Strasbourg, 17.12.2008 – The “Dosta! - Congress Prize for Municipalities” for 2008 has been awarded to four cities, as part of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities’ contribution to the Dosta! Campaign. The Prize, established in 2007, rewards municipalities which are distinguished for their participatory and innovative work in combating anti-Gypsyism and promoting the inclusion of Roma in political and social life.

The jury, composed of personalities from the Council of Europe, the European Union and the European Roma and Travellers Forum, has examined 26 applications from Western and Eastern European countries. Speaking at the close of the deliberations, the co-Presidents of the jury – Yavuz Mildon, President of the Congress and Henry Scicluna, Council of Europe Co-ordinator for Roma Issues – expressed the jury’s common appreciation, stressing that “much as in 2007, we all were particularly impressed with the quality of the projects sent in.”

The winners of the second edition of the “Dosta!-Congress Prize for Municipalities” are the cities of : Mostar (Bosnia and Herzegovina) and Prijedor (Bosnia and Herzegovina) for the Joint First Prize, Volos (Greece) for the Second Prize and Lom (Bulgaria) for the Third Prize.

Representatives of the winning municipalities will receive the Prize at the ceremony which will take place on 4 March 2009, at the Council of Europe Headquarters in Strasbourg. The ceremony will be attended by the two co-Presidents of the jury and Permanent Representatives from the Council of Europe member states of the prize winners.

The ceremony is open to the Press.

Contacts:
Dmitri Marchenkov, Head of the Congress Communication Unit
Tel. + 33 (0)3 88 41 38 44 ; Mob. +33 (0)6 75 65 03 49 ; dmitri.marchenkov@coe.int
Ivana D'Alessandro, Project manager, Council of Europe Migration and Roma Department, Ivana.dalessandro@coe.int