The objective of the project was to produce updated first-hand information on the education, employment, and well-being of Roma youth (18–29 years), both in Finland and Serbia. Secondly, the objective was to encourage and strengthen the advancement of Roma youth to the labour market.
The motivation for the project was first and foremost based on the worryingly low employment rate of the Roma youth in comparison to the general same-age population both in Finland and in Serbia. According to the well-being study Roosa carried out by the Institute of Health and Welfare in Finland in 2017–18, as many as three out of four Roma under the age of 30 were unemployed. In addition, there was a suspicion that the Covid-19 pandemic and the related restrictions had further weakened young Roma people's opportunities to study and work on an equal basis with other young people in Finland. An additional spike of motivation came from the fact that there is no accurate data on the Roma population. In Finland, in particular, statistics are not compiled on ethnicity and therefore, there is no data on the number of Roma people, domicile, or needs, which makes it difficult, or even impossible, to direct any targeted activities. In Serbia, the situation was not much better. Roma people form the largest ethnic minority in the country, which still remains as one of the most marginalised communities, often facing severe discrimination and social exclusion which manifests in unequal access to education and employment.