Fourth International Roma Women´s Conference
More than 100 Roma women from different countries met at the Fourth International Conference of Roma Women organized by the Council of Europe and the Finnish Government in Helsinki, Finland, on 16-17 September 2013.
Under the title” Act now for the equal future” conference provided an opportunity for Roma women to address on the international scene the issues affecting their lives and lives of their families. Facing the fact that there are lack of concrete steps taken up today for advancing women´s cause, they came together raise their concerns, give evidence by their testimonies and raise awareness of issues they face. The lack of concrete steps by governments to advance the situation of Romani women through concrete measures encouraged them to see the Council of Europe led women’s conference as a space where they themselves can define actions and plans that they will advocate at national governments and International Organizations or that they can lead and implement themselves. Women sent a clear message to governments that they have a policy proposal and that they can be future partners in policy implementation process.
Ms. Tarja Halonen Former President of Finland who was present at the conference expressed congratulation to all of the Romani women for the initiative and she confirmed her support in everything they do. Mr. Jeroen Schokkenbroek Special Representative of the Secretary General for Roma Issues (Council of Europe), various ministers from Finland, Sweden and Norway, Mr. Jan Truszcynski Director General, Directorate General of Education, Training, Culture and Youth (European Commission) mentioned that they (Romani women) should be strengthen in order to have the power for being equal partner. They very much welcomed the fact Romani women have the capacity to give the recommendations for the policy makers.
Conference was divided into three workshops. Education as a precondition for the fulfillment of the rights of Roma, Advancement of the Rights and Gender Equality of Roma women in society and Community Mobilization, Enhancement of Active Citizenship, Participation and Networking of the Romani women. Romani women participated in different workshops to share with each other their experiences from the grassroots level. Some of the recommendation of this workshops were to see Romani women to full rights as active citizens in their own countries at all levels through straightening Romani women at the grassroots –“It is not enough to talk about it at the conference, we need to reach out, with a Roma woman we can reach Roma woman – if someone is trying to work with Roma and not being Roma – it doesn’t work” mentioned one of the Roma Women from Romania. Multi-dimensional discrimination is needed to be taken in consideration. It is not only about being Romani women, but also women.
There were many real stories that came from the harsh reality women face, but this time, it was different, women were able to find solutions for their problems. Workshops proposed concrete follow-up actions and recommendations for governments. Romani women agree on preparing a strategic document on Roma women policies containing recommendations for the main stakeholders, the Romani women themselves, governments and International Organizations. An initiation group of Romani women was established in order to help to steer the process of finalizing the policy document and boosting the communication among women in order to create a platform for exchange that will lead to a strong Romani women´s movement. Main international stakeholders (CoE, EC, FRA, OSCE-ODIHR, UN) had the opportunity to draw on the discussions with participants to improve or modify policy initiatives.
Ilvia Bajrami
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