The Roma Education Fund congratulates Furugh Switzer on being among the nine winners of the Richter Aranyanyu Prize in Hungary in 2015. As a grantee, Switzer’s Unity in Diversity Foundation has been at the heart of REF’s work in disadvantaged Roma communities to provide inclusive, quality education services for children under age six.
The Roma Education Fund congratulates Furugh Switzer on being among the nine winners of the Richter Aranyanyu Prize in Hungary in 2015. As a grantee, Switzer’s Unity in Diversity Foundation has been at the heart of REF’s work in disadvantaged Roma communities to provide inclusive, quality education services for children under age six. Over her career she has worked ceaselessly to empower hundreds of Roma mothers, developing their early childhood development parenting skills through group reading, personal reflection and literacy in informal learning environments. Countless women have benefitted from re-establishing their confidence in reading through her programs. In addition to Hungary, Your Story (Meséd) programs now run in Albania, Bulgaria, Kosovo*, Macedonia, Romania and Slovakia, and we are exceptionally pleased to see her commitment to Roma education publicly recognized. Her work is an exceptional example of how investing in early childhood development outcomes can make a significant difference in Roma children’s lives and subsequent educational outcomes.
For details (in Hungarian) about the Richter Aranyanyu prize, click here.
For a portrait (in Hungarian) of Furugh Switzer, click here.
For videos of her work with the Roma Education Fund project, A Good Start, click here for Hungarian and here for English.
*This designation is without prejudice to positions on status, and is in line with UNSCR 1244/1999 and the ICJ Opinion on the Kosovo declaration of independence.
