The Council of Europe's Summit of Mayors on Roma, held in Strasbourg, is being broadcast live online today from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Central European Time. The event can be viewed at http://webtv.coe.int/index.php?CategoryID=53&SubCategoryID=54.

The Summit is a response to the increasing discrimination against Roma in Europe and their social and economic marginalisztion. The Strasbourg Declaration on Roma, adopted by the High-level Meeting of the Council of Europe member states on October 20, 2010, highlighted the particular importance of local and regional action to improve the situation of Roma.

The Summit of Mayors on Roma, held under the theme “Building mutual trust at the grassroots,” is being organized in cooperation with the Special Representative of the Council of Europe Secretary General for Roma issues, Jeroen Schokkenbroek, and in partnership with the City of Strasbourg and the Strasbourg Club municipal network. The Summit brings together representatives of municipalities, regions and networks actively addressing the situation of Roma or interested in becoming involved, Roma organisations and elected representatives as well as other institutions concerned with this situation, in order to provide a cooperation framework for action in favor of Roma.

The discussions will focus on the relations between local and regional communities and Roma groups, with a particular emphasis on identifying concrete and innovative solutions to any problems encountered. The long-term objective is to establish a pan-European network which will provide information on the growing number of local and regional initiatives and serve as a cooperation framework for the various actors in the field.