The aim of the project was to develop a strategy for the empowerment of Roma and Traveler women and girls especially after the consequence of the Covid-19 pandemic that impacted them in a much greater level. So, the main objective was to create Roma Youth Women Action policy recommendations report applicable for the realities in Greece, Belgium and Sweden. Other objectives of the project included: • Drafting the current situation of Romani women and youth (via 15 local action groups with 195 participants) and drawing lessons from the Covid-19 crisis and how this affected them in each country. • Updating and upgrading the 3 National Strategies for Roma Inclusion and integration actions promoting Romani women empowerment and inclusion. • Researching and elaborating of 24 good practices / initiatives that support Romani women and you throughout Europe. • Common Policy planning and strategy proposal for Roma and Traveler Feminism and Youth Activism on local, regional, national and international level. • Policy recommendations for Roma Youth Action in 9 categories (Integration, allocation of funds, housing, employment, etc.), as a result of the previous actions
Roma is one of the most vulnerable groups and regrettably, Roma are primarily viewed and treated as a social problem, through the lens of marginalization, exclusion, and poverty. Roma ethnic identity is frequently problematic and it is associated with a social stigma- as if the socioeconomic problems that many Roma face were typical of an ethnicity rather than symptomatic of structurally unjust societies and a consequence of centuries of oppression, prejudice, discrimination, and genocide. Romani women and youth are facing double discrimination, one as representatives of their ethnic minority and one, as being pushed to the margins within and outside their own community. The pandemic came to worsen an already burdened situation, leaving more and more Roma women out of employment or being trapped in violent domestic environment at the edge of poverty. The National Roma Integration Strategies should be improved and revised to reflect the issues facing Roma women and girls today and to suggest concrete remedies. Romani women and girls need to become more self-sufficient, generate their own income, be able to make their own decisions regarding their lives, including those relating to their employment, education, and place in society.