Romani Memory Map for the Americas
Review, Acknowledgements, Consultation and Partnership
The Romani Memory Map for the Americas is a crowd-sourced collective project that benefits from the contributions and engagement of Romani people, Romani and pro-Romani civil organizations, human rights defenders, academics, public officials and other members of the public.
The Romani Memory Map for the Americas project is grateful for the time and effort of a broad range of people and institutions in taking the time to submit proposals for entry into the Romani Memory Map for the Americas. Persons or entities submitting proposals for entries to the map are recognized on each post in the Map.
Review bodies involving Roma human rights defenders from the Americas and academic institutions have been convened to review the materials submitted in response to the call for inputs. The following independent and voluntary review bodies have reviewed and assess submissions for the Romani Memory Map for the Americas:
1. Expert Panel
The role of the Expert Panel has been to ensure academic rigor, historical accuracy, and proper ethics in the review of the entries submitted. The Expert Panel worked on the basis of decisional consensus.
Ann Ostendorf – Gonzaga University, United States
Martin Fotta – Czech Academy of Sciences, Czechia
Marcos Toyansk – Universidade de São Paulo, Brazil
The Romani Memory Map for the Americas is grateful for the extensive time and effort contributed by the members of the Expert Panel, as well as for their collaborative engagement.
2. Review Board
The role of the Review Board has been to ensure Romani community involvement and oversight in the assessment of materials submitted for inclusion in the Romani Memory Map for the Americas, as well as to complement the work of the Expert Panel in assessing academic rigor, historical accuracy, and proper ethics in the entries submitted. The Expert Panel similarly worked on the basis of decisional consensus.Matias Dominguez - Universidad de Buenos Aires, Argentina
Javier Jimenez-Royo – Postdoctoral Conahcyt at El Colef, Mexico
Elisa Costa - President of AMSK/Brazil and vice-president IRU/South America, Brazil
Mariana Sabino, University of New Mexico, United States
The Romani Memory Map for the Americas is grateful for the extensive time and effort contributed by the members of the Expert Panel, as well as for their collaborative engagement.
Summary of Review Considerations
It is not possible to summarize all aspects of the discussions of the Expert Panel and the Review Board. However, some notes are merited here:
- The boundaries of accepted entries are physical memory points. Thus, for example, educational curriculums recognizing Romani history, language and/or culture have not been accepted for inclusion. Similarly, where a national truth and reconciliation process has explicitly recognized Romani victims (in Colombia for example), this has not been included in the Map. However, physical memory points (statues, plaques, etc.) established to memorialize such a truth and reconciliation process and/or victims would be included in the Map.
- In the cases of Holocaust memorials or monuments commemorating slavery and/or the slave trade, these are not included if they do not explicitly recognize Romani victims of these practices, whereas they are included if they do provide such explicit recognition.
- In certain cases, memory points commemorating fictional characters have been included. The two review bodies proceeded on a case-by-case basis in the assessment of such submissions.
- In general, the review bodies accepted places memorializing publicly recognized personalities.
- For reasons of safety, security and privacy, it was decided to exclude any currently inhabited house, community, settlement or similar place.
Further Acknowledgements
The Romani Memory Map for the Americas is further grateful for the voluntary assistance of Carla Perez Abeniacar and Reynaldo Miguel de Leon Ceto.Consultation and partnership
OHCHR has advanced efforts together with civil society, researchers and institutions interested in tackling anti-Gypsyism. Included to date have been Roma organizations such as the European Roma Institute for Arts and Culture (ERIAC), Documentation and Cultural Center of German Sinti and Roma (Germany), Dikh he na Bister! (Europe); Mayle Sara Kali International Association (Brazil), Zor - Asociación para los derechos del Pueblo gitano/romani (Argentina), Instituto PluriBrasil (Brasil), PRORROM (Colombia), World Roma Federation, Asociatia Fast Forward (Romania), European Roma Grassroots Organizations Network (Europe), Federación de Asociaciones Gitanas de Cataluña (Spain) and others. In addition, with the support of OHCHR, the Roma Advisory Council (RAC) North America was created in 2021. In 2023, during the Costa Rica event, RAC Latin America was initiated, with commitments among the participants to try to develop the initiative further. Both groups are made up of Roma activists from the Americas. Also involved to date in the development of this action are UNESCO Costa Rica, UNESCO Mexico, as well as Gonzaga University (USA), Universidade de São Paulo (Brazil), Czech Academy of Sciences (Czechia) and the Universidad de Buenos Aires (Argentina).***
Further information about the Romani Memory Map for the Americas can be found here.
Contacts: aline.miklos@un.org, claude.cahn@un.org