Director of the Office of the Czech Government Inter-ministerial Commission on Roma Community Affairs steps down

Gabriela Hrabaňová has worked for the Office of the Czech Government for the past three years, most recently as secretary of the Czech Government Inter-ministerial Commission on Roma Community Affairs, which she is now leaving. The college-educated diplomat is heading to Brussels to work for a small nonprofit, European Roma Grassroots Organization, where she will be in charge of Romani projects across Europe. Romea.cz had three questions for her:

Q: How does it feel to leave the Office of the Czech Government, what kinds of experiences are you taking with you?

A: Great ones – there’s no doubt. My experience has been that proposals (and the proposers) of government initiatives are naturally essential, but the main thing is to negotiate everything, to communicate with the other ministries if I want to succeed. In my experience, if you are working under a person like [former Czech Human Rights Commissioner] Michael Kocáb, for whom I have great regard, them even at a time of government crisis you can manage to successfully advocate for fundamental things – for example, the renovations to the memorial at Lety u Písku. Where there is energy and political will, many things can change.

Q: You are heading to the nonprofit European Roma Grassroots Organization, based in Brussels. What position will you hold there?

A: The organization is based on collaboration between nonprofits from all over Europe. I will mainly have two projects on my plate. The first focuses on campaigning, specifically on a project in southeastern Europe whereby Romani people use various methods, including billboards, to establish contact with municipal administrations in the places they live. This is basically a way to say “I’m here, I have an opinion, and you have to count me in.” The second project is a collaboration with the Romani youth organization Ternype, with whom I will develop a wide variety of activities. The first is a workshop on the occasion of a sad anniversary, the murder of Romani people in the so-called Gypsy Camp at Auschwitz, and at the same time, Romani Holocaust Day, which falls on 2 August.

Q: What would you like to convey to your successor – do you know who it will be?

A: Given the fact that the Inter-ministerial Commission for Roma Community Affairs has been incorporated into the Government Council for National Minorities, my position as such no longer exists. However, a new secretary will be sought for the Roma section of the council. My message to my successor is this above all: Do not underestimate communication, maintain good relationships with the committees and the Council, and don’t become just another bureaucrat who has no contact with ordinary people or reality.