Project background
This intiative follows on the integrated analysis of the needs of the Romani population in Serbia and Montenegro which ECMI conducted with the support of the Swedish International Development Agency (Sida) in fall 2004. Designed on the basis of the needs assessment methodology used the previous year in ECMI’s needs assessment with Roms in Macedonia, the analysis in Serbia and Montenegro at the same time reflected observed differences with regard to Macedonia in the choice of three core areas: migration, employment, and civil rights. As in Macedonia, for each core area attention was given not only to the situation of the Romani population in general, but also to the position of Romani women in particular.
Aims
While the demand for assistance from the thirteen Romani coordinators established by fall 2005 demonstrates the potential for the coordinators to serve the corresponding local Romani communities, the continued existence of these positions depends in large part on the coordinators’ ability to generate the concrete results necessary to gain support from the municipal budget in future. The achievement of these results in turn requires increased capacity on the part of not only the local Romani coordinators, but also the (non-Romani) local government officials in charge of the various sectors within which Roms’ complex and multi-faceted marginalization manifests itself. In accordance with the guidelines contained in the narrative report resulting from ECMI’s integrated analysis in Serbia and Montenegro, this project seeks to increase and improve contacts between Romani communities and local authorities through training and networking activities for local Romani coordinators and their relevant counterparts in local government in thirteen municipalities in the Republic of Serbia.
Activities
Working in close consultation with the Ministry of Human and Minority Rights of the Union of Serbia and Montenegro (now the Service for Human and Minority Rights of the Republic of Serbia) as well as with the Romani coordinators themselves, ECMI developed specialized training sessions for the local Romani coordinators on the following topics:
- General computer literacy;
- Human and minority rights (including the rights of women);
- The Decade of Roma Inclusion and the National Action Plans;
- Project design and fundraising;
- Project management;
- Advocacy; and
- Public relations.
When ECMI’s consultations with the Ministry of Human and Minority Rights pointed to the utility of providing training for local government officials in charge of the priority sectors of education, employment, health, and housing, ECMI also designed the following modules for the relevant sector heads:
- Human and minority rights (including the rights of women);
- The Decade of Roma Inclusion and the National Action Plans;
- Project design and fundraising; and
- Project management.