PROMA – Newsletter – Issue 8
The final conference of the PROMA – Promoting the integration of Roma women transnational project took place online, on November 22, 2022, with the participation of representatives from the project partners’ organizations, European non-governmental organizations, public authorities, educational institutions, and trainers in formal and non-formal education.
The project was implemented by the Center for Not-for-Profit Law – Romania, Symplexis – Greece, Magenta Consultoria Projects SL- Spain, Citizens Association for Support of Marginalized Groups Roma Resource Center North Macedonia, and BK Consult – Germany and was co-financed by the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Union.
Its mission was to contribute to the integration and empowerment of Roma women who, due to intersectional discrimination, tend to leave school early, and are more likely to find themselves outside of education, training, or employment. The main project’s activities consisted of:
- assessing the educational needs of Roma women and girls and of the formal and non-formal educators working within the Roma communities;
- creating an innovative methodology and a set of educational tools to meet their needs;
- training more than 60 traditional and non-formal education professionals working in Roma communities;
- training over 120 Roma women from the four countries of implementation.
During the final conference, the partners discussed the way in which they applied the PROMA methodology in their countries, stressing the main differences and similarities, the lessons learned during the implementation of the project, and how the materials and resources developed within the project can be capitalized in the future.
The international event was also attended by Marian Daragiu, State Secretary of the Romanian Ministry of Education who presented the latest updates regarding the strategy for improving access to education for Roma children.
Resources developed within the project
- National reports on the situation of Roma women
- Assessment of the educational needs of Roma women and their formal and non-formal educators – The Romanian National Report
- Comparative report on best practices regarding the integration of Roma women at the local level in Romania, Spain, Greece and North Macedonia
- The PROMA E-learning platform for trainers working with Roma women is composed of 23 learning units, structured in 4 modules – https://elearning.promaproject.eu/
- Dedicated section in Romani language, for Roma women on the PROMA platform: http://promaproject.eu/romani
- Handbook for non-formal education trainers regarding a holistic approach in working with Roma women
The final conference was followed by the last Transnational Partners Meeting of the project, which took place in a hybrid format, in Bucharest, on November 22 and 23. The conclusion of these two intense days was that even if the project is finalized, the efforts for its sustainability must continue in order for its mission to be fulfilled, not only at a national level, but at European level too.