In January 2007, CARE Serbia started the project Empowerment and Integration of the Roma in the Vojvodina, funded by the European Commission and CARE International Deutschland Luxembourg. The project is implemented in the Vojvodina region, in cooperation with the local Roma partner NGOs Association of Roma Students and Khetane from Novi Sad.
The main project objective is to contribute to the empowerment and integration of the Roma minority in the Vojvodina Region, in three different civic fields – community development, education and employment. This is achieved through creation of new mechanisms/opportunities and more effective use of already existing ones.
Community development project component: the process is initiated in the total of 10 Roma communities in Vojvodina and its focus is strengthening of the Roma citizens to recognize their needs, problems and potentials and to instigate certain initiatives in their communities according to priorities and in cooperation with the project partners and local authorities. This project component is based on the initial project research undertaken in cooperation with Prof. Milos Marjanovic form the Law Faculty of the University of Novi Sad. The research in English can be viewed here.
The second project component aims at providing the access to the information and services of the labor market for the unemployed Roma. It is in line with the Action Plan for the Employment of the Roma (within the Roma Decade), foremost with efforts concerning the affirmative measures of the National Employment Bureau.
The third component deals with the improvement of educational status of the Roma, through spreading information on the affirmative actions concerning Roma education, set up by the Vojvodinian Secretariat for Education. The assistance mostly focuses on realization of the rights of the Roma to enroll secondary schools and faculties, etc.
The project established cooperation with the Provincial Secretariat for Labor, Employment and Gender Equality, Secretariat for Education, National Employment Bureau, Roma Inclusion Office of Vojvodina, as well as with numerous schools in Vojvodina.
The Project will be finished in May 2010.