European Roma Spirit Awards: Impreuna, Roma Education Support Trust, Romea.cz, Spišský Hrhov, Sabiha Suleiman

Yesterday the first-ever European Roma Spirit Awards were announced in Bratislava. The ceremony included a video greeting from EU Commissioner for Justice, Consumers and Gender Equality, Věra Jourová - the full program of the video is archived above.

The winners of the awards are:

In the category of Non-Governmental Organization: Impreuna Agency for Community Development (Romania)

In the category of Company, Organization and/or Employer:  Roma Education Support Trust (Great Britain)

In the category of Municipality:  Spišský Hrhov (Slovakia)

In the category of Media: Romea.cz (Czech Republic)

In the category of Personality:   Sabiha Suleiman (Greece) 

A special award was given in memoriam to Dr Ján Cibul'a, the first Roma to enroll at university in Bratislava and the first Romani physician in Czechoslovakia. He was a founder of the International Romani Union and achieved international recognition for the Roma as a nation at the United Nations in 1979.

The European Roma Spirit Award was initiated by the Association for Culture, Education and Communication (ACEC), the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs of the Slovak Republic, and the Office of the Plenipotentiary of the Slovak Government for Roma Communities as a platform for highlighting positive contributions focused on the social inclusion of the Roma people. It is a continuation of the Roma Spirit project which has been initiated and successfully implemented by the Association for Culture, Education and Communication in both the Slovak Republic and the Czech Republic since 2009.