Roma communities are considered as one of the most socially vulnerable groups at EU wide level, suffering from multiple marginalization risks and being discriminated against by the general public. Roma women usually suffer from what in academic bibliography is called double discrimination: because of their cultural heritage and because they are women. The situation of Roma women at all levels affecting social integration (education, employment, economic situation, living conditions) is far worse compared with men. Indicatively, based on FRA more women than men are unable to read or write, with the differences in the rates of illiterates between men and women above 16 years of age to the whole population being 12% in Romania, 8% in Spain and 12% in Greece. Regarding employment, based on FRA the share of Roma men whose main activity is ‘in employment’ is consistently higher than that of Roma women. Across all surveyed countries, more than twice as many Roma men were in employment than Roma women. The situation is similar also for Northern Macedonia. According to the Strategy for Roma in Republic of Macedonia 2014-2020, unemployment among Roma is almost twice as high as the national average and even higher among Roma women. The same for education; although the completion of primary and secondary education is a legal requirement, noticeable deviations are existent towards Roma girls. The proposed project (PROMA) focuses on the adult education stream by aiming to foster the integration of Roma women in their local communities through education in the form of practical local programmes, which is the main objective of the project. Specific objectives include: a) utilizing the competitive advantages and social promoting vehicles of the local context in all 4 implementing countries; b) building the capacities of formal & non formal educators of Roma women; c) design & implementation of local pilot programmes aiming at social inclusion of Roma women through education jointly by educators and Roma women. PROMA is going to be implemented in 4 countries with dense Roma populations (Romania, Spain, Greece, North Macedonia) and involves 2 groups of participants: formal & non formal educators of Roma women and Roma women. 40 formal & non formal educators of Roma women and 100 Roma women will be involved in the implementation of PROMA, which includes the following activities: -Identifying pathways to integration (needs’ assessment) -Development of the capacity building programme for formal and non-formal educators working with Roma women -Pilot delivery of the capacity building programme for formal and non-formal educators supporting Roma women -Design and implementation of pilot programmes aiming at the integration of Roma women at local level Moreover, 3 open days will be implemented (in Spain, Greece & North Macedonia), along with an international conference (in Romania) for introducing the project to a wide audience. The methodological approach of PROMA follows the logic model, with the implementation unfolding in 3 phases: a) study of the background and relevant good practices; b) design of the capacity building programme and the supporting tools; c) pilot delivery of the capacity building programme and implementation of the local pilot programmes promoting the inclusion of Roma women through education. Main outcomes of PROMA -An innovative methodology fostering the social inclusion of Roma women will be introduced, utilizing adult education as vehicle, following a locally-based context and promoting local pilot programmes jointly designed and implemented by Roma women and formal & non formal educators of Roma women -The capacities of 40 formal & non formal educators of Roma women in the 4 implementing countries will be developed in terms of implementing the developed methodology for the social inclusion of Roma women -At least 100 Roma women in the 4 implementing countries will have their skills and competences built by participating to the local pilot programmes -Local pilot programmes aiming at social inclusion of Roma women through education will be implemented jointly by educators and Roma women in the 4 implementing countries Expected project results & envisaged impact: -Formal & non formal educators of Roma women are equipped with a new methodology and trained in order to better respond to the special and particular educational challenges that Roma women face preventing their integration in local communities -Roma women are more engaged in following educational initiatives at local level aiming at their social inclusion, as well as have their skills and competences increased -The level of acceptance of Roma women where the pilots have taken place has improved and cases of racist or phobic phenomena against Roma have dropped -Social cohesion levels in the local communities where the local pilot programmes have taken place have elevated and the level of integration of Roma women in those communities has increased
The PROMA project aimed to foster the integration of Roma women in their local communities through education, in the form of practical local programmes. The specific objectives of the project were the following: a) utilizing the competitive advantages and social promoting vehicles of the local context in all 4 countries of implementation; b) building the capacities of formal and non-formal educators of Roma women; c) design and implementation of local pilot programmes aiming at social inclusion of Roma women through education jointly by educators and Roma women. Through this project, we aimed to support Roma women in becoming active members of their local communities and to achieve a more cohesive and equal society. The project has been implemented in 4 countries with dense Roma minority: Romania, Spain, Greece, North Macedonia and Roma women were at the core of the project activities and were involved in the design and implementation of the events and educational resources developed within the project.
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 FRA1. Nearly 80% of Roma reported living at-risk-of-poverty in the EU and 50% of Roma aged 6-24 do not attend school. 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 employed (NEET) as a young adults (16-24 years), as compared to young Roma men. In response to this situation, the PROMA project promoted the integration of Roma women, through educational tools, training, mobilizing formal and non-formal educators and practical local programmes.