ver 320 Roma children and youth and their parents in Bosnia and Herzegovina will be beneficiaries of a three-year educational project that will work on improving the position of the Roma population and increasing their opportunities for completing quality education.
The regional Project: “Increased Education Opportunities for Roma Students and Roma Youth in Western Balkans and Turkey” was initiated by the Roma Education Fund (REF) and is supported through a €3 million grant from the European Union (EU), with an additional €827,000 contribution by REF.
Around 100 Roma children aged three to six in the area of Visoko municipality, as well as their parents, will be involved in early childhood development activities in order to enable access to quality mainstream preschools. In Kakanj municipality, around 80 Roma children up to 6 years of age and their parents will benefit from the newly opened Toy Library through a community-based early childhood educational program.
Pupils from 1st and 2nd grades in primary school will participate in numerous activities for accelerating school achievement, with the active involvement of parents in the educational process.
In Zenica-Doboj Canton around 60 secondary school students will be provided with merit-based scholarships and school-based tutoring and mentoring. In addition, the young people will be inspired to continue their studies through getting to know role models from the Roma communities who have enrolled into universities.
Six university students and graduates in Bosnia and Herzegovina will be awarded scholarships and offered support towards improved academic results and employability. The activities related to tertiary education will target the municipalities of Tuzla, Kalesija, Lukavac, Gracanica, Banovici and Zivinice. The project will improve Roma students’ transition from education to employment and promote durable systemic change and desegregation of education systems.
The project has established cooperation with state and international agencies and, through the involvement of national and local decision-makers, the action will contribute to the reinforcement of policies for the critical issues surrounding Roma education and employment.
Implementing partner organizations from Bosnia and Herzegovina are Association Roma Support Centre “Romalen” Kakanj and the Association of Roma “Euro Rom” Tuzla. The financial share from the project which will be re-granted to Bosnia and Herzegovina is around €170,000, and the implementation period will last until 30 June 2021.
The kick-off event under the project took place on 6 February in Sarajevo, with representatives from the Delegation of the EU in BiH, the Ministry of Human Rights and Refugees, and The Council of Europe.
For more information please contact:
Mujo Fafulić
Projekt menadžer
Udruženje Centar za podršku Roma „Romalen“ Kakanj
+387/62-452-711
romalekakanj@yahoo.com
Nedžad Jusić
Projekt menadžer
Udruženje Roma „Euro Rom“ Tuzla
+387/62-346-461
eurorom_bh@yahoo.com
