Strategy on the Advancement of Romani Women and Girls (2014-2020)

Third draft (updated 7 March 2014)

INTRODUCTION

Romani women[1] across Europe face the additional burden of racism as well as gender discrimination, which push Romani women at the margins of their societies. Low educational attainment and high rates of irregular attendance and school dropout, high unemployment rates and poor employment opportunities deprive Romani women and girls of realistic possibilities for integration and full participation in society. Lack of personal documents hinders the possibility for many Romani women and/or girls to access education, health care, employment and other related services. Increased racism and anti-Gypsyism in the context of global economic crisis and international mobility of Romani families affect the safety of Romani women and girls, making them increasingly vulnerable to social exclusion, exploitation, trafficking and violence. Traditional family roles, many Romani women find themselves in, create additional mechanisms of exclusion. Early and child marriages are still recurrent among Romani girls and boys in traditional families. While there is a positive ascending trend in the gender relations between Romani women and men, there is yet a long way to go for Romani women to become autonomous and feel that they can make choices outside pre-assumed ascribed gender roles.

Romani women and girls are often excluded from consultation and decision-making processes about legislation, policies and programmes, including on those that are specifically designed to address their situation. This contributes to a lack of or a limited perspective on Romani women and girls in policies on gender, social inclusion or Roma which further hinders Romani women’s equal access to resources and their full participation in all spheres of public and private life. While some progress has been made in recognizing the multiple discrimination of Romani women and girls and the inequalities they face in their access and distribution of resources and public services, the lack of disaggregated data by gender and ethnicity addressing the status of Romani women and girls across European countries prevents policy makers and human rights advocates from devising viable and meaningful policies and measures for the advancement of Romani women’s rights and of their situation at local and national level. The lack of data further prevents the opportunity for establishing a base line and providing a possibility for adequate monitoring and evaluation.

Romani women and girls’ empowerment and gender mainstreaming are key to achieving gender equality and strengthening democratic societies. The process of mainstreaming Romani women and girls’ concerns and priorities, both in policy and practice would enable public policy to advance equality and to combat discrimination by facilitating better policy responses to meet the needs of people who experience inequality such as Romani women and girls. Gender mainstreaming would also introduce a culture of disaggregated data collection by gender and ethnicity, impact assessment, monitoring and review into the public policy process and thus enhance the effectiveness of Roma specific policies; and not lastly, it would eliminate barriers for Romani women and girls experiencing inequality, reduce poverty, boost economic growth and strengthen citizenship.

Investing in educating Romani girls, increasing literacy rates among Romani women, increasing Romani women’s labor force participation and strengthening labour policies affecting women, improving their access to credit, land and other resources and promoting Romani women’s political rights and participation are some of the important driving factors to Romani women’s empowerment.

Therefore, it is essential to address the multiple discrimination and social exclusion of Romani women and girls in a systematic and comprehensive way, in order to achieve full enjoyment of their rights and substantive gender equality and good governance.

CONTEXT

Notwithstanding the multiple and intersectional discrimination faced in all areas of their life, Romani women and girls are still waiting to become part of priorities at national level. Despite notable actions by many international organisations in addressing concerns of Romani women and girls, Romani women they still fall out of most policy making processes at local and national level. The discourse involving Romani women and girls has yet to be accompanied by elements of real empowerment through gender mainstreaming approaches, which should not be unique to them, but applied in the same way the principles of gender mainstreaming and empowerment are applied to non-Romani women. The reluctance to do so should not be justified but the lack of information about the situation of Romani women at local level, as comprehensive worldwide reports demonstrate that poverty, discrimination, social exclusion and gender inequality manifest and affect women of various backgrounds in a similar way.

Romani women’s issues have first emerged in the mid-90s with the support of international organisations, which have started both an internal process of identifying institutional mechanisms to address Romani women’s issues within as well as collaborative efforts together with Roma NGOs and other international organisations in promoting and supporting Romani women’s issues and building capacity in women’s groups and activists.

