The launch event, hosted by the Department of Justice and Equality, an associate partner of this programme, will take place at the  Atrium Conference Room of the Department of Justice and Equality, 51 St. Stephens Green, Dublin 2, from 9.30 a.m to 2.15 p.m.

The launching event was attended by the representatives of the European Commission and the Council of Europe, relevant state and local authorities from Dublin and Tallaght, Traveller organisations such as Pavee Point, the Irish Traveller Movement (ITM), the National Traveller Women’s Forum (NTWF), implementers of the Tallaght Roma Integration Project, the Legal Aid Board, the Free Legal Aid Centre (FLAC), the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission, numerous solicitors and Roma and Traveller community representatives, in particular women.

The JUSTROM programme is a pilot project that will be implemented by the Council of Europe in Bulgaria, Greece, Ireland, Italy, and Romania for the next 18 months. It aims at increasing Roma and Traveller women’s awareness about their rights and existing complaint mechanisms, establishing two legal clinics in Dublin city centre and Tallaght, supporting Roma and Traveller women’s empowerment and autonomy and reinforcing cooperation between relevant Irish stakeholders, the European Commission and the Council of Europe as regards access to justice for these vulnerable groups.

It is an 850,000 Euros programme co-financed between the European Commission DG Justice (80%) and the Council of Europe (20%). After the launch event, the next activities of the programme will include training on non-discrimination for lawyers and the setting up two legal clinics in Dublin and Tallaght where Roma and Traveller women will be able to seek legal advice and eventually legal assistance for their case.

Other launch events of this pilot joint programme will take place in Rome on 18 October, in Sofia on 8 November, in Bucharest on 10 November and in Athens on 22 November 2016.

Want to find out more?

Follow the hashtag #CoERoma;

SRSG Support Team Contact: Mr Robert Rustem, Outreach Officer, +33 (0)3 90 21 43 31, robert.rustem@coe.int;

To learn more about our work: www.coe.int/roma and www.coe.int/justrom