Making a Difference for North Macedonia’s Roma Community: CEU Alumnus Elvis Shakjiri Receives Anti-Racism Champion Award

January 13, 2025
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CEU alumnus Elvis Shakjiri was recently honored as an awardee in the U.S. State Department’s 2024 Global Anti-Racism Champions Awards for his efforts to advance Roma rights and combat anti-Roma discrimination in North Macedonia. 

The award honored six civil society leaders for their exceptional courage, leadership and commitment to advancing racial equity, justice and human rights. Shakjiri is a founding member and Executive Director of Romalitico, an institute dedicated to Roma advocacy and has played a critical role in ending Roma statelessness.  

In recognizing Shakjiri at the awards ceremony on October 21 in Washington D.C., Secretary Antony J. Blinken said: “Elvis Shakjiri is a tireless champion for North Macedonia’s Roma community, who have faced generations of racial and economic injustice and are too often denied citizenship. Elvis and his group of colleagues started Romalitico to end the Roma’s statelessness. They’ve since registered hundreds of undocumented Roma, giving them access to government services, to education, to employment opportunities.” 

Shakjiri and fellow award recipients participated in an International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) October 17-26 in Washington, D.C. and New York City, where they engaged in knowledge exchanges with their U.S. counterparts. The program focused on advancing the human rights and fundamental freedoms of members of marginalized communities and combating systemic racism, discrimination, violence and xenophobia. 

Shakjiri graduated from CEU in 2015 with an MA in Human Rights from CEU’s Department of Legal Studies following his participation in the university’s Roma Graduate Preparatory Program and Roma English Language Program. He has helped numerous Roma navigate complex administrative systems to access social services and education, and his ongoing dedication to Roma people has led to legislative reform in Macedonia.  

CEU spoke with Shakjiri about his work against discrimination and how his studies at CEU have helped shape his trajectory in advancing human rights.  

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