Embassy Events

Romano nevo l’il: Interview with Chargé Eddins Appears in Roma Publication

Romano nevo l’il.

An interview with the Embassy’s Chargé d’Affaires Keith Eddins, which he gave on the occasion of the conference “Roma – Romanies: Culture and Education” in Košice, has appeared in the April edition of Eastern Slovakia’s Roma newspaper, “Romano nevo l’il”. Mr. Eddins opened the conference March 25, together with Library Director Mr. Gašpar and Dr. Marek Lisánsky, Director of the Human Rights and Minority Section of the Slovak Government Office. In his remarks, Mr. Eddins mentioned the Embassy’s commitment in promoting tolerance and understanding through a small grants program and other projects. As reported in “Romano nevo l’il,” Mr Eddins said: “There are still problems with the Roma integration. Our Embassy tries to improve the integration process through different grants, but there is still a long way to go. However, I don’t think that the situation and position of Roma in Slovakia is getting worse. We have seen attempts of the government to improve the integration; it is not bad, but there is not a big improvement either.” The U.S. Embassy, as one of the partners at the conference, helped to organize a digital video conference with Dr. Ruby Payne, an expert from Texas on poverty, in which she answered questions on bridging the knowledge gap between economic groups. More than 50 participants from academia, government, NGO’s, as well as other cultural institutions had a chance to learn more about how American businesses are making partners in economically disadvantaged communities. The Embassy donated Dr. Payne’s books to the InfoUSA center at the Library in Košice, among them the recently published “Framework for Understanding Poverty” and “Bridges Out of Poverty”.