News

New TOY for Inclusion Play Hub in Rome!

A new mobile TOY for Inclusion Play Hub to be launched into the streets of Rome, Italy.

It’s like a coffer that opens and reveals its content made of books, toys and puppets. It will drive to the most peripheral areas of the Rome where children and their families are less reached by early childhood services.

The Local Action Team (LAT)

The TOY for Inclusion LAT is a team of professionals who work in the Play Hub. They are located in the Tor Bella Monaca district. “Children and families have the chance to reclaim their spaces” – explains Francesca Petrucci Project Manager at Associazione 21 Luglio. “We will bring the Play Hub and organize intercultural and intergenerational activities in their neighborhoods”.

An educator and a cultural mediator will be available every Saturday from 10.00 to 13.00 and from 16.00 to 19.00. They will play with the children and
offer support to their (grand)parents, with a special attention to those at risk of social exclusion.

Learn more

TOY for Inclusion is the gateway to education and care for many children of disadvantaged communities. The project provides opportunities for children, adults and communities to integrate and develop. Read more here.

TOY for Inclusion phase II kicks off

TOY for inclusion opens Play Hubs to boost inclusion at the local level. Scaling up the results achieved so far and improving inclusion policies on early childhood development are the main objectives of this second phase.

Last year TOY for Inclusion has achieved an unexpected success. Four thousand children in Europe participated in our activities and the project was awarded the Life Long Learning Award 2018 in the category ‘Best Learning Environment’.

This week the project partners met in Rome (Italy) to plan the actions for the next two years. Thanks to new funding, TOY for Inclusion will open one new Play Hub in Croatia, Latvia, Hungary, the Netherlands, Slovakia, Slovenia, Italy and will expand to Turkey.

In addition, advocacy will play a key role in this new phase. We aim at advising EU and local policy makers on how non-formal educational activities in early childhood policies can foster inclusion.

Last year, we have developed a Toolkit on how to open Play Hubs and a What Works Guide with recommendations for policy makers. These two documents show to local administrators how informal education can be the gateway to school and preschool for many children at risk of exclusion.

So far, the project has created eight Play Hubs for young children in seven EU countries: one in Belgium, Croatia, Latvia, Hungary, Slovakia, Slovenia and two in Italy.

The Play Hubs support the early childhood development of Romani, migrant and vulnerable children to foster their integration in school and preschool.

They are inclusive spaces where children and families are encouraged to play and learn: while children are allowed to borrow toys, information about childrearing, health, early learning and development is passed on informally to (grand)parents.

Read more here.

Getting Out to Dream: simple dreams of home

- News

In 2007, after my university studies and a short experience of working in a segregated Roma community in Slovakia, I started my internship at the Budapest-based European Roma Rights Centre. Among my very first tasks was being sent on a mission to Rome to map the situation of Roma, seeking better living conditions, who were arriving there from other parts of Europe. I saw extreme living conditions, people literally living just from day to day, harassed by the police and still hoping for better lives for their children. I saw big men crying and concluding that even if it was difficult, it was worth it.

Many years have passed since those times, but the recently published report by Associazione 21 Luglio reveals very little, to no, improvements at all. In many aspects, the situation of Romani families, in formal (designed and managed by authorities) or informal (established spontaneously) camps may have worsened significantly. According to findings of Associazione 21 Luglio a Roma child who is born in this environment has almost zero chance of going to university and their chance of going finishing high school remains below 1%.

Research estimates that in Rome alone there are approximately 4,100 Romani children, of different nationalities, living in horrendous conditions: as many as 1,350 of them under six years old. These children are growing up in alarming, unhygienic conditions, among piles of waste which represent a constant threat to their immediate well being and their healthy development.

In addition to abysmal conditions, Associazione 21 Luglio has also pointed out how a lack of security of tenure for Romani families living in camps increases their vulnerability. In 2013 the number of recorded force evictions in Rome of Roma families was 54. In 2014 the figure dropped to 34 evictions but rose aggressively in 2015 when a total of 80 forced evictions from informal camps – which affected 1, 470 people, of which 810 were children – was recorded.

Difficult living conditions may serve as determinants for low school attendance. Mapping of school year 2014-2015, shows that among the Romani children enrolled in school, one out of five never showed up in class.  Out of approximately 1,800 children enrolled, only 198 attended classes regularly. With a new law in place, which implies that children with low attendance may not be admitted to the grading meeting, 90% of Romani school children are at risk of failing the year and having to repeat it. In this situation, where children do not have access to primary – mandatory – education, early childhood services are virtually non-existent.

The report by Associazione 21 Luglio  “Getting Out to Dream” and is a compilation of dreams. Simple dreams of home – of not seeing your home destroyed-  and dreams of going to school, makes brutal reading as the children fantasize about the fulfillment of their fundamental rights. Only by fulfilling their fundamental rights can children dream of higher and better things and only then can they imagine a fulfilling and fulfilled future.

Associazione 21 Luglio is the host of Romani Early Years Network Italy. Check their website, become a member and see how you can help.

You may want to start by signing a petition against forced evictions.

Creating Equitable Societies through Personal Transformation

- Blog | REYN Admin

Embracing Diversity – Creating Equitable Societies through Personal Transformation

Diversity RomaUnder the auspices of ISSA and the Bernard van Leer Foundation’s (BVLF) partnership project, “Capacity Building of Roma Supporting Partners”, ISSA Senior Program Manager Zorica Trikic, and Professor Jelena Vranjesevic from the University of Belgrade delivered training on “Embracing Diversity – Creating Equitable Societies through Personal Transformation”, in Rome in early November.

Embracing Diversity training promotes anti-discrimination and demonstrates how to build a society respectful of diversity. Hosted by ISSA’s Italian member, Associazione 21 Luglio, the three-day event welcomed 30 Roma and non-Roma trainees from all over the country, including some young Roma and Sinti activists.

The training was a poignant and rewarding experience both for trainees and trainers. Based on the honest exchange of first-hand experiences participants unpacked their personal stories highlighting how bias and stereotypes are taught, reinforced and perpetuated before working on how to uses their experiences to promote a more equitable society where diversity is valued, respected and protected.

Professionals from different universities and NGOs, including OsservAzione Popica Onlus, ABCittà, Mops (Movement for International Cooperation), ASCE (Association of Sardinia against marginalization) and University of Salento also participated.

ISSA trainers are available to delivering Embracing Diversity Training throughout the network.