The Balkan Roma Women’s Network held a Regional Meeting entitled “Stronger Together” in Niš (Republic of Serbia), from June 24th to 27th, 2021 at the Ambassador Hotel. The aim of the Regional Meeting was to establish regional cooperation between representatives of women’s Roma networks and organizations from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, the Republic of Serbia, the Republic of Croatia, Kosovo, and the Republic of Northern Macedonia, as well as Albania.
The topics of the meeting were: Establishment of the Balkan Roma Network structure; Defining the causes of the current situation and providing recommendations for improvement; Current examples of good / bad practice in the countries of the region and exchange of experiences during the pandemic I COVID 19; Providing support and capacity building to deal with stressful situations, personal and professional growth and development of Roma activists.
“The regional meeting contributed to improving the quality of cooperation between Roma women’s organizations in the region, and through the discussion we jointly defined the needs and space for further improvement of the status, role and importance of Roma women in the region for safe and healthy life“, said Jadranka Miličević, CARE International Balkans project manager.
The regional meeting was one of the activities of the three-year regional project “For Active Inclusion & Rights of Roma Women in the Western Balkans III”, which is implemented by CARE International Balkans in partnership with representatives of national networks of Roma women: FIRST Montenegro, „SUCCESS“ BiH and Roma Women’s Network Of Serbia. The regional meeting was financially supported by the Austrian Development Agency.