The Niedersächsischer Verband Deutscher Sinti e.V. (Lower Saxony Association of German Sinti) is an NGO which works to support the Sinti and Roma communities in the Lower Saxony region and to represent their interests. It is a member organisation of the Bundesvereinigung der Sinti und Roma. The Verband operates an advice centre for Sinti and Roma individuals and families and seeks to promote public understanding of their history and of the continuing problem of anti-Gypsyism. Among the projects it has developed is Meilensteine (Milestones), a collaboration with the Youth Services department of the city of Hannover.
Mario Franz, Chairman of the Association and its advice centre and member of the council of the Interessengemeinschaft europäischer Sinti, is an independent scholar, musician and composer. As the son of a survivor of Auschwitz and Bergen Belsen, he is committed to maintaining and protecting the memory of the genocide and to the fight against anti-Gypsyism. He serves on the Advisory Councils of the Foundation for Lower Saxony Memorial Sites and the Augustaschacht-Gestapokeller memorial in Osnabrück.