ROM-ACT aims for real impact on Roma and women travellers in Europe

In the Council recommendation on effective Roma integration measures in the member states1 adopted in December 2013 by the European Council, the European ministries of employment, social policy, health and consumer affairs urged member states to combat all forms of discrimination, including multiple discrimination, faced by Roma children and women.

This also included supporting the active citizenship of Roma by promoting their social, economic, political and cultural participation in society and implementing measures to combat discrimination and prejudice against Roma, by raising awareness about the benefits of Roma integration both in Roma communities and among the general public.

It also invited member states to take effective measures to ensure equal treatment of Roma in access to the labour market and to employment opportunities. European institutions have more than once emphasized that having in place non-formal and informal learning validation systems is the key to achieve this goal, since validation can increase disadvantaged groups’ participation in lifelong learning and their access to the labour market.

Aiming to widen and improve romani and traveller women’s access to non-formal and informal learning validation systems in Europe in order to promote their educative, labour and social inclusion, the ROM-ACT will effectively contribute to this objectives.

Actions and products that will be developed in the framework of the project are as follows:
* 50 European roma and traveller women will have their skills and competences validated thanks to the support of several adult education and ... organizations.
* An awareness-raising campaign towards the roma and traveller community and the European citizens.
* A European guide to support organizations in the accompaniment of non-academic groups in the validation process, and the project's website.
* A lobbying campaign to impact validation policies.
* A network of associations involved in validation accompaniment.

The project has an innovative approach because all its objectives will be achieved via inter and intra-generational dialogue among romani and traveller women from different ages and backgrounds.

National reports collect data on the validation systems of each countriy and provided contributions to improve their inclusiveness from the non-academic Roma women and the centres of adult education, civil and Roma organizations. The European Report is based on the five national reports. It identifies the key elements of exclusion of the non-academic groups in the non-formal and informal learning validation systems and proposes ways for overcoming them. This is done thanks to the specific recommendations made by roma and traveller women and their organizations.

1 Roma data
2 Council Recommendation on the validation of non-formal and informal learning of 20 December 2012

The ROM-ACT consortium includes seven partners from five EU countries. For more information on the ROM-ACT partnership and its activities, click here.

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