One of the first important opportunities for Romani women to make their voices heard was the First Congress of Roma from the European Union, organised with the support of the European Commission, in May 1994, in Seville, Spain, where Romani women from all over Europe discussed their problems for the first time. The outcome of the meeting was a Manifesto of Roma Women, which referred to the situation of Romani women in Europe and stressed the need of having access to education as a means of empowerment in their fight against discrimination and patriarchal rules within and outside the family. Similar notable participation of Romani women have taken place in 2000 at the Beijing Plus Five meeting in New York and at the UN World Conference against Racism in Durban, South Africa, in 2001, where Romani women raised issues such as forced sterilisation, unemployment and domestic violence.

Among international organisations, The Council of Europe (CoE) started to raise awareness on Romani women and youth as of 1995. Thus, in 1995, the Steering Committee for the Equality between Women and Men held a “Hearing of Romani women” in Strasbourg. The same year, the Youth Directorate of the Council of Europe organised a training session for young Roma leaders and as a result, the Forum of European Roma Young People was established in 1998. A series of seminar on Romani women and discrimination of youth have been organized since; unfortunately, the youth related issues promoted by the Council of Europe have remained to a large extent isolated from the Romani women’s rights broader agenda.

In 2003, the Council of Europe picked up again the issue of Romani women through a series of training, campaigns, meetings and studies. Thus in 2003, the Migration and Roma/Gypsy Division conducted together with the Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA) and the OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities the study on “Breaking the Barriers - Romani Women and Access to Public Health Care”. The Report aimed to help policy and lawmakers understand the nature of healthcare access for Romani women and to assist them to improve the design and implementation of policies on Romani women and health. In the same year, the Council of Europe and the FRA in partnership with national governments have started to support initiatives by and of Romani women, such as the establishment of the International Romani Women’s Network (IRWN), and to provide forums for Romani women to define policy priorities and facilitate exchanges of information and country experiences. The IRWN however has not managed to become a visible stakeholder and convincing partner for policy development processes on Romani women and girls issues, as a result of numerous obstacles, among which the lack of continuous financing, operational set-up and strategic programming. As a consequence, discussions among Romani women and international stakeholders often arouse around the need to either reform IRWN or/and create alternative regional and international platforms representing the interest of wider and inclusive interests of Romani women and girls.

As of 2007 a number of member states have joined the Council of Europe in an effort to increase the visibility of Romani women and girls’ concerns at the international level, while providing a bigger forum for Romani women to exchange experiences and elaborate common agenda. Thus, in September 2007, the Council of Europe has organised together with the Swedish Government the 1st International Conference of Romani women in Stockholm followed by the 2nd International Conference of Romani Women in Athens together with the Greek government in January 2010 and the 3rd Romani Women’s Congress in Granada together with the Spanish Government in October 2011. On the 17-18 September 2013, the Government of Finland organized in Helsinki the 4th International Romani Women’s Conference in cooperation with the Council of Europe. An Internet page on the International Conferences has been created at the official Council of Europe Internet site.

Gender and Romani women’s issues are a priority also for the CoE Committee of Experts on Roma issues (CAHROM), which has appointed a Gender Rapporteur from Finland. In the framework of its thematic working methods, the CAHROM has endorsed several thematic reports that address school enrolment, with a specific focus on Romani girls, as well as on measures to reduce school dropouts, absenteeism and school segregation. The CAHROM has dedicated in 2013 a special focus on trafficking of Romani women and girls and its possible links with early marriages. A joint of the European Roma and Travellers Forum and Phenjalipe paper on early marriages was also presented, which will be again on the agenda of the CAHROM May 2014 meeting, in co-operation with the Group of Experts on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings. In the beginning of 2014, Lithuania has requested the setting-up of a CAHROM thematic group on the empowerment of Romani women and the gender dimension of Roma integration policies. Finland, Slovenia and Spain are envisaged partner countries. The CAHROM thematic visit to Lithuania is tabled for June 2014. In addition, in 2014, the CAHROM will also set up a thematic group on Roma youth empowerment and Roma youth dimension of national policies for Roma.

The OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) started addressing Romani women’s issues more consistently in 2003, when the Ministerial Council endorsed the Action Plan for Roma and Sinti within the OSCE Area. The 2003 Action Plan is a first comprehensive policy document on Roma, addressing key areas and recommending action by participating States. The Action Plan underlines for the first time that Roma and Sinti women should be systematically mainstreamed in all relevant Roma policies and should be able to participate on equal basis with men.

