Budapest, April 16, 2012 - The European Roma Rights Centre (ERRC) invites applications for its highly acclaimed annual Roma Rights Summer School. The Summer School will be held in Budapest, Hungary, from 21 July - 1 August 2012. Deadline for applications: 13 May 2012.

The 10-day Summer School is intended for young activists and students of Romani, Sinti and Traveller (Roma) origin from all European countries. The Summer School will offer both an introduction to human rights as well as an excellent forum for the exchange of ideas, innovation and expertise for participants who are at an early stage of their careers.

The Summer School provides participants a unique chance to immerse themselves into the theory and practice of human rights, minority rights and non-discrimination, and to benefit from the knowledge and experience of committed human rights experts. This intensive programme includes a variety of social activities that allow participants to network with each other and the experts, ensuring the programme is instructive and enjoyable.

The main goal of the Summer School is to develop the capacity of a new generation of Romani human rights activists to use international, regional and domestic human rights instruments and mechanisms to advance the rights of Roma, both domestically and internationally, and to combat discrimination from grassroots to governmental levels.

Objectives of the Summer School:

• Analyse issues and situations affecting Roma in their respective countries based on internationally accepted human rights values and principles;
• Develop knowledge to use domestic mechanisms (such as national legislation) and international human rights instruments (i.e., United Nations Treaties, European Treaties, and other Council of Europe and European Union legal and political mechanisms) to protect and promote the rights of Roma;
• Strengthen skills in monitoring and reporting human rights violations as well as human rights advocacy;
• Increase capacity to apply learning within organisations and communities; and
• Explore and facilitate opportunities for networking and developing partnerships with NGOs and government officials to further advance the cause of Roma rights throughout Europe.

Participants:

The Roma Rights Summer School is a component of ERRC programming aimed at capacitating Romani, Sinti and Traveller activists. We welcome applications from Romani, Sinti and Traveller individuals who are interested in human rights. Applicants must have a sufficient command of English to enable them to participate actively in the Summer School. Applicants are preferably students of law, public administration and social sciences, or degree-holders in one of these fields. The ERRC also encourages activists who do not hold a formal degree but have several years of relevant work experience to apply. The ERRC places importance on the participation of Romani women, LGBT individuals, etc.

Application Procedure:

To apply applicants must send both of the following:

1. A completed application form, attached below
2. One letter of recommendation from a teacher, professor or supervisor (a community leader, religious leader, or their current employer) familiar with the applicant's work and engagement with Roma rights issues. The letter should explain the nature of their relationship, how long they have known the applicant and highlight the main attributes of the applicant and why they would be a suitable candidate for the ERRC Roma Rights Summer School.

All materials must be submitted in one package. Applications missing one or more of these requirements will not be considered by the selection committee. ERRC offers full scholarships for the Roma Rights Summer School.

Completed applications should be submitted to Dora Eke at dora.eke@errc.org or

Dora Eke

Roma Rights Summer School

ERRC

Madach ter 4,

1074 Budapest, Hungary

Fax: + 36 1 413-2201

The deadline for all applications is 13 May 2012. Applications received after this date will not be considered.

Source: European Roma Rights Centre