European Roma Spirit Award

In order to raise awareness about the benefits of Roma integration for both Roma communities and the general public, the ERSA 2016 award brings a public recognition, higher visibility, and public presentation of activities and projects that promote social inclusion and provide efficient and working solutions to the problems faced by the Roma community.

ERSA 2016 creates a space for promoting social cohesion, development of intercultural dialogue and elimination of any expressions of intolerance. This award greatly supports mutual learning and the multiplication of good practices by launching or fostering cooperation between state authorities, NGOs, private and public sector, and encourages active participation and cooperation at national and transnational level.

Based on the agreements with the Ministry of Labor, Social Affairs and Family of the Slovak Republic and the Office of the Plenipotentiary of the Slovak Government for Roma Communities, European Roma Spirit Award was chosen to accompany the program of the conference “Empowering Roma youth as a driver for change”- the official event of the SK PRES 2016. The first ever international ERSA award ceremony is going to be held on October 10, 2016 in Bratislava, Slovakia.

The European Roma Spirit Award will be implemented under auspices of the Minister of Foreign and European Affairs of the Slovak Republic, Mr. Miroslav Lajčák, and the Minister of Labor, Social Affairs, and Family of the Slovak Republic, Mr. Ján Richter.