In its work on promoting gender equality, ODIHR also co-operated with the Gender Section and the OSCE Special Representative and Co-ordinator for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings, addressing the multiple forms of discrimination against Romani women and girls and the particular vulnerability of Roma to trafficking. It focused also on promoting and supporting voters’ education among Romani women, and thus it supported Romani women’s NGOs and initiatives in conducting information and voter-education campaigns for Roma communities in Serbia and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. As part of the “Best Practices for Roma Integration” project implemented by the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights in the Western Balkans in 2012 and 2013, Romani women’s participation in local elections became a best practice in Bosnia and Herzegovina. In addition, ODIHR supported a “Campaign to Prevent and Combat the Practice of Early Marriage” in Roma communities in Romania, in 2011. As part of the campaign, a documentary on early marriage was produced and activities in ten Roma communities in Romania have been implemented.

The OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, at its Twentieth Annual Session, in Belgrade in July 2011, adopted two resolutions on Roma among which a resolution on “Promoting polices on equality between women and men of the Roma population”. Thus, in 2012, ODIHR shifted greater focus to raising awareness on the multiple forms of discrimination and vulnerability that Roma and Sinti women face. The Special Day on Roma and Sinti during the Human Dimension Implementation Meeting on 26 September focused on the empowerment of Romani women. Representatives from participating States and Roma women’s organisations stressed that education is vital to increasing Roma women’s active participation in public and political life.

ODIHR has also placed special emphasis on empowering Roma youth and supporting the Roma youth net- work TernYpe. In 2011, ODIHR supported the efforts of Roma organisations to enhance youth activism, including training on youth mobilization and civic participation, which led to the establishment of the Roma Youth Alliance. ODIHR also hosted the third “Roma Consultation Meeting” with more than 40 Roma and Sinti women civil society representatives from across the OSCE region. The consultation meeting led to the adoption of the “Warsaw Romani, Sinti and Travellers Women’s Declaration”, which highlights the vulnerable situation of Roma, Sinti and Traveller women and the negative impact of government austerity measures on them.

After the Supplementary Human Dimension Meeting in September 2013, dedicated to the assessment of the 10 years of implementation of the Action Plan on Roma and Sinti, the Ministerial Council endorsed the Decision No. 4/13 on Enhancing OSCE Efforts to Implement the Action Plan on Improving the Situation of Roma and Sinti Within the OSCE Area, With a Particular Focus on Roma and Sinti Women, Youth and Children, on 6 December 2013.

The European Union has focused on Romani women as of 2006, with the adoption of the European Parliament Resolution on the situation of Romani women in the European Union. The resolution noted that: "Romani women constitute among the most threatened groups and individuals in the Member States and accession and candidate countries".

In the context of the 2007 European Council conclusions on Roma and the 2008 European Parliament resolution for a comprehensive European framework strategy on Roma, the European Commission issued in 2008 a staff working document on “Non-discrimination and equal opportunities: A renewed commitment. Community Instruments and Policies for Roma Inclusion” (COM 2008/420), where Communication recognizes that most national strategies for Roma inclusion have tended to be silent on the specific obstacles faced by Roma women and underlines that “the incorporation of gender mainstreaming and specific actions to improve the situation of Roma women in all policies is an important step towards gender equality and social cohesion”, by adopting the “dual approach of gender mainstreaming and specific actions, in order to ensure that the issues faced by Roma women are not left behind and are properly addressed.”

In the same year, the European Commission published the report on “Ethnic minority and Roma women in Europe: a case for gender equality”, which confirms that ethnic minority and especially Romani women are the most vulnerable to multiple discriminations and face higher risks of social exclusion and poverty than the women of the native population and minority men.

As regards the work of the FRA, the Agency has facilitated the work of Romani women networks through the participation of Romani women at international conferences addressing the implementation of national policies on Roma, through training and roundtable discussions, which allowed the Agency to ensure that the perspective of Romani women was integrated in its wider work. A conference “Our Voices Heard” which was co-organised by the Swedish Government, the Council of Europe and the FRA in December 2007, focused on the issues of women’s rights, combating trafficking, reproductive rights and access to public healthcare for Romani women. It was an opportunity to share information and good practices between policymakers and Romani Women’s networks across Europe.

