a co-operating member of the International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights and has consultative status with the Council of Europe as well as with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations.
Key ERRC Activities
Campaigning through Domestic and International Advocacy
Legal Defence, Strategic Litigation and Legal Research
Research and Policy
Publishing Activities
Romani and Russian language publications
Human Rights Education
The ERRC is governed by an international board of directors
Members: Petar Antić (Serbia); James A. Goldston (USA); Krassimir Kanev (Bulgaria); Isabela Mihalache (Romania); Viktoria Mohácsi (Hungary); Stephania Kulaeva (Russia); Maria Virginia Bras Gomes (Portugal);
Major sponsors of the ERRC include or have included the following:
British Embassy in Budapest; Charity Know How Programme of the Allavida Foundation; Charles Stewart Mott Foundation; Eurasia Foundation; European Commission; Ford Foundation; Human Rights Project Fund of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office of the United Kingdom; Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Open Society Institute; The Sigrid Rausing Trust.
In recognition of ERRC contribution to "the preservation and promotion of democracy and the enhancement of the vigilance against all forms of dictatorship, discrimination and racism", the organisation has been awarded the Geuzenpenning award (the Geuzen medal of honour) - a prestigious award which was presented during a solemn gathering in the Grote Kerk church in Vaardingen by Her Royal Highness Princess Margriet of Netherlands on March 13, 2001.
For more information, please read the following document: ERRC Brochure
For contact information, please visit:
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