`Typical Roma?`
“Typical Roma? 
” is an international campaign which addresses stigmatization and stereotypes as root causes of social exclusion of Roma. The campaign intends to promote a positive image of Roma and to strengthen the Roma voice in order to stand up against discrimination and stigmatization.
Roma NGOs from five European countries started the `Typical Roma?` campaign in 2009 in Macedonia, Albania, Bulgaria, Romania and Moldova with researches about the image of Roma in these countries.
"Roma are not accepted as equal citizens, and are refused one of the universal human rights, namely the right to a dignified and worthy life", said Mustafa Jakupov from R.R.O.M.A. from the Macedonian city of Kratovo during a press conference in January 2010. "Young Roma want to stand up and have their own say."
Most Roma-friendly Mayor
As a part of the campaign, each participating country held a competition to select the `Most Roma-friendly Mayor´. The competition was announced in several communities. Participating Mayors answered a question list. The winning Mayors were selected by independent committees. These Mayors were invited the Roma Summit in Córdoba, Spain, on April the 8th 2010, where they were awarded and had a meeting ith the Mayor of Còrdoba.
Black & White book
Apart from the election of the `Most Roma-friendly Mayor`, the campaigners carried out awareness-raising activities in their countries. They set up `Inclusion zones` in several cities, where Roma and non-Roma met and discussed about stereotypes.
The participating NGOs also collected stories for a so-called Black & White book, which was presented during the Roma Summit in Córdoba. The organisations collected three stories per country: a positive one (succesful integration of Roma into society), a negative one (failed integration of Roma into society) and a third one (Most Roma-friendly Mayor).
Participating organisations
Participating organisations in the ´Typical Roma?´ campaign are: Integro from Bulgaria, RAA from Albania, R.O.M.A. from Macedonia, CRCR from Romania and Porojan and Tarne Rom from Moldova.
