John Warmisham at CAHROM: ‘’If Roma have a political voice, they can stand up for their rights and fight anti-Gypsyism.’’
‘’The Congress sees the political participation of Roma as one of the key conditions to their inclusion.’’ stated John WARMISHAM, Congress Thematic Spokesperson on Roma and Travellers, at the 15th Meeting of the Ad Hoc Committee of Experts on Roma and Traveller Issues (CAHROM), held in Athens on 24 May 2018.
‘’We as the Congress encourage municipalities to form structures for political participation for example in our national Roma networks,’’ he added. Mr WARMISHAM underlined the importance for political parties of setting-up measures to encourage especially Roma and Traveller women to enter the world of politics. ‘’The local and regional authorities have the responsibility to support Roma to become politically active and visible’’ he stressed.
The topic of political participation in the Congress national Roma network is addressed in the Declaration against anti-Gypsyism endorsed by the Congress in March 2017. “The mayors who sign the Declaration commit themselves to strive for the fair representation of Roma and Travellers at all levels of democracy’’ explained John WARMISHAM. ‘’Until today 100 elected representatives from all over Europe have signed the Declaration and committed themselves to the support of Roma candidates’’, he concluded.