President of the Roma Women’s Network of the Republic of Serbia Ana Saćipović in the show “Kafe promaja” on TV „Zona plus“ spoke about the Month of Roma Women’s Activism campaign, which will last from 8th of March untill 8th of April under the slogan #RomaWomenThenAndNow in Serbia.

„This is a traditional campaign organized by the Roma Women’s Network of the Republic of Serbia. It is celebrated on very important dates for gender equality, but also for us Roma women, because April 8 is World Roma Day. This year we are celebrating half a century since the first world conference of Roma men and women was held in London. At that time Roma people got the name Roma and our first flag“, said Saćipović.

She explained as well why different Roma organisations decided to unite in the Roma Women’s Network in Serbia.

„We gathered to raise the visibility of the problems of Roma women, to stop violence and discrimination. We started with 10 intellectual Roma women form existing organisations in Serbia. Today the Roma Women’s Network has 35 member organizations, 350 women are active in that network, we have 700 volunteers. So far, we have achieved great results, we have held at least 10 national conferences where we talked to government officials about the problems of Roma people and how to work on them. We have analyzed national and local documents and worked on what needs to be improved. We work to raise awareness of the importance of education, protection from violence, as well as maintaining health and hygiene. There is no topic on which the members of the network did not work“, said Saćipović.

As well she said that everyeone deserves a chance to be equaliy treated in the society.

„Let’s give others a chance to show that they are as valuable as we are, that they are as much people as we are“.

CARE International Balkans with partners financially supports work of the Roma Women’s Network of the Republic of Serbia.