On 18 January 2014, the ROMACT and the ROMED 2 Programmes will be officially launched in Italy, during a conference to be held in Milan. This event will be opened by  Mrs Gabriella BATTAINI-DRAGONI, Deputy Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Ms Cécile KYENGE, Italian Minister of Integration, Ms Maria Cecilia GUERRA, Italian Vice-Minister of Labour and Social Policies and Mr John WARMISHAM, Vice-President of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe. Mayors and representatives of several Italian pilot cities notably Bari, Milan, Napoli, Pavia, Rome and Torino will also be taking the floor.

The ROMED Programme was awarded the prize for the European Initiative of the Year during the 7^th edition of the Roma Excellency Gala in Bucharest, which took place on 18 December - Minority Rights Day around the world. The event was organised by the Romanian Government, the Agency for Roma, and the “Pro Europa” Roma Party.

It was Mr Teodorovici, Minister for European Funds in the Romanian Government, who handed the award to Ms Aurora Ailincai, Coordinator of the ROMED and ROMACT Joint Programmes of the Council of Europe and European Commission.

On 4^th December 2013, ROMED2 was officially launched in Belgium during an event attended by representatives of the various administrative levels in Belgium, Roma representatives and mediators and several regional offices of the PPS Social Integration, Anti-Poverty Policy, Social Economy and Federal Urban Policy Department of the Federal Government. The Programme will involve Roma communities in the framework of the PPS SI, in adaptation to the Belgian context of democratic governance.

The event was marked by strong testimonies from mediators present, trained during the first phase of the Programme, as well as by the exchanges on Roma community organizing with Ms Liliya Makaveeva, member of the National Support Team of ROMED2 and ROMACT programmes in Bulgaria.

The ROMED2 Training of Trainers session started yesterday in Bucharest, with many exciting items on the agenda and plenty of goodwill from all the people involved.

On the 26^th and 27^th of November 2013 Lisbon was host to the very first Portuguese Roma Women’s encounter, organised by the Portuguese Roma NGO “Nomad Lyrics” (Letras Nomadas), with the support of the Council of Europe, ACIDI (High Commission for Integration and Intercultural Dialogue in Portugal), the Foundation Calouste Gulbenkien and the Portuguese Platform for Women’s Rights.

Following a series of launch events in Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Slovakia and “the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia”, the ROMED2 Programme on democratic governance and community participation through mediation was launched in Bosnia and Herzegovina on the 19th November 2013.

Via http://www.roma-alliance.org

On 5 November, the ROMACT project, as well as the new phase of ROMED2, was officially launched in Slovakia, during a conference held in the City of Kosice. This event has been opened by Andreas Kiefer, Secretary General of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe, Koos Richelle, Director General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion of the European Commission and Peter Pollák, Plenipotentiary of the Slovak Government for Roma Communities.

On the occasion of event the Slovakian authorities also presented the three years' action plan for the implementation of the Dosta! Campaign.

ROMED2 was launched in Greece at an event that took place in Athens between the 23rd and 25th October, with the attendance of the Greek Deputy Minister of Interior, Mr Leonidas Grigorakos and of the representatives of the municipalities of Iraklion, Ilion, Ilida, Komotini, Mesologi and Thessaloniki. The meeting was chaired by Ms Louisa Kyriakaki, expert on Roma issue and member of the Ad-hoc Committee of experts on Roma issues of the Council of Europe (CAHROM – link to article on the 6th meeting).

After two previous groups of mediators trained, a 3^rd group started the ROMED Training Programme in Ukraine. From 18 to 20 October 2013 the first session of Training of Mediators and Social Workers in Ukraine took place in Kirovograd. This session, organised by  the International Charitable Organisation Roma Women Fund “Chiricli” had a very strategic approach by providing  training to both mediators and social workers, and acts as a transition from the first phase of ROMED to ROMED2, which will focus on the inclusion of Roma in democratic governance at local level. The administration of the city of Kirovograd expressed a strong political commitment to the implementation of ROMED in their community and hosted the event.