The Dosta! Congress Prize is awarded biannually to three municipalities from Council of Europe member States that have implemented innovative and creative initiatives to effectively ensure the long-term inclusion of the Roma and Traveller communities within their borders, while respecting the diversity of these communities and ensuring their active participation in democratic life.

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Previous Dosta!-Congress Prize Winners

Dosta! 2019 Prizes awarded but, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, ceremony postponed to the Congress session to be held “in person” in October 2021

As the Congress Session in March 2020 was cancelled and the following ones held online due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, the three winner projects of the Dosta! Congress Prize for Municipalities will be awarded their prizes during a ceremony to be held in October 2021, during the 41^st Plenary Session of the Congress, which will take place at the headquarters of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg. 

The winner projects are:

• 1^st Prize: Municipality of Torres Vedras (Portugal)
  Title of project: “Local Plan for Inclusion of the Roma Community  (PLICC)”

• 2^nd Prize: Municipality of Argostoli (Greece)
  Title of project: “Holistic integrated action plan for social inclusion of Roma community in Kefalonia island”

• 3^rd Prize: Municipality of Salford (United Kingdom)
  Title of project: “Young Roots Heritage Lottery Irish Traveller Wagon Project: Bringing Heritage Alive!”

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6^th Dosta! Congress Prize - 2017

In 2017, the Dosta! Congress Prize for Municipalities was awarded for the 6^th time. This ceremony marked the 10^th anniversary of the Prize. Over the past ten years, the prize has proven to be one of the most important platforms for the acknowledgement of Roma Inclusion initiatives at the local and regional level. Among the seven pre-selected municipalities this year, ?i?li (Turkey) was awarded the first prize for its comprehensive measures that brought not only a variety of stakeholders to the discussion table, but also promoted active engagement through multiple actions. Volos (Greece) was awarded the second prize. This is ´Volos' second award and the only city so far that has received two Dosta! Congress Prizes. Through its ‘role models’ approach, the municipality was able to increase Roma participation in secondary education. Volos proves exceptional consistency in tackling anti-discrimination against Roma. The third prize was awarded to Gliwice (Poland) for the successful implementation of an afterschool integration centre. A long-term approach is characteristic for all three projects, as well as their focus on education. The jury was in agreement with the municipalities’ view that capacity building of Roma and Traveller children is essential for improving the situation of Roma and Travellers communities.

6th Dosta! Congress Prize: Interview with Ioulia Triantafyllou , Social Worker and Coordinator at Roma Support Office of Volos (Greece)

In 2017, the Dosta ! Congress Prize celebrated its 10th anniversary. For more information please have a look at the 2017 jubilee brochure.

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5th Dosta! Congress prize - 2015
The 5^th Dosta! Congress prize for municipalities was given on Wednesday, 21 October 2015, to Ghent (Belgium), Kragujevac (Serbia), Reggio nell' Emilia (Italy) and Madrid (Spain) for their efforts for Roma inclusion.

Four cities were honoured with the 5^th edition of the Dosta! Congress Prize, an award that is given to municipalities every two years for their commitment to inclusion of Roma and Travellers. On the first place came Ghent (Belgium), tied on the 2nd place are ex-aequo Kragujevac (Serbia) and Reggio nell’ Emilia (Italy). The 3rd place went to Madrid (Spain).

More on the first place, the City of Ghent (Belgium).
More on the second place (ex-aequo), the City of Kragujevac (Serbia).
More on the second place (ex-aequo), the City of Reggio nell' Emilia (Italy).
More on the third place, the City of Madrid (Spain).

Short overview of the projects.
General Dosta! Congress Prize overview

5th Dosta! Congress Prize: Interview with Erika MIKOVA and Olivier CLAUW, City of Ghent (Belgium) - 1st place

5th Dosta! Congress Prize: Interview with Chiara BERTOZZI, City of Reggio nell’ Emilia (Italy) – 2nd place

5th Dosta! Congress Prize: Statement by Edis DURGUTOVIC, City of Kragujevac (Serbia) – 2nd place (ex-aequo)

5th Dosta! Congress Prize: Statement by Carlota SANTIAGO CAMACHO, City of Madrid (Spain) – 3rd place

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4^th Dosta! Congress Prize - 2013

The Dosta!-Congress Prize has been awarded to three local and regional authorities to recognize their excellent efforts for participatory and innovative work in combating anti-gypsyism and promoting the inclusion of Roma in political and social life. The municipality of Obrnice (Czech Republic) was awarded the first prize for a project using an integrated approach in the fields of education, housing, employment, social services, security and leisure activities. The second place has been awarded to the city of Heraklion (Greece), for its municipal program for Roma inclusion in the fields of education, trainings and anti-discrimination. Finally, the third prize was rewarded to the regional authority of Kocaeli (Turkey) for its varied campaign in the areas of education, training and culture.

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3^rd Dosta! Congress Prize - 2011

The 3rd Dosta! - Congress Prize for Municipalities has been awarded to four communities as part of the Congress' contribution to the Council of Europe's Dosta! Campaign. The winners were the municiaplities of Jyväskylä (Finland) and Sur?in (Serbia), Belgrade (Serbia), as well as Southwark (United Kingdom) and Madrid (Spain), received the prize during the 21st Congress Session on 19 October 2011 in Strasbourg. The ceremony was attended by Keith Whitmore, President of the Congress, Jeroen Schokkenbroek, Special Representative of the Secretary General for Roma Issues, and Permanent Representatives from the Council of Europe member states of the prize winners.

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2^nd Dosta! Congress Prize - 2009

The 2nd Dosta! Congress Prize was awarded to four municipalities. Mostar (Bosnia and Herzegovina) and Prijedor (Bosnia and Herzegovina) were honored with the first place, Volos (Greece) with the second place and Lom (Bulgaria) with the third place.

''This year's winning projects have sought to improve Roma housing and health care, educate children, provide counselling services and create employment opportunities through vocational training,'' stressed Congress President Ian Micallef at the award ceremony of the Dosta! Congress Prize for Municipalities, on 4 March 2009. ''Such ingenuity and innovation in addressing the problems faced by Roma people, sometimes against a difficult background of prejudices and discriminatory attitudes, must be encouraged, rewarded and shared with others, which is the objective of this Prize,'' he said.

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1^st Dosta! Congress Prize - 2007

Three cities of South-East Europe are winners of the ''Dosta! Congress Prize for Municipalities''
On the occasion of the ''Dosta!-Congress Prize for Municipalities'' Henry Scicluna, Europe co-ordinator for Roma issues, presented a diploma to the three cities winners of the ''Dosta!-Congress Prize for Municipalities'' represented by Dragoljub Davidovic, Mayor of Banja Luka (Bosnia and Herzegovina), Vlado Alilovic, Mayor of Vitez (Bosnia and Herzegovina), and Snezana Mushitski, from the Municipality of Novi Sad (Serbia). On this occasion, Congress President Halvdan Skard also handed them the Congress Medal, in recognition of their initiatives for Roma communities.