Self-Employment training, targeting Roma students in vocational education and young Roma adults, was held in Budapest on 26-27 September 2020. The organizers are the REF team, implementing the project “Shaping Academic and Employment Skills for Young Roma – SHAPYR”, supported by the Velux Foundations, and the UCCU Roma Informal Educational Foundation.
The day and a half long training course, moderated by the Foundation for Sustainable Enterprises (Fenntartható Vállalkozásokért Alapítvány)/Impact Hub, gathered both SHAPYR and UCCU beneficiaries. The course led participants through the steps of how to build sustainable businesses based on their ideas.
Apart from gaining knowledge about different methods to test and validate ideas, the participants were acquainted with the legal and financial frameworks, which would regulate their eventual business enterprises. The beneficiaries of the training course learned about the Business Canvas Model, the different legal forms of businesses in Hungary, the business-related taxation and the budget planning.
The guest speakers, which were Roma entrepreneurs, shared important aspects of their work. The next step for involving beneficiaries could be in the shape of shorter workshops responding to specific needs which might be related to running one’s own businesses, and mentoring support.
SHAPYR aims to increase the number of Roma young people gaining qualifications and graduating from vocational secondary education. The project, which started in 2018 and will be running for four academic years in Hungary, Romania and Slovakia throughout 2022, incorporates young adults and employment component.
