The V. Central European Youth Conference was held this year in the historical part of the Slovakian town Spišské Podhradie. EDS full member ODM Slovakia organized the event. The Spiš region of Slovakia has a long experience dealing with a large number of Roma population therefore it was considered to be an ideal venue for this event. EDS was represented by Chairman Bence Bauer and Vice Chairman Samuli Kauranne.
The conference started with a trip to the Roma community center in the village of Roškovce. We were informed about the conditions of the people in this village exclusively inhabited by Roma, and were able to get an insight of the heroic work of the two volunteers of the NGO “People in Need” to provide education for Roma children. After that we visited the neighboring village of Spišský Hrhov, where the mayor of the city, Vladimír Ledecký presented us the so called “social firm”, a company run by the village employing Roma people from the area and visited the buildings constructed by them. After returning to Spišská Kapitula, a workshop took place in a form of a simulation, where the participants played the role of a Roma child entering the school system and encountered all the difficulties such a child does during his studies. It was followed by the presentation of Tomáš Hruštič, Institute of Ethnology of Slovak Academy of Sciences about the situation of Roma in Slovakia.
The next day started with a presentation of Alexander Mušinka focusing on the European perspective of Roma integration. This insightful presentation was followed by the Annual Meeting of CEYC. Martin Halada (Mladí Konzervativci) from the Czech Republic was elected as Chairman and Adrian Korbiel (AktionsGemeinschaft) from Austria as Secretary General.
Besides the official program, the participants had a unique opportunity to get an insight into the history, culture and cuisine of the region. EDS feels privileged taking part at the Central European Youth Conference, and expresses gratitude for ODM Slovakia and its International Secretary, Juraj Antal for organizing this conference dealing with one of the most serious common European challenges, the Roma issue.
EDS is a member association of