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The "Alliance" fights discrimination against Roma at the local and regional levels, promotes their inclusion and raises awareness of these communities among local and regional authorities.

The Alliance operates under the auspices of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe.

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The term “Roma and Travellers” is used at the Council of Europe to encompass the wide diversity of the groups covered by the work of the Council of Europe in this field including Roma, Sinti/Manush, Calé, Kaale, Romanichals, Boyash/Rudari, Balkan Egyptians (Egyptians and Ashkali), Eastern groups (Dom, Lom and Abdal), groups such as Travellers, Yenish, and the populations designated under the administrative term “Gens du voyage”, as well as persons who identify themselves as Gypsies.

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International Roma Day 2018: Congress calls on Mayors to sign the Declaration against anti-Gypsyism

International Roma Day 2018: Congress calls on Mayors to sign the Declaration against anti-Gypsyism

Marking the International Roma Day, celebrated on 8 April 2018, the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities invites Mayors around Europe to sign a Declaration against Anti-Gypsyism

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“Anti-Gypsyism continues to be one of the most widespread forms of racism in Europe. Millions of Roma in many European countries are facing discrimination and hate speech in their everyday lives. The dimension can vary from experiencing derogatory clichés about the Romani culture up to violent riots” stated John WARMISHAM (United-Kingdom, SOC), Congress Spokesperson on Roma and Travellers.

Referring to the “Declaration of Mayors and Elected Local and Regional Representatives of Council of Europe Member States against anti-Gypsyism” which the Congress adopted during its 32nd Congress Session in March 2017, Mr Warmisham stressed the importance of keeping up the fight anti-Gypsyism at the local and regional level: “The Declaration is a political statement. By signing it, mayors and councillors express their will to reject all forms of discrimination, violence, harassment and incitement to hatred against Roma and Travellers in their municipalities or regions. They commit themselves to refrain from any political alliance building or co-operation with political parties or authorities that incite racial or ethnic prejudices. Rather they undertake to encourage members of these communities to become themselves active in political representation” he stated.

Until now, 83 representatives from 32 member states have signed the declaration against anti-Gypsyism, with the municipalities of ?i?li (Turkey), Volos (Greece) and Gliwice (Poland) being among the latest signatories. At present, apart from the two official languages (English and French), the Declaration against anti-Gypsyism is available in 21 non-official languages:  Albanian, Bosnian, Bulgarian, Croatian, Czech, Finnish, Georgian, German, Greek, Hungarian, Italian, Latvian, Macedonian, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Slovak, Spanish, Turkish and Ukrainian.