Power of Change – ERGO Network

Romani Women POWER of Change in the Western Balkans and Turkey

The project “Romani women POWER of CHANGE in the Western Balkans and Turkey” is built upon the experiences of the “Joint Initiative to Empower Roma Civil Society in the Western Balkans and Turkey” and the “EU Award for Roma Integration 2019, Unknown Heroes”. The aim is to empower Roma women to increase their participation in local and national policy and decision making processes through constructive dialogue with the national and local governments in order to reach significant changes towards Roma integration, non-discrimination and citizens’ rights.

It will set up a facilitating structure managed by the national partners, which supports participating Roma women and Roma women CSOs to develop and implement advocacy strategies. The capacity building of Roma women and CSOs will strengthen their confidence, knowledge, skills and leadership. This will enhance their position vis-à-vis public authorities and other stakeholders.

Objectives

– To empower Roma women to participate in public policy processes.

– To raise awareness of male-dominated CSOs and governments in the Western Balkans and Turkey of the negative impact of patriarchal power structures and the importance of women for the Roma integration process.

– To develop professional advocacy skills of CSOs in order to influence the economic development of Roma women as a key priority in the Western Balkan Strategy.

– To enhance the capacities of Roma civil society to be effective and accountable independent actors able to engage constructively with governments on key societal challenges of the Sustainable Development Goals and to monitor the Roma integration process.

– To further contribute to the recognition of antigypsyism as the main cause of Roma exclusion and build attitudes leading to inclusion in the political, economic and social spheres.

– To foster regular networking of Roma and pro-Roma CSOs at regional and EU level and facilitate the exchange of knowledge, skills and connections, and increasing and widening their impact in campaigning and advocacy.

Partners

Funded by the European Union Union’s IPA programme, the project brings together the following partners:

Roma Active Albania
Zero Discrimination (Turkey)
Otaharin (Bosnia & Hercegovina)
RROMA (North Macedonia)
Voice of Roma, Ashkali and Egyptians (Kosovo)
Roma Forum Serbia
ERGO Network

Capacity-Building

The capacity-building activities aim at equipping Roma women and Roma women CSOs with the skills, knowledge and attitudes needed to fully participate in local policy development, decision-making processes and policy monitoring.

Networking and advocacy

Development and implementation of advocacy strategies at local, national as well as the regional (international) level.

Monitoring and accountability

The project will contribute to more effective policies and programs for Roma integration by pursuing (shadow) monitoring at local and national level. The results of this monitoring should help policy reviews and recognition of antigypsyism, as well considering an impact towards SDGs, and at the same time strengthen accountability mechanisms.