PRESS RELEASE Initial Conference of the I_do EU co-funded Project, 12 June 2018

PRESS RELEASE

Initial Conference of the I_do EU co-funded Project, 12 June 2018

EQUAL PARTICIPATION IN DECISION-MAKING – DEMOCRATIC DIALOGUE – OPEN SOCIETIES

The Initial Conference of the EU co-funded Project “I_do: a youth-led alliance, building @ctive Roma citizens” took place on Thursday 12 June 2018, at Amalia Hotel, Athens.

Partners of the I_do consortium are the Center for Security Studies (Project Coordinator), the Hellenic Agency for Local Development and Local Government (EETAA), Municipality of Agia Varvara, the Association of Greek Roma Mediators and CMT Prooptiki Ltd.

In the context of the implementation of the I_do Project, young Roma from 3 Greek Regions and local government officers are expected to establish an Interregional Alliance for the submission of proposals to Municipal and Regional Councils for the benefit of the whole of local society in which young Roma live, including local Roma communities.

To this end, the foreseen project’s activities are expected to be implemented based on the following functionally interconnected axes:

Needs assessment in 3 Greek target Regions (Attica, Thessaly and Central Macedonia)
Skills development on Roma civic engagement
Pilot operation of a youth-led Digital Assembly
Impact assessment with a focus on behavioral change
Policy recommendations on active citizenship, youth and social inclusion.

The Initial Conference was attended by representatives of Municipal and Regional Authorities, officers of the General Secretariat for Youth & Lifelong Learning and the Special Secretariat for Roma Social Inclusion, members of Roma communities, Roma mediators, key experts, academia and COS’s representatives.

At the Conference’s opening, greetings were addressed by KEMEA Director, Mr. Ioannis Tafyllis, EETAA Chairman, Mr. Dimitrios Kalogeropoulos, Agia Varvara Mayor, Mr. Georgios Kaplanis, the President of the Regional Union of Central Macedonia Municipalities, Mr. Lazaros Kyrizoglou, the Chairman of the Association of Greek Roma Mediators, Mr. Konstantinos Paiteris, and the Director of CMT Prooptiki, Mr. Georgios Braoudakis.

Keynote speeches were delivered by the General Secretary for Youth & Lifelong Learning, Mr. Pafsanias Papageorgiou and the Special Secretary for Roma Social Inclusion, Ms. Aikaterini Yiantsiou, who co-signed along with the partners of the I_do Project, the I_do Interregional Alliance Protocol.