In 2011, FRA published a “Study on the situation for Roma women and men in the EU” in eleven member states and presented its gender-focused report at the joint LIBE and FEMM public hearing on ‘The EU Framework for National Roma Integration Strategies’ on 18 September 2011. The findings showed that on average the situation of Roma women in core areas of social life, namely education, employment, housing and health is worse than that of men.

In 2011, the European Commission issued the European Framework for National Roma Integration Strategies (thereof “the European Framework”), which aims to make a tangible difference in the lives of Roma by encouraging Member States to adopt or develop a comprehensive approach to Roma integration. Gender features with reference to the Common Basic Principles on Roma Inclusion, whereby member states and candidate countries were encouraged to be aware of the gender dimension when designing their strategies on Roma. In May 2011, the EPSCO Council, when adopting conclusions on the European Framework, highlighted that “special attention should be paid to the interests and difficulties of Roma women and girls, who face the risk of multiple discrimination, and thus a gender perspective needs to be applied in all policies and actions for advancing Roma inclusion.” Despite binding obligations undertook by the Heads of State under the European Framework, most National Roma Integration Strategies failed to mainstream gender and Romani women and girls’ issues appropriately and comprehensively. Unsatisfied with the way gender was being factored within the National Roma Integration Strategies under the European Framework, the European Parliament Committee on Gender Equality and Women’s Rights, under the leadership of the Vice-Chair Livia Jaroka, adopted in October 2013 the report on the “Gender Aspects of the European Framework of National Roma Inclusion Strategies”, on the account that gender was either missing or addressed in an incidental and inconsistent way in national strategies. Thus the report calls on Member States and the Commission to strengthen gender mainstreaming, conduct gender impact assessments, and consult women’s organisations and Roma NGOs with regard to national strategies. It formulates several specific policy proposals and measures addressing, among other, children’s poverty, school dropout and early marriage.

The Open Society Foundations (OSF) through its various programs started to support initiatives on Romani women at regional and European level as of 1999, when the Roma Participation Program (RPP) organised an International Conference of Romani Women in Budapest. The OSF supported Romani women through its grants making for capacity building of Romani NGOs, ensured an increased quota of Romani women and young girls throughout its initiatives on Roma (ex. the internship scheme for young Roma graduates with the European Commission) and created special initiatives for Romani women with the aim to promote and advance the leadership role of Romani women, build local community-based initiatives led and managed by women activists among and widen the possibilities for more substantive participation by greater numbers of Romani women in policy development. The OSF is currently awarding three fellowshipsto Romani women university graduates from Albania, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Italy, FYR Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Spain, and Turkey who are committed to engaging in Romani women’s rights work.

The Open Society Foundations, the European Roma Rights Centre and other human rights institutions have supported the elaboration and submission of shadow reports by Romani and women’s NGOs to various United Nations monitoring committees on Romani women’s concerns, calling for action by reporting states among which Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Greece, Hungary, Italy, FYR Macedonia, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Spain, Ukraine and United Kingdom.

Despite all these efforts by international organisations to support Romani women, the pool of Romani women’s NGOs and women’s activists at national levels is still under representative and under equipped in order to be able to use their full potential. Romani women need to be able to affirm and enjoy their rights and be able to fully participate in society. Thus, while the status of Romani women and girls started to be recognised at international level, efforts have not to focus on making the discourse of gender equality and mainstreaming a tangible reality for Romani women and girls. This calls for specific and sustainable approaches on Romani women and girls to enable them to be transformers of their lives and of their communities, on the one hand, whereas actions should target to raise awareness of local authorities and political elites on the necessity to include Romani women and girls in their priorities.

PROCESS

On the 17-18 September 2013, the Government of Finland organized in Helsinki the 4th International Romani Women’s Conference in cooperation with the Council of Europe. More than one hundred Romani women from various European countries gathered to take stock of past initiatives and developments at policy and Roma community level and to contribute to a Strategy on ways to advance the status of Romani women and girls in Europe.

The 4th International Romani Women’s Conference in Finland is part of a series of similar initiatives facilitated and supported by the Council of Europe jointly with various national governments since 2003. Within these forums, Romani women raised concerns, exchanged experiences and mobilised jointly over common purposes. In the context where Romani women expressed concerns over the worsening situation of Romani women at national level and the need for more sustainable ways to act as a network and cooperate with other stakeholders on various priority issues, the process of organising the 4th International Romani Women’s Conference provided mechanisms for wider consultations with Romani women and engagement of national governments.

