The International Romani Union ( rom, Romano Internacionalno Jekhetanipe), formerly known as the International Gypsy Committee and International Rom Committee, is an organization active for the rights of the

Romani people The Romani (also spelled Romany or Rromani , ), colloquially known as the Roma, are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group, traditionally nomadic itinerants. They live in Europe and Anatolia, and have diaspora populations located worldwide, with sig ...

. Its seat is in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

. The International Romani Union also has offices in

Skopje, North Macedonia Skopje ( , , ; mk, Скопје ; sq, Shkup) is the capital and List of cities in North Macedonia by population, largest city of North Macedonia. It is the country's political, cultural, economic, and academic centre. The territory of Sk ...

, and Washington, D.C., USA. The IRU was established at the second

World Romani Congress The World Romani Congress is a series of forums for discussion of issues relating to Roma people around the world. , there have been ten World Romani Congresses. Among the chief goals of these congresses have been the standardization of the Romani ...

in 1978.www.jstor.org
/ref> Its presidents have included Stanislav Stankiewicz, Emil Ščuka, and before him,

Rajko Đurić Raјko Đurić (Serbian Cyrillic: Рајко Ђурић, rom, Raiko Juric; 3 October 1947 – 2 November 2020) was a Serbian Romani writer and academic. He was also politically active as the leader of one of Romani parties in Serbia - Roma Union ...

, who held this office for many years. The current President of the IRU is Mr. Zoran Dimov, who was elected during the 10th Congress which was held on 18–20 March 2016 in Skopje, Macedonia. Was attended by 100 delegates and members of the IRU from 40 countries, Zoran Dimov was elected to be the President of the IRU. After that, a new leadership of the IRU Parliament chaired by the past head of Parliament Stevo Balogh from Austria was elected. The IRU has a CONSULTATIVE ECOSOC Status within the UN.

History

In 1959, Ionel Rotaru founded the World Gypsy Community (CMG) in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. While members were mostly French, the organization made contacts in

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

, and other countries. When the French government dissolved the CMG in 1965, a breakaway group formed the International Gypsy Committee (IGC) under the leadership of Vanko Rouda. When the 1971 World Romani Congress adopted the self-appellation of "Roma" rather than gypsy, the IGC was renamed the ''Komiteto Lumniako Romano'' (International Rom Committee or IRC), and Rouda was re-confirmed as president. The Committee became a member of the

Council of Europe The Council of Europe (CoE; french: Conseil de l'Europe, ) is an international organisation founded in the wake of World War II to uphold European Convention on Human Rights, human rights, democracy and the Law in Europe, rule of law in Europe. ...

the following year. The Committee has changed again at the 1978 World Romani Congress and given its present name. It was given consultative status at the

United Nations Economic and Social Council The United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC; french: links=no, Conseil économique et social des Nations unies, ) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations, responsible for coordinating the economic and social fields ...

the following year. The Union became a registered NGO with

UNICEF UNICEF (), originally called the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund in full, now officially United Nations Children's Fund, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing Humanitarianism, humanitarian and Devel ...

in 1986. In 1993, it was promoted to Category II, Special

Consultative Status The consultative status is a phrase whose use can be traced to the founding of the United Nations and is used within the UN community to refer to "Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in Consultative Status with the United Nations Economic and Soc ...

at the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

. The main source of income is the membership fees of the individual members, and member organizations.

Structure

The IRU consists of four bodies: Congress, Parliament, Presidium, and Court of Justice.NEW LEADERSHIP OF THE INTERNATIONAL ROMANI UNION
/ref> The "Congress" of the IRU includes delegates from all over the world, in proportion to the total Romani population in that country. Delegates can propose individual recommendations for the IRU, and together, they may choose whether to accept the IRU program. Unlike the Congress, the "Parliament" of the IRU is made up of a single representative (and one substitute) from each member country. Parliament accepts reports on the situation of Romani peoples around the world and decides the domestic and international policies of the IRU. Delegates must also approve each year's budget. The "Presidium" serves as the IRU's executive and conducts work through sub-commissions on "foreign policy, social and economic affairs, cultural and educational affairs, human rights, internal affairs, financial and budgetary matters, legal and legislative matters, issues relating to Central and Eastern Europe, and issues relating to America, Asia, and Australia. It may request studies and reports on a variety of topics, and make formal recommendations to other IRU bodies, or to individual countries or organizations. Members of the "Court of Justice" are independent judges, elected for their personal integrity, regardless of their membership in the IRU. The Court is tasked with observing all bodies of the IRU and ensuring their observance of the organization's rules and regulations.

Institutional links

The IRU has institutional links with: - the

. -

OSCE The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) is the world's largest regional security-oriented intergovernmental organization with observer status at the United Nations. Its mandate includes issues such as arms control, prom ...

(ODHIR). -

UNHCHR The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, commonly known as the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) or the United Nations Human Rights Office, is a department of the Secretariat of the United Nati ...

. - UNO - ERTF. The IRU has a memorandum of understanding with many other countries with a view to the "continuous improvement of the situation and living conditions of the Roma.

References

External links

Official website
{{Authority control International political organizations Organisations based in Vienna Romani Romani political parties

History

Structure

Institutional links

See also

References

Further reading

External links