strengthening Roma dialogue

Roma are estimated to live in 50 countries in total. Roma are one of the communities that have been late in settling down due to their long nomadic life. The Roma, who have not been able to establish a sovereignty and state throughout history, have come under the sovereignty of the states they have been under. Roma constitute the largest ethnic minority group in Europe with 6 million people. Right-wing extremist groups in Europe are increasingly targeting Roma. Anti-Gypsy stereotypes are increasing day by day in the European media with the influence of far-right groups. Ethnic discrimination, which is widespread in all societies, increases the disadvantaged position of Roma in social life in our country and in Europe due to ethnic discrimination and exclusion and causes them to stay away from education and business life. Roma are the ethnic group that is subjected to the most exclusion in Europe and in our country. In society, the word Roma is associated with the word "thief" rather than "artist" or "musician". We have Social Solidarity Centres operating to eliminate these negative perceptions of Roma in society. In these centres, we provide vocational and psychosocial support in order to ensure the social integration of Roma citizens in places where they live densely. Our project aims to address the social exclusion, isolation and negative stigmatisation faced by the Roma citizens we work with and to raise awareness against ethnic discrimination by improving the empathy and tolerance skills of youth workers. We also plan to prepare a Roma Dialogue Guide for NGOs working with Roma, social solidarity centres and family support centres that carry out psychosocial and sociocultural activities in places where Roma live in dense populations, and public institution personnel to deal with the problems they face in the field.