Open Society Foundations pledge €100 million to start new Roma foundation
Open Society Foundations will spin off its support for Europe’s Roma communities into a new foundation to which it has pledged €100 million or around $107 million
Open Society Foundations said Tuesday that it will spin off its support for Europe's Roma communities into a new foundation and pledged €100 million, around $107 million, for that work.
The Roma Foundation for Europe, which will be independent of OSF, launches in January and will be based in Brussels, said the foundations. Zeljko Jovanovic, director of OSF's Roma Initiatives Office, will lead the new foundation.
“This is a true European project because we are the biggest European minority, the most neglected and disadvantaged,” Jovanovic told The Associated Press, referring to the Roma community. “So when you support the most disadvantaged, you support the development of the whole society.”
An estimated 10 to 12 million Roma people live in Europe, with around 6 million living in the European Union, making them the continent's largest ethnic minority. Significant proportions of the community report experiencing discrimination and economic exclusion as well as higher rates of poverty and lower participation in the formal workforce, according to the European Commission.
Alex Soros, chair of OSF's board of directors and son of George Soros, who founded OSF, echoed that idea in a statement, saying the future work of the new foundation will support not only the Roma people, but all of Europe.
“I am confident the new foundation will be a dynamic force—dedicated to realizing the full potential of the Roma people, and overcoming the deep-rooted barriers they face," Alex Soros said.
Under Alex Soros' leadership, the foundations announced in July that it would
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