Thus in 2012, the Finnish government, which had previously announced its intention and commitment to hold the 4th International Romani Women’s Conference in Helsinki, organised together with the Romanian government (the National Roma Cultural Institute) and in cooperation with the Council of Europe a brainstorming meeting of Romani women’s experts and activists in Bucharest, which prepared the groundwork for the international conference and defined ways for an inclusive consultation and involvement of Romani women in the outcome of the conference. This included the creation of online consultations via questionnaires for defining priority areas, open calls for participation in the conference and online streaming of the conference in Helsinki.

During the Helsinki conference, Romani women reiterated the need to build on previous developments and increase visibility on Romani women’s issues. Thus, a platform initiative called Phenjalipe (“Sisterhood”) was launched at the conference with the aim to support the implementation of the strategic outcome document formulated in the objectives of the conference and further facilitate exchanges of information and coordination at regional level on issues related to Romani women and girls.

A number of follow up meetings have been facilitated by the Council of Europe with the financial support of the Finnish Government. Thus on 26-27 November 2013, the CoE in the context of the joint CoE/EU programme ROMED2 organised together with a group of Romani women the first Romani women’s encounter in Lisbon, Portugal, followed by an Expert meeting of Romani women on “Developing a Roadmap for implementing the Strategy on Romani women (2014-2020), in Strasbourg on 17 February 2014 linked to a brainstorming meeting on “Mainstreaming Gender in Council of Europe programmes ROMACT and ROMED” on 18 February 2014.

On 24 February 2014, the Council of Europe organised jointly with the United Nations Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner of the Republic of Moldova, the UN WOMEN, the OSCE Contact Point for Roma and Sinti Issues and the Roma NGO Tarnă Rom, a Roundtable on “Romani women’s political participation at national and local level” in Chişinău.

The expert meeting of Romani women in Strasbourg, on 17 February 2014, was a direct follow-up meeting to the Helsinki international conference in 2003. It aimed to facilitate the finalising of the Strategy of Romani women, a process which started at the Helsinki conference and to develop tools for its effective implementation. Thus, a second Strategy draft was discussed during the Strasbourg meeting by expert Romani women members of Phenjalipe, prior to its final adoption by Phenjalipe members. In addition, Romani women experts developed an Action Plan with specific activities, which will be implemented by a Working Group for the implementation of the Strategy, established at the meeting.

APPROACH

In the period 2014-2020, the Informal Romani Women’s Platform, Phenjalipe, aims to implement the Strategy for the Advancement of Romani Women and Girls. The document outlines strategic objectives and priorities for the advancement of Romani women and girls in Europe and beyond. It identifies the main partners needed to achieve its objectives. The Romani community and women’s groups are central to the implementation of the Strategy.

The Strategy employs the following approach:

I.              GOAL AND STRATEGIC OBJECTIVES

The overall goal of the Strategy is to achieve the advancement and empowerment of Romani women and girls in Europe and the strengthening of gender equality and non-discrimination thereof in countries of residence by supporting the implementation of six strategic objectives which also integrate the issue of multiple discrimination while taking into account the specific needs, challenges and opportunities of Romani women and girls.

Strategic objective 1:

Combating racism, anti-Gypsyism and gender stereotypes against Romani women and girls

Romani women suffer from racism and anti-Gypsyism that is particular to them because of their ethnic belonging and because of their gender. In addition, the impact of racism, anti-Gypsyism and social exclusion of Roma in general has a greater impact on the lives of Romani women and girls, who become more vulnerable to poverty, forced evictions, homelessness, racist violence, trafficking, etc. More so, gender stereotypes and gender ascribed roles within some Romani communities limit the individual development and opportunities of Romani women and girls.

Action will focus on:

§  Monitoring the human rights situation of Romani women and girls at national level;

§  Raising awareness on the extent of racism, anti-Gypsyism and gender stereotypes against Romani women and girls;

§  Calling on government and intergovernmental measures and action on combating racism, anti-Gypsyism and gender stereotypes against Romani women and girls;

§  Promoting and supporting joint action on combating and preventing racist violence and anti-Gypsyism against Romani women and girls;

§  Promoting a positive and non-stereotyped image of Romani women and girls;

§  Promote a positive and objective image of Romani women in the media;

§  Promoting and supporting a meaningful participation of Romani women in decision-making positions in public institutions and political life;

§  Promoting and supporting the role of Romani men in achieving gender equality;

§  Promoting and supporting the collection of data on the status of Romani women and girls in all areas of life; and the culture of impact assessment, monitoring and review into the public policy process.

