As part of the Action:
“Furthering Gender Equality through the EU Accession Process”
funded by the European Union and co-funded by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency
Action Title
“Support to the Roma Women Network "Uspjeh" in advocating for minorities rights in process of EU integration”
Planned start date is January 1, 2022 and end date December 31, 2022. 12 months
The position of Roma women in BH society is still very unfavourable. The disadvantage is manifested by a very poor status in society through very low participation in education, employment and health insurance and a low level of access to even basic human rights. The disadvantaged position of Roma women is also reflected in the views of the representatives of institutions, which unequally place them at the bottom of the social ladder. The need for education, which is a prerequisite for employment and economic independence that potentially enables the enjoyment of a set of rights that the Roma woman has not been able to achieve has been identified through all the research/policy paper. One of the commonly recognized important needs is certainly political participation. In policy paper “The position of Roma women in Bosnia and Herzegovina” published in April 2019, with support and cooperation of Kvinna till Kvinna recommendations are made ensure active participations of Roma women in the decision-making bodies directly concerned with Roma issues. Through the active participation of Roma women in political life, not only would the needs of Roma women be more substantially addressed, but it would be precisely represented by women who best understand the needs and conditions of Roma women from all perspectives and in the best way would try to find adequate mechanisms for effective solution to all their problems. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Law on the Protection of the Rights of National Minorities recognizes 17 national minorities, which are listed in the Constitution as "others", in addition to the three constituent peoples. Although national minorities are an important factor in society in Bosnia and Herzegovina, their presence and participation in public life are limited. It should also be emphasized that the adopted national and local action plans for Roma in the fields of housing, employment, health care and education rarely include a situational analysis, that is, a basic analysis on the position of Roma in the areas where the action plans are implemented, which makes it difficult to conclude based on which data the logical frameworks and indicators for the implementation of the action plans were drawn up.
With whom we want to work (target group and beneficiaries)?
Direct target group: 5 Roma women 's organizations, members of women' s Roma networks, 2 Roma activities within the network, BiH women 's network, BiH Agency for Gender Equality, 30 of them.
Indirect target group: Gender Center F BiH, Gender Center RS, Roma community at least 2,500 Roma, the wider community, commissions, and other bodies at the cantonal and local levels, through media announcements and media visits we estimate at a minimum of 20000 people. We expect to reach many more users via social networks. Also, Intersectoral Commission on local municipality level in City of Tuzla.
The overall objective of the project that we expect through the implementation of the activities: Strengthening the capacity of Roma women network “Uspjeh” B&H (organizations involved in activities of RWN) for effective dialogue with Governments, delegations and offices of the EU in B&H, The Directorate for European Integration, local civil society organizations (CSOs) and other civil society organizations in the region, with the awareness of all those involved on the gender dimension of the EU accession process.
- Increased the knowledge on the approach in the process of EU integration by holding a two-day workshop for network members.
- Increased visibility of women's human rights in EU accession documents, especially visibility of Roma women.
- By holding 3 public debates to draw the attention of the public at the local and state level to the importance of increasing the priority of women's human rights by governments in the EU accession process.
The general expected result is Integration and visibility the issues of Roma women in Bosnia and Herzegovina in the EU accession negotiation process. The Roma women association "Bolja Budućnost" Tuzla in partnership with the Roma Women's Network "Uspjeh" in B&H intends to influence the competent institutions in Bosnia and Herzegovina, in particular, the Ministry of Human Rights and Refugees, in accordance with the Advocacy Strategy of RWN also to increase pressure on the European Commission bodies to identify issues of relevance to the status of Roma women in B&H as a particularly vulnerable and marginalized group of women in existing policies in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is a fact that the needs of Roma women are not adequately recognized and integrated into existing policies and the implementation of these policies does not have a significant impact on improving the position of Roma women in BH society.
Activities:
1) Trainings with members of Roma Women Network “Uspjeh” and individuals from Network in line with advocacy education needs.
Activity 2) Advocacy meetings with institutions in charge of implementing gender mechanisms in B&H
Activity 3) Hold a meeting with EC representatives in B&H and the Focal Point in Ministry of Human Rights and Refugees B&H
Activity 4) Monitoring of policies related to Roma women's rights and gender equality in the field of Gender policies in B&H
Activity 5) Organizing a zoom meeting with members of the Balkan Roma Network from Serbia, Montenegro, Macedonia, Albania, and Kosovo to exchange knowledge and plan joint advocacy at the regional level and to include gender equality principles in EU accession
Activity 6: Organizing 3 public debates with aim to strengthened capacity and improved participation of various local women's groups in EU accession especially Roma Women Network members and individuals. All relevant stakeholders from institutions on local and national level.
Project “Support to the Roma Women Network "Uspjeh" in advocating for minorities rights in process of EU integration”, implemented by Roma women association "Bolja Budućnost" Tuzla has been supported by Reactor - Research in Action and their partners through the Action "Furthering Gender Equality through the EU Accession Process". This Action is funded by the European Union and co-funded by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency.
The contents of this post are the sole responsibility of the Roma women association "Bolja Budućnost" Tuzla and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union or the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency.