Focus Areas

The Network Women's Program's Roma Women’s Initiative (external website) has helped to develop, link, and catalyze a core group of committed Roma women’s leaders, including many dynamic young women. They are poised to advance a strategic agenda for Roma women’s issues in Central and Eastern Europe and to develop a well-integrated international Roma women’s movement with links to the Roma rights and global women’s movements.

The June 29, 2003 Roma Women’s Forum at the OSI/World Bank/European Commission Roma Conference in Budapest represented a turning point for Roma women by signifying that they are now in a position to influence the agendas of European Union (EU) accession country governments, the EU itself, the World Bank, and United Nations agencies. While the issues and strategic entry points are clear, the relatively small group of active Roma women leaders still has many needs for skills development. Read the conference report, "A Place at the Policy Table."

The NWP's first priority is to provide the necessary capacity-building opportunities to enable Roma women leaders to take advantage of the strategic opportunities inherent in the present historical moment in Europe. The RWI will be intensely involved in framing the "Decade of Roma," as agreed to at the Budapest conference, to ensure that Roma women are fully integrated into national action plans for Roma, regional "Decade" plans, and the EU accession processes. To contribute to these efforts, the NWP will continue to collaborate on the RWI with the Roma Center of Skopje, in Macedonia.