The final conference of the PROMA – Promoting the integration of Roma women transnational project took place online, on November 22, 2022, with the participation of representatives from the project partners’ organizations, European non-governmental organizations, public authorities, educational institutions, and trainers in formal and non-formal education.

The project was implemented by the Center for Not-for-Profit Law – Romania, Symplexis – Greece, Magenta Consultoria Projects SL- Spain, Citizens Association for Support of Marginalized Groups Roma Resource Center North Macedonia and BK Consult – Germany and was co-financed by the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Union.

Its mission was to contribute to the integration and empowerment of Roma women who, due to intersectional discrimination, tend to leave school early, and are more likely to find themselves outside of education, training, or employment. The main project’s activities consisted of:

• the educational needs of Roma women and girls and of the formal and non-formal educators working within the Roma communities;
• creating an innovative methodology and a set of educational tools to meet their needs;
• training more than 60 traditional and non-formal education professionals working in Roma communities;
• training over 120 Roma women from the four countries of implementation.

During the final conference, the partners discussed the way in which they applied the PROMA methodology in their countries, stressing the main differences and similarities, the lessons learned during the implementation of the project, and how the materials and resources developed within the project can be capitalized in the future.

The international event was also attended by Marian Daragiu, State Secretary of the Romanian Ministry of Education who presented the latest updates regarding the strategy for improving access to education for Roma children.

Resources developed within the project

• National reports on the situation of Roma women
• Assessment of the educational needs of Roma women and their formal and non-formal educators – The Romanian National Report
• Comparative report on best practices regarding the integration of Roma women at the local level in Romania, Spain, Greece and North Macedonia
• The PROMA E-learning platform for trainers working with Roma women is composed of 23 learning units, structured in 4 modules – https://elearning.promaproject.eu/

The course material is available in English, Romanian, Spanish, Greek, and Macedonian. It includes theory, practical information, short films, pictures and diagrams, practical exercises, and questions for self-assessment of the knowledge and acquired skills. The online course aims to increase the capacity of trainers working for the empowerment and upskilling of Roma women, by improving their skills, knowledge, and overall understanding of the needs of this group. In this way, they can deliver more efficient empowerment training, reduce drop-outs and create a better learning experience.

• Dedicated section in the Romani language, for Roma women on the PROMA platform: http://promaproject.eu/romani
• Handbook for non-formal education trainers regarding a holistic approach in working with Roma women

The final conference was followed by the last Transnational Partners Meeting of the project, which took place in a hybrid format, in Bucharest, on November 22 and 23. The conclusion of these two intense days was that even if the project is finalized, the efforts for its sustainability must continue in order for its mission to be fulfilled, not only at a national level but at the European level too.

Roma women face a complex form of discrimination within their communities, because of the minority ethnic background and gender they belong to, and this is what we call intersectional discrimination and one of the main reasons they don’t have access to education.

The PROMA – Promoting the Integration of Roma Women project focused on facilitating the integration of Roma women in their local communities through education delivered within practical local programs, by specialized Roma trainers, using a tailored approach leading to dropouts decrease.

Thus, necessary guidelines and methodology were developed within the project, to design and carry out the training of trainers and the Pilot delivery of the capacity-building programme for formal and non-formal trainers working with Roma women at a community level.

Resources developed within the project can be consulted at the following links.

• National reports on the situation of Roma women
• Assessment of the educational needs of Roma women and their formal and non-formal educators – The Romanian National Report
• Comparative report on best practices regarding the integration of Roma women at the local level in Romania, Spain, Greece and North Macedonia
• The PROMA E-learning platform for trainers working with Roma women is composed of 23 learning units, structured in 4 modules, available in English, Romanian, Spanish, Greek and Macedonian. It includes theory, practical information, short films, pictures and diagrams, practical exercises and questions for self-assessment of the knowledge and acquired skills. The online course aims to increase the capacity of trainers working for the empowerment and upskilling of Roma women, by improving their skills, knowledge and overall understanding of the needs of this group. In this way, they can deliver more efficient empowerment training, reduce drop-outs and create a better learning experience.
• Dedicated section in Romani language, for Roma women on the PROMA platform
• Handbook for non-formal education trainers regarding a holistic approach in working with Roma women

The PROMA project was implemented by the Center for Not-for-Profit Law – Romania, Symplexis – Greece, Magenta Consultoria Projects SL- Spain, Citizens Association for Support of Marginalized Groups Roma Resource Center North Macedonia and BK Consult – Germany and was co-financed by the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Union.

The final conference of the PROMA – Promoting the integration of Roma women transnational project took place online, on November 22, 2022, with the participation of representatives from the project partners’ organizations, European non-governmental organizations, public authorities, educational institutions, and trainers in formal and non-formal education.

