The Center for Not-for-Profit Law is organizing the international conference, “Educational Resources for Promoting the Integration of Roma Women”, which will take place in Bucharest (Strada Vasile Lascăr St. no. 31, Bucharest), on November 22, 2022 (online & on site).
The event marks the ending of the PROMA – Promoting the integration of Roma women transnational project, whose mission was to contribute to the integration of Roma women in four European countries: Romania, Greece, Spain and North Macedonia, by creating the educational tools to meet their needs and by training the formal and non-formal educators working in Roma communities.
The educational gap between Roma children and children of other ethnicities remains significant, especially beyond compulsory education, with approximately 68% of Roma students leaving education early in EU member states, according to FRA[1]. Nearly 80% of Roma reported living at-risk-of-poverty in the EU and 50% of Roma aged 6-24 do not attend school[2]. In 2016, the participation rate of Roma children living in areas where the density of Roma population was higher than 10% in Early Childhood Education and Care was only 38%. Meanwhile, the percentage of Roma children aged 6-16 who attended compulsory education was 78% and the enrolment rate of Roma persons in upper secondary education was only 22%. Most Roma teenagers do not pursue upper secondary education.
Roma girls tend to leave school early, receive even less support than Roma boys for continuing their education and are more likely to find themselves outside of education, training or employment (NEET) as a young adults (16-24 years), as compared to young Roma men[3]. The main obstacles faced by Roma girls include: poverty, unpaid work in the household coupled with conservative gender roles, limited financial resources for education, discrimination and bullying from teachers and classmates, as well as other structural factors.
In response to this situation, we have examined the educational needs of Roma women and girls and of the formal and non-formal educators promoting their inclusion in the four European countries. Next, we created an innovative methodology and a set of educational tools supporting the social inclusion of Roma women. The tools include an online capacity-building program and a handbook for trainers working with Roma women, as well as other online resources for Roma women’s empowerment. The knowledge and skills provided by the PROMA methodology have been transferred to more than 60 professionals working in Roma communities and over 120 Roma women from the four countries of implementation.
A draft of the Agenda of the event can be consulted HERE.
The event can be attended both on site and on-line. Please confirm your participation by completing this form https://bit.ly/3UBq5VY , until November 18th.
Please note that we can cover the participation costs (up to 200 Euro) for international participants wishing to attend the event in person.
The language of the event will be English.
[1] European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights, Transition from education to employment of young Roma in nine EU Member States, Publications Office, 2018, https://data.europa.eu/doi/10.2811/451821.
[2]European Union Agency Fundamental Rights. Second European Union Minorities and Discrimination Survey. Roma – Selected findings. Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union, 2018. https://fra.europa.eu/sites/default/files/fra_uploads/fra-2016-eu-minorities-survey-roma-selected-findings_en.pdf,
[3] European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights, Transition from education to employment of young Roma in nine EU Member States