Strategic objective 2:

Preventing and combating various forms of violence against Romani women and girls

Violence against Romani women and girls remains widespread in Europe, with devastating consequences for Romani women and girls as well as for societies and democracies. Romani women often fall victims of domestic violence, forced marriage, trafficking and forced prostitution, forced sterilisation, violence by the police and verbal or physical abuse by various state actors, etc. The Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence (the Istanbul Convention) is the most far-reaching international treaty to tackle this serious violation of human rights.

Action will include:

§  Calling on CoE member States to sign, ratify and implement the Istanbul Convention, as relevant;

§  Promoting and supporting the collection and dissemination on data regarding legal and other measures taken at national level to prevent and combat violence against Romani women and girls;

§  Promoting and supporting bilateral, regional and international cooperation aimed at the elimination of trafficking in persons, targeting Romani women and children;

§  Promoting and supporting measures to prevent and end child and forced marriages;

§  Calling on governments to combat and prevent all forms of violence against Romani women and girls, including practices that lead to and/or perpetuate gender inequality or violate the rights of Romani women and girls.

§  Promote and support measures aimed at preventing and combating all forms of violence against Romani women and girls, including inclusive and culturally adapted enforcement measures;

§  Promote best practices aiming at preventing and combating violence against Romani women and girls both by state and non-state actors.

Strategic objective 3:

Guaranteeing Equal Access of Romani Women and girls to public services

Engrained discrimination and extreme social exclusion prevent Romani women from an adequate and equal access to education, health, social protection, employment and housing and accommodation. The lack of personal documents and high level of illiteracy further their social exclusion and marginalisation. Their participation in society is also prevented by pre-ascribed gender roles within traditional families.

Action will seek to:

§  Promote and support adequate mechanisms for preventing and combating discrimination, including on multiple grounds in Romani women’s access to education, employment, health care, social protection, housing, accommodation, etc.;

§  Promote and support measures for the economic empowerment of Romani women and girls;

§  Promote and support measures for the human rights advancement of Romani women and girls;

§  Promote and support exchanges of best practices on good governance on gender/Romani women’s mainstreaming in policy and practice;

§  Promote and support mechanisms for gender and ethnicity data collection, gender impact assessments and monitoring progress in increasing Romani women’s and young girls’ participation in society and their equal and meaningful representation in public and political life at all levels.

Strategic objective 4:

Ensuring access to justice of Romani women

Discrimination, racism and gender inequalities impinge on Romani women’s access to justice. Romani women are reluctant to access complaint mechanisms and seek justice in courts because of lack of awareness and information, but also confidence and resources, including economic barriers for legal representation. In addition, gender stereotypes and gender power imbalance make Romani women victims of biased and ineffective justice systems, i.e. Romani women get sentenced for crimes committed by their husbands.

Action will seek to:

§  Identify and raise awareness on obstacles Romani women encounter in gaining access to justice;

§  Condemn practices that discriminate against Romani women and girls in their access to justice;

§  Identify, collect and disseminate any existing remedies and good practices aiming at facilitating access of Romani women to justice, including out-of-court and quasi-legal stages of protection of women’s rights (inter alia through Ombudspersons and other human rights institutions);

§  Make recommendations to improve the situation.

Strategic objective 5:

Achieving adequate and meaningful participation of Romani women in political and public decision-making

Romani women lack adequate representation and participation in national and local public administration institutions and in political life. Ensuring effective participation of Romani women in public and political life not only ensures their participation in decision-making on issues directly affecting them but also helps to ensure that society as a whole benefits from their contribution and truly reflects its diversity.

Action will seek to:

§  Promote and support adequate and meaningful participation of Romani women in political or public life in any decision-making bodies;

§  Monitor progress on Romani women’s participation in decision-making; promote the visibility of data and good practices across countries;

§  Promote and support measures aiming to support and empower candidate and elected Romani women, to facilitate and encourage their participation in elections at local and national level;

§  Call on governments to ensure the effective participation of Romani women in public and political life.

