Roma Culture Initiative (1999-2004)

Launched in 1999, the Roma Culture Initiative (RCI) focused on supporting Roma in their efforts toward self-reliance and providing the general population in Central and Eastern Europe with informed material about the Roma culture. The program received over 300 project applications seeking support for a variety of initiatives on Roma culture. RCI awarded 65 grants in 11 countries for scholarly research covering new ground. These projects covered a wide variety of disciplines, including history, sociology, musicology, literature, ethnography, cultural anthropology, and linguistics.

Through the Young Culture Bearers Program, RCI also funded many innovative programs promoting greater cultural awareness for the next generation of Roma. In total, the program supported more than 130 organizations from 14 countries for their efforts in assisting Roma youth to explore their cultural and linguistic traditions.

In 2004, its final year of operation, the Roma Culture Initiative worked with existing grantees to promote and sustain their efforts. In the area of scholarly research, the RCI engaged in making the results of these projects more widely available through review, translation, and dissemination. It also worked with its institutional grantees to enhance their programs and to diversify their funding base. The program awarded a mobility grant in 2003 that was designed to allow Roma cultural activists to collaborate across borders and exchange skills. Through its final year of activity, the RCI aimed to ensure that the contributions of its grantees to the visibility and understanding of Roma culture endure long after the program closed.