Call for Applications: Sixth Edition of EU Award for Roma Integration in Western Balkans and Türkiye

The award is funded by the European Union (IPA Funds) and implemented by Roma Active Albania (RAA).

Focus Areas 

• The focus of the 2025 award will be positive achievements for Roma inclusion in the sector of education (pre-school, primary and secondary levels).

Aims

• The award will help draw attention to concrete efforts and positive achievements by various relevant Roma and non-Roma players, such as but not exclusively public institutions, private companies and businesses, employers, teachers, civil society organizations in the sector of education. Gender equality and the empowerment of Roma women will be an important dimension. The award will additionally help to recognise approaches and initiatives that have helped and scored significant progress and changes in the lives of Roma people, through the implementation of positive examples, and that could be replicated in other context and places.
• Specifically, the award is intended:
  • To promote Roma inclusion in Western Balkans and Türkiye and raise awareness on the positive contribution of Roma people to society.
  • To foster cooperation among the actors involved in the process of Roma inclusion.
  • To ensure recognition and sustainability of identified actions in the sector of education (pre- school, primary and secondary levels) implemented at grassroots level.
  • To promote successful models of initiatives that have brought positive achievements for Roma inclusion in the enlargement region and to encourage good practices exchange.

Award Benefits

• There will be two award winners per IPA beneficiary, promoting in total 14 valuable experiences.
• Individuals and Civil Society awardees, may furthermore receive a financial support to continue their initiatives in the field of education for Roma inclusion. These award winners eligible for financial support will receive a monetary award of 8000 Euro the first prize and 5000 Euro the second prize. All awardees will win a study visit in Brussels, Belgium.
• Each winner will receive a statue as a symbol of the recognition given by the European Commission DG ENEST.

Eligible Activities

• The types of activities eligible for the award:
  • The purpose of the financial support is to promote the integration of Roma by drawing attention to the key role of education. The award will recognize and give political support to the efforts of the chain of actors involved in the process of Roma integration. The financial support to Civil Society actors will enable them to continue their work in the field of Roma education, increasing the impact to their communities.

Eligibility Criteria

• The award welcomes applications and nominations from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, Serbia, The Republic of North Macedonia, and Türkiye.
• The awardees will be public administration, institutions, companies, employers, individuals, and CSOs fulfilling the following eligibility criteria:
  • Individuals and entities: institutions and companies, employers, small businesses and social enterprises, CSOs providing services, established in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Serbia, The Republic of North Macedonia, Kosovo and Türkiye.
  • The entity has been implementing initiatives related to education of Roma men and women, for a minimum of 1 year that for their approach or result constitute an important contribution to Roma education and could be reproduced as model in other areas of the enlargement region
  • The entity must prove that the initiative for which the application is made has been carried out for a minimum of 6 months prior to applying for the award, and has already given results.

For more information, visit RAA.