Open Society Foundations (OSF) has announced a €100 million ($109 million) pledge through 2029 to a new foundation dedicated to the empowerment and development of Europe’s Roma communities.

The Roma-led Roma Foundation for Europe, which is expected to open next year, will serve as the channel for OSF support for Roma causes and aims to develop additional funding sources to advance its mission. Headquartered in Brussels and headed by Zeljko Jovanovic, who has overseen OSF’s Roma Initiatives Office since 2010, the Roma Foundation will work with Roma groups in the western Balkans, Eastern Europe, Spain, Italy, and Germany.

As part of a plan announced in May of 2022, the foundation will inherit and develop existing OSF initiatives, including the European Roma Institute for Arts and Culture, which is dedicated to promoting Roma pride and dispelling anti-Roma prejudice through the arts; and Roma for Democracy, a program aimed at promoting Roma participation in elections and democratic representation. In addition, the foundation will continue OSF’s work with a range of national Roma movements, including Aresel in Romania, Roma Standing Conference in Bulgaria, and Avaja in North Macedonia.

“With a new generation of exceptional Roma leaders determining strategy and funding priorities, 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,” said OSF chair Alexander Soros. “We will do everything we can to support the foundation and its leadership in a mission that will benefit not only the Roma, but Europe as whole.”

(Photo credit: Vanco Dzambaski)