Empowering Roma women through employment EESC/Eurodiaconia/ERIO Hearing “Roma Inclusion: Exploring the gender dimension” Brussels, 21 October 2015 Marta Pinto - ERIO Policy Officer

European Roma Information Office (ERIO) Founded in 2003, ERIO is an international advocacy organisation which promotes political and public discussion on Roma issues by providing information to the EU institutions, civil society and governments. Through its wide network, it aims to combat racist discrimination and social exclusion of Roma through awareness raising, lobbying and policy development. Since its creation, ERIO has been actively involved in shaping European policies for Roma inclusion. Website: Facebook: Twitter:

Project Nº LLP ES-GRUNDTVIG-GMP

Project Nº LLP ES-GRUNDTVIG-GMP Project context Programme: Lifelong Learning, European Commission Sub-programme: Grundtvig Multilateral Duration: 16/01/2012 –15/01/2014 Partners: 1.Instituto de Formación Integral – Spain 2.Romi Serseni – Spain 3.European Development Agency (EDA) – Czech Republic 4.Intercultural Institute of Timisoara (IIT) – Romania 5.AMALIPE – Bulgaria 6.ERIO – Belgium

Project Nº LLP ES-GRUNDTVIG-GMP Project aims Aims of the project: Improve the socio-economic integration of Roma women through adult education; Improve the skills and knowledge of Roma women to help them access the labour market, in particular the service sector.

Project Nº LLP ES-GRUNDTVIG-GMP Target group Roma women; Entities working with Roma people; Education providers, teaching staff and no teaching staff, local organizations, associations, public authorities and NGOs sensible to the subject of Roma social and economic inclusion and access to education.

Project Nº LLP ES-GRUNDTVIG-GMP Methodology 1. Creation of Local Learning Groups (15 Roma women and a local trainer) 2. Evaluation/analysis of competences and learning needs (interviews with employers of service sector and Roma women) 3. Development of learning modules, based on results of evaluation 4. Pilot experience in 5 countries (15 Roma women, one labour advisor and cultural mediator - 30 h)

Project Nº LLP ES-GRUNDTVIG-GMP Outputs 1.Methodology for the evaluation/assessment of competences; 2. Methodology for the interviews to employers of service sector; 3. Survey on Roma women state of the art on their abilities and social skills; 4. Handbook on service sector labour market requirements concerning social and communication competences; 5. Case-studies (examples of good practice concerning the results of the learning modules); 6. Learning Module.

Project Nº LLP ES-GRUNDTVIG-GMP Learning module and pilot experience Aim: develop key social competencies for Roma women to increase their participation in the labour service sector Pilot experience: 5 countries (Spain, Belgium, Romania, Czech Republic and Bulgaria), 50 Roma women Learning module (available in 7 languages: BG, CZ, EN, ES, FR, NL and RO) - 4 units: attitudes, skills, knowledge and mediation/information

Project Nº LLP ES-GRUNDTVIG-GMP Learning module and pilot experience 1. Attitudes Responsibility, learning to learn, work-life balance, self-esteem, self-motivation, positive attitude, success stories of Roma women 2. Skills Communication (verbal and non-verbal, teamwork, decision making, time management 3. Knowledge CV, cover letter, phone calls, job application, job search 4. Mediation and information Information about free training courses and employment services available, organisation of a meeting between employers and Roma women Available to download at ERIO website:

Project Nº LLP ES-GRUNDTVIG-GMP Pilot experience

Project Nº LLP ES-GRUNDTVIG-GMP Some observations of trainees… "I realised that my situation was not so bad and I had some qualities that I could say when I have to present myself." (Czech Republic) “I'm fully motivated after this training and I want to find new courses to develop myself. I don’t want to wait, I don’t want to waste time.“ (Belgium) "I learned a lot about myself. The training made me want to finish high school and look for a job to be independent.” (Romania)

Project Nº LLP ES-GRUNDTVIG-GMP Results/conclusions Positive impact on the beneficiaries: o Improvement of social skills, confidence and self-esteem o Changing attitudes about their way of life Sharing and transmitting knowledge to children Module can be used as a simple stand-alone course or as add-on to other courses

Project Nº LLP ES-GRUNDTVIG-GMP Thank you!