During the final conference, the partners discussed the way in which they applied the PROMA methodology in their countries, stressing the main differences and similarities, the lessons learned during the implementation of the project, and how the materials and resources developed within the project can be capitalized in the future.

Roma women, discrimination, and education

Roma women face a complex form of discrimination within their communities, because of the minority ethnic background and gender they belong to, and this is what we call intersectional discrimination and one of the main reasons they don’t have access to education.

Regarding their educational status, according to FRA (Education: The Situation of Roma, 2014), the illiteracy rates between men and women over 16 years of age in Romania, Spain, and Greece were 12 percent, 8 percent, and 12 percent, respectively. Also, the percentages of Roma men and Roma women, who dropped out of school before the age of 16, were 60 percent and 75 percent in Romania, 72 percent and 83 percent in Spain, and 89 percent and 96 percent in Greece, respectively.

The PROMA project solution

The PROMA project focuses on facilitating the integration of Roma women in their local communities through education delivered within practical local programs, by specialized Roma educators, using a tailored approach leading to dropouts decrease.

Thus, necessary guidelines and methodology were developed within the project, to design and carry out the training of trainers and the Pilot delivery of the capacity building programme for formal and non-formal educators working with Roma women at community level.

Pilot delivery of the capacity building programme for formal and non-formal educators

The training of the trainers who will deliver the capacity building programme took place during a 3-day transnational webinar. After the 4 modules course, the trainers understood the importance of enhancing the learning experience for Roma-women and each of them became able to:

• increase self-awareness, empowerment, and empathy of Roma women,
• better understand the Romani culture and history, handle perceptions and master the origins of discrimination and their negative effects on Romani women,
• master new techniques of adult education for increasing the learning experience, rising attention and participation, and minimizing dropouts,
• become familiar with best practices that can be used or adapted during the design and development of a thriving learning experience for Roma women.

Next steps for the capacity capacity building programme development

• Selection of 10 formal and non-formal educators (per country) working with Roma women at community level,
• Pilot delivery of the capacity building programme during which 10 participants (per country) will receive training on how to design and implement effective measures and interventions for the integration of Roma women,
• Evaluation and finalization of the capacity building curriculum.

This newsletter has been elaborated within the project PROMA – Promoting the integration of Roma women, funded by Erasmus+, Agreement number 2020-1-RO01-KA204-080214. The content of the newsletter represents the views of the authors only and is their sole responsibility. The newsletter is sent quarterly to the organizations in the databases of the partners in this project. This newsletter was drafted and disseminated in accordance with the GDPR – General Data Protection Regulation- European Regulation 2016/679 on data protection and privacy in the European Union and the European Economic Area. In case you do not want to receive this newsletter, please write to us at: office@clnr.ro

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For several decades now, International Roma Day has been celebrated annually on April 8, both to draw attention to the challenges that Roma communities are facing and to celebrate the Roma identity and culture.

The Roma population is the largest ethnic minority in Europe, with approx. 10 to 12 million people, of which almost 6 million live in the European Union, most of them in countries such as Bulgaria, Slovakia, Romania and Hungary.

Unfortunately, the Roma are also the most marginalized and vulnerable community in Europe, 80% of them living in poverty, without access to education, social and health services, jobs and decent housing. Despite the measures taken by the European Union and the inclusion strategies implemented at the national level, Roma people continue to be victims of discrimination and stereotypes.

Through the project Promoting the integration of Roma women (PROMA) we actively contribute to the empowerment of Roma women, through education.
The second important step is to facilitate access to the labor market, especially for Roma women, who face multiple forms of discrimination. The low level of formal education, racist experiences and conservative gender roles in their families are among the key factors limiting their access to the labor market, according to a recent report on the experience of Roma women in Finland, Italy and Romania, which can be accessed HERE.

Based on these conclusions, we are very happy to invite you to attend the roundtable “Promoting the inclusion of people with an intersectional minority profile into the labor market”, which will take place online, on April 12, starting from 11.00 AM (Bucharest tine). The debate will bring together representatives of NGOs / NGO networks active in the field of anti-discrimination and social economy from several European countries, as well as other entities at EU level. In order to participate, please register HERE.

Happy International Romani Day!

This newsletter has been elaborated within the project PROMA – Promoting the integration of Roma women, funded by Erasmus+, Agreement number 2020-1-RO01-KA204-080214. The content of the newsletter represents the views of the
authors only and is their sole responsibility. The newsletter is sent quarterly to the organizations in the databases of the partners in this project.This newsletter was drafted and disseminated in accordance with the GDPR – General Data Protection Regulation- European Regulation 2016/679 on data protection and privacy in the European Union and the European Economic Area. In case you do not want to receive this newsletter, please write to us at: office@clnr.ro
Please share this newsletter with your colleagues and partner organizations. Sharing is caring!

