Dear Roma from all over the world,

Today we celebrate International Roma day and despite the crisis the world is facing, we need to be stronger, more united and more resilient than ever. Roma have their International Day to celebrate their history and culture but also to remind the world of the fact that they have the same human rights as all other human beings in the world.

We take this opportunity to share with you some thoughts from Roma members of the team that implements the EU/CoE Joint Programme on Roma Women’s Access to Justice (“JUSTROM”), which they shared during the Induction course organized in Strasbourg on 10-14 February 2020.

• “The International Roma day is a Remembrance Day, important for our history. It is quite sentimental because it helps us to remember where we were, paving at the same time the way for the future as well as our aspirations for equal treatment and overall inclusion.”
• “It is an opportunity to raise awareness about this day within the Roma community itself. It is the moment when you feel in your heart that this day is dedicated to you, when you can raise the flag, when you can clearly spell that you are Roma when you proudly listen to the anthem.”
• “It reminds me that I have human rights because having a disability and knowing that I have human rights, makes me feel that I can live like all the others.”

This day it is not just about celebrating Roma culture, it is an acknowledgment that we have human rights and reinforces the hope that these rights will be respected. Now more than ever.

Dear Roma around the world, be them Roma men, Roma women, Roma children, Roma with a disability, Roma LGBTI, be united in peace, prosperity and solidarity!