On Thursday, Pavee Point’s Education Coordinator, Kerry Gallagher, took part in a roundtable organised by the Office of the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights at the 61st Session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva.
This side event – entitled ‘Voices, rights action: standing with Roma and Travellers – brought together UN experts, state representatives, and Roma and Traveller human rights defenders from across Europe and the Americas, to celebrate the diversity of Roma and Traveller histories, arts, languages and cultures, and to discuss strategies that challenge the day-to-day discrimination that Roma and Traveller communities face.
Specific to Travellers and Roma, Kerry talked of the challenges Roma and Travellers face in education and public representation, and how these challenges might be mitigated.
She emphasised the point that recognition and respect of cultural diversity, along with education, are some of the game changers for Roma and Traveller communities, and society as a whole. She went through some of the differentials Roma and Travellers still face in education: to do with participation, access and outcomes as well as discrimination and associated practices (i.e. bullying).
She stressed that Roma and Traveller history and culture must be included in school curricula, alongside the history and culture of diversities in contemporary Western Europe. More broadly, she stated that representation of Traveller and Roma communities, and Ethnic Minority Groups generally, needs to be improved in public and political life. In this, Roma and Travellers must be central to the development and oversight of policies, plans and strategies which affect them: points required by UN and Council of Europe instruments, which states have agreed to be bound by.
The event was accompanied by a presentation of a book and exhibition compiled by Michael O’Flaherty, Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, ‘The Unheard 12 Million’, as well as an
OHCHR-led project ‘Romani Memory Map for the Americas’. The motivation behind these works is that of visibility for Travelllers and Roma on both sides of the Atlantic: providing a platform for stories that are too often sidelined. The works attempt to extend beyond photographs, stories and documentation, and become vehicles for recognition, memorialisation, and a concrete demand for joint action to uphold the human rights of Roma and Traveller communities worldwide.
The side-event was attended by approximately 60 participants in person and 30 participants online. Countries represented in the room: Austria, Albania, Belgium, Brunei, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Germany, Greece, Hungary, India, Ireland, Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Norway, Panama, Peru, Panama, Poland, Romania, San Marino, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Ukraine, United Kingdom. The representative of the EU delegation was also there.
Read more about ‘The Unheard 12 Million’ here: https://book.coe.int/en/commissioner-for-human-rights/12293-the-unheard-12-million.html
Access the ‘Romani Memory Map in the Americas’ here: https://www.ohchr.org/en/calls-for-input/2025/call-inputs-romani-memory-map-americas