#PROMA#onlinemeeting

On the 8th of March 2022 we held an online partners’ meeting. Partners discussed the finalization of the learning modules that are going to be included in the #online#platform with the goal to upskill #professionals and #educators on methods and techniques to foster the social integration of #Roma#women!

Follow PROMA project online for more updates:
LinkedIn: PROMA
Website: http://promaproject.eu/
Facebook: https://lnkd.in/db4yGGjz
Twitter: https://lnkd.in/dC2PCDQY

#ROMA#ROMAwomen#education#adulteducation#inclusion#integration#socialintegration#educators#localcommunities#ErasmusPlus#Eufundedprojects

International Women’s Day is an opportunity to celebrate women who, through their outstanding achievements, have contributed to a better world and to the development of a society in which women’s rights matter. Also, on this day, it is more important than ever to remember that gender equality remains an important goal for which we must militate for and that women’s rights are essential in a democratic society.

One of these rights is the right to education, which also means an extra chance at a better life. In the 21st century, there is still discrimination in access to quality education, and Roma girls and women are one of the most vulnerable groups in Europe.

Through the project Promoting the Integration of Roma Women (PROMA) we actively contribute to the empowerment of Roma women, through education. Thus, following an analysis of the needs of Roma women in formal and non-formal education, we have developed an online platform, an interactive tool which is useful for both Roma women and trainers working with them.

What is this platform and what is its purpose?

This platform provides a virtual learning environment, providing a collection of materials, modules, textbooks and assessment tools on:

• Romani history, culture and identity and perceptions of it;
• Social exclusion;
• Empowerment of Roma women;
• Training techniques adapted for Roma women;
• Good practices and exercises to improve the learning experience;
• Methods of personal and professional development for Roma women.

A special section is reserved for Career Management Skills, dedicated to Roma women who want to improve their professional skills through four stages:

• self-knowledge;
• identifying market needs and employment skills;
• exploring the professional career;
• developing the digital skills needed to be considered an eligible candidate.

The section also provides counceling on building a career management plan adapted for Roma women.

This platform is a tool that allows trainers to better understand the peculiarities of Romani culture, to get involved in supporting the social inclusion of Roma women, to improve their skills for developing and delivering a better learning experience, leading to a decreasing in school dropout among Roma girls. and women.

The platform can be accessed HERE.

We send our best wishes to all the women in the world and we urge them to keep fighting for the rights of all women to be respected so that everyone of them can reach their true potential.

Happy Women’s Day!

This newsletter has been elaborated within the project PROMA – Promoting the integration of Roma women, funded by Erasmus+, Agreement number 2020-1-RO01-KA204-080214. The content of the newsletter represents the views of the authors only and is their sole responsibility. The newsletter is sent quarterly to the organizations in the databases of the partners in this project.This newsletter was drafted and disseminated in accordance with the GDPR – General Data Protection Regulation- European Regulation 2016/679 on data protection and privacy in the European Union and the European Economic Area. In case you do not want to receive this newsletter, please write to us at: office@clnr.ro

In June 2011, the European Council, the EU’s highest governing body, gave the green light to the European Framework for National Roma Inclusion Strategies, a Commission initiative that the 27 EU Member States have translated into their respective National Strategies to be developed between 2012 and 2020.

This initiative established for the first time a common framework for the development of measures and policies at national level based on approaches, objectives and areas of work shared by all the Member States of the European Union. It also had the political and financial support of the EU and the 27 Member States and wqass part of a larger European strategy, EU 2020, with explicit objectives to reduce the poverty and exclusion that have afflicted the Roma population for centuries.

Basic Principles to achieve Roma People Social Inclusion

• Constructive, pragmatic and non-discriminatory policies.
• Specifical, but not exclusive focus on the Roma population.
• Intercultural approach.
• Aiming at a full inclusion of the Roma population into society.
• Awareness-raising on gender discrimination.
• Involvement of regional and local administrations.
• Involvement of civil society.
• Active participation of Roma people.

Presented at the European Platform for Roma Inclusion (Prague, 2009)

This is very relevant for the PROMA Project, as well as the Education Dimension of the Framework. Despite major advances in schooling, there are still serious problems, such as the very high dropout rates in compulsory secondary education. And although there is an increase in the number of Roma students in post-compulsory secondary and university, the percentages are still much lower than the average. We are still far from achieving a situation of educational normalisation for Roma pupils, specially women.