Strategic objective 6:

Achieving Gender and Romani Women’s Mainstreaming in all policies and measures

The mainstreaming of gender and Romani women’s concerns and priorities, both in policy and practice would enable public policy responses to advance equality and to combat discrimination. Gender mainstreaming introduces a culture of disaggregated data, impact assessment, monitoring and review into the public policy process and thus enhances the effectiveness of Romani women and girls specific policies; it also eliminates barriers for Romani women experiencing inequality, reduces poverty, boosts economic growth and strengthens citizenship. Mainstreaming creates means for the empowerment of Romani women and their autonomy.

Action should support mainstreaming in:

§  various policy areas, in particular the areas of justice, law enforcement, local government, media, culture, education, minorities, migration, Roma, children’s rights, social inclusion and cohesion, youth and sports, trafficking in human beings and drug abuse;

§  the development and implementation of programmes, projects and activities of local and national authorities, intergovernmental institutions, human rights organisations and women’s groups;

§  the policy processes and functioning of the various bodies and institutions;

§  the staff policies of local public administration, intergovernmental organisations, monitoring bodies, relevant human rights/Roma rights institutions, etc.;

§  good practices on gender/Romani women and girls’ issues.

II.             PARTNERSHIPS

The Working Group of Romani Women for the implementation of the Strategy will create links and partnerships with existing initiatives and relevant implementing mechanisms such as the following:

Council of Europe

§  Council of Europe Special Representative of the Secretary General for Roma issues

§  Council of Europe Ad-Hoc Committee of Experts on Roma Issues (CAHROM) and its Gender Rapporteur

§  Council of Europe Gender Equality and Human Dignity Department (and all its relevant Divisions such as GRETA, GREVIO, Lanzarote Convention, Children’s Rights, SOGI, Equality Division, etc.)

§  Council of Europe Permanent Representations

§  Commissioner for Human Rights

§  European Court of Human Rights

§  Congress of Local and Regional Authorities

§  Parliamentary Assembly (in particular its Committee on Equality and Non-Discrimination)

European Union

§  European Commission

o   Equality Unit

o   Roma Unit

§  European Parliament

o   FEMM Committee

o   Party Groups

§  European Council

§  Fundamental Rights Agency

o   Gender Focal Points

OSCE/ODIHR

§  Contact Point for Roma and Sinti Issues

§  Commissioner on National Minorities

§  Gender Equality Department

United Nations

§  UN WOMEN

§  CEDAW Committee

§  Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights

§  Human Rights Council

§  UNICEF

§  UNDP

International Human Rights and Roma organisations

§  Open Society Foundations

§  European Roma and Travellers Forum

§  European Roma Rights Centre

§  European Roma Information Office

§  European Roma Grassroots Organisation

§  European Roma Policy Coalition

§  Roma Education Fund

§  Roma Decade Secretariat

§  International and Regional Romani Women’s Networks

§  Romani Youth networks

National level

§  National Focal Points of the National Roma Integration Strategies

§  Local and regional authorities

§  Members of National Parliaments

§  Gender Equality bodies

§  Ombudspersons

§  National Human Rights institutions

o   Gender Institutes

o   OSF national foundations

§  National and local Roma organisations

§  Romani women NGOs, Romani women’s groups and networks

§  Romani women mediators and their networks

§  Romani Youth networks and NGOs

III.            OUTREACH

An outreach plan will be developed with the aim to:

§  increase the visibility of the Strategy;

§  raise awareness on specific issues;

§  facilitate the exchange of information with partners;

§  give visibility to good practices at local, national and regional level.

IV.           ACTION PLAN

An Action Plan will be developed every two years in order achieve the objectives of the Strategy. The Action Plan will include specific activities deriving from the strategic objectives, which will be implemented by the Working Group of Romani Women for the implementation of the Strategy. After every two year cycle of implementation, an assessment of the activities implemented and of their impact will be undertaken together with the Phenjalipe network.


[1] Romani women is a generic term used to cover all diverse groups of women that associate with the plight of Romani women, such as women belonging to Sinti, Manush, Kale, Dom, Lom, Gypsies, Travellers, Yenish, Beash, Ashkali, Egyptians, and other related groups.