Mayor of Lunik IX., Marcel Šaňa, received the Romaaa Spirit 2016 award. (source: TASR)
An international, expert jury chose laureates from among 21 finalist nominations, Vladimír Čabák of the Open Society Foundation informed the TASR newswire.
For the first time ever, the award was also bestowed for the category Art & Culture: it went to Miloš Rác for his artistic portrayal of the life of a Roma community through paintings, drawings and sculpture.
The Roma Spirit 2016 award for a Non-governmental organisation went to the Komunitné centrum menšín / Community Centre of Minorities civic association from Veľký Krtíš.
In the Media category, the campaign of the Ľudia proti rasizmu / People against Racism – Zastavme šírenie nenávisti na internete (Let Us Stop Spreading Hatred on the Internet) received an award, while the Personality awarded was teacher Eva Gašparová, for her lifelong activities.
In the Village and Town category, the village of Hlinné was awarded, for projects improving housing, education and health care of the Roma community, while also supporting social inclusion.
In the Society, Organisation and Employer category, Roma Spirit 2016 went to the private Secondary Grammar School of Zefyrín Jimenéz Malla in Kremnica, for making conditions and an environment for inclusive education and applying the principle of boosting pride in Roma nationality.
The Deed of the Year jury chose Marcel Šaňo for the award – the mayor of the borough of Lunik IX, for his engagement and coordination in the wave of solidarity, special humanitarian activity and aid to the families stricken with fires in this borough of Košice.
The awards of the 8th year were ceremonially handed out to the laureates on November 27, at the Slovak radio building in Bratislava.
