Second year of Gypsy Spirit 2010 Awards again at Prague Crossroads
The second year of Gypsy Spirit 2010 Awards was held at the Prague Crossroads under the support of the VIZE 97 Foundation on 10th December 2010, the International Human Rights Day.
The awards were announced by the Section for Human Rights Office of the Government of the Czech Republic within the scope of the Campaign Against Racism 2010.
The role of patronage for this year’s awards was assumed by President Vaclav Havel, Prime Minister of the Czech Republic Petr Nečas, Chairwoman of the Subcommittee on Human Rights of the European Parliament Heidi Hautala, and former Human Rights Minister Michael Kocáb.
Prime Minister of the Czech Republic, Mr. Petr Nečas opened with the introductory word. Heidi Hautala, Chairwoman of the Subcommittee on Human Rights of the European Parliament and Jan Fischer, Vice-President of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, Ex-Prime Minister of the Czech Republic and member of the jury both greeted guests who attended the awards through a brief video.
In her greeting, Heidi Hautala emphasised the importance of education, culture and involvement in community life as crucial for overall integration. Heidi Hautala defined a non-discriminatory approach to education as one of the pillars of the European Union towards successfully integrating minorities into mainstream society.
In is greeting, Jan Fischer mentioned that he is pleased that it was his government that launched the first year, and thus the tradition of the Gypsy Spirit project, and thereby contributed to developing and consolidating relations between the Roma and mainstream population.
During the course of the evening, performances were given by Monika Bagárová, the music orchestra Cigánski Diabli, the dance group Salut Roma and Igor Horváth, a student of Masaryk’s Basic School, Valašské Meziříčí, who was awarded in the category Extracurricular Educational Activities Focused on Roma Children and Youth. Lejla Abbasová hosted the evening.
