ERRC International Advocacy

10 March 1998

ERRC International Advocacy

ERRC International Advocacy is one of three streams in the ERRC Programmes Department. Primary targets of ERRC International Advocacy work include the European Union, the United Nations, the Council of Europe, and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe. In recent years, ERRC advocacy efforts have increasingly concentrated also on the domestic level. The ERRC has become known for high-quality written submissions to various international bodies, offering comment on the factual situation of Roma in individual European countries with reference to the international law obligations of the country at issue. ERRC International Advocacy submissions are available at: Advocacy Submissions.

Some highlights of ERRC recent international advocacy targets follow:

European Union

• Anti-Discrimination and Social Inclusion: The ERRC is the main subcontractor on an application to write a report on the situation of Roma in Europe for the European Union, primarily aimed at assessing the situation of Roma under mechanisms under DG Employment and Social Affairs. Also related to EU social inclusion processes, the ERRC focuses attention on domestic and EU efforts related to the so-called "National Action Plans" to combat social exclusion (in EU Member States) and the so-called "Joint Inclusion Memoranda" (for the 2004 EU Candidate Countries). Letters sent recently to the European Commission and to relevant government officials related to EU social inclusion processes are available at: ERRC Action for the Social Inclusion of Roma in Europe.
• EU Accession: EU Accession remains a process offering strong advocacy opportunities to the ERRC. In 2004-2005, accession processes will be most relevant with respect to Bulgaria, Romania and Turkey.
• European Union Presidencies: The ERRC takes a case-by-case approach to EU presidencies.
• European Parliament: The expanded powers recently extended to the European Parliament will make this body an increasing focus of ERRC advocacy efforts. In addition, the ERRC has now twice provided input on Roma rights for a nascent EU Network of Experts in Fundamental Rights, reporting to the European Parliament. This venue will be of increasing importance related to the situation of Roma in Member States of the European Union and is an important initiative related to the strengthening of the rights-basis in and of the European Union. EU Foreign Policy and Human Rights: The ERRC and partner organisations are funded under the EIDHR for 3-year work on the human rights situation of Roma in Ukraine. The Stabilisation Agreements for South-eastern Europe have also provided the ERRC will mechanisms for influencing policy in the countries of the former Yugoslavia and Albania. ERRC continues to seek modes of influencing EU foreign policy in its human rights aspects, particularly as we move more extensively into work in the former Soviet Union.
• Rights of Migrants: ERRC will continue to focus on the rights of migrants in the Union as an area of concern.
• ERRC Action for the Social Inclusion of Roma in Europe
• EU Green/White Papers
• Submissions to other Committees of the European Union

United Nations

The ERRC makes use of opportunities for advocacy in the UN system. One mode for doing so is written submissions to treaty-based bodies reviewing individual countries. ERRC written submissions to UN treaty-based bodies have become a hallmark of ERRC international advocacy efforts in recent years. In recent years, the ERRC has sent written submissions on the human rights situation of Roma in various countries to the UN Human Rights Committee (HRC), the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR), the UN Committee Against Torture (CAT), the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD), the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), and the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC). ERRC submissions to UN treaty-based bodies can be found at:

• Submissions to the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (UN CERD)
• Submissions to the Human Rights Committee (UN HRC)
• Submissions to the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (UN CEDAW)
• Submissions to the Committee on the Rights of the Child (UN CRC)
• Submissions to the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (UN CESCR)
• Submissions to the Committee against Torture (UN CAT)
• Submissions to Other Committees of the UN

For more information on UN treaty-based review mechanisms, please see the website of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Council of Europe

Council of Europe bodies are central to ERRC advocacy work. Areas of focus at Council of Europe include:

• The Advisory Committee of the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities (FCNM):
• Commissioner for Human Rights
• European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI)
• Revised European Social Charter (ESC)
• Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT)

Further information on these bodies can be found on the website of the Council of Europe.

• Submissions to the Council of Europe European Commission Against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI)
• Submissions to the Council of Europe: Social Charter
• Submissions to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe

Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe

The ERRC takes an event-by-event approach to work at and with the OSCE. To date, we have been regularly present and active at the annual Human Dimension Meetings. We co-operates actively with the Office of the High Commissioner for National Minorities. The ERRC has also had a dynamic and fruitful relationship with a number of OSCE missions, most notably the OSCE Mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which has provided extensive logistical and technical support toward a recently published ERRC Country Report on Bosnia - . ERRC has also acted as moderator, facilitator and expert at ad hoc OSCE meetings. Further information about the activities of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe is available at: OSCE.

• Submissions to the OSCE

Domestic Advocacy

The ERRC pursues domestic advocacy opportunities as they arise, in particular as they relate to the adoption and implementation of anti-discrimination law, as well as in other areas.

Other International Advocacy Submissions by the ERRC

• Other International Advocacy Submissions