The Center for Roma Initiatives (CRI) has, in the last three years, as part of the project "For active inclusion and rights of Romani women in the Western Balkans II", suppressed 36 child arranged marriages, and intersectoral cooperation, during the realization of the project, in Montenegro, was evaluated successful.
This was announced today at the press conference "Solidarity and support in the work of Roma women/Egyptian women in Montenegro", which was organized by Care International Balkans as part of the project "For active inclusion and rights of Roma women in the Western Balkans II".
The representative of Care International Balkans, Maja Petek, said at the presentation of the report "How it could have been, and how it is now", that intersectoral cooperation proved to be significant during the implementation of the project, assessing it as successful in Montenegro.
"Good practices, lessons learned and experiences can be transferred from country to country, and then to local communities. We worked on intersectoral cooperation, which is very successful in Montenegro. She gives a voice to Roma women in institutions," said Petek.
She reminded that, in the Committee for Gender Equality at the Parliament of Montenegro, one representative of the Roma and Egyptian population (RE) is included, who, as she explained, represents the interests of that population.
"We, who work with this population, cannot know exactly what their needs are. In this way, by including, we hear the voice and needs, experiences of those women, mothers, children, husbands", said Petek.
She said that the film "My whole life is a struggle", which was broadcast after the press conference, shows the stories of members of the RE population, who managed to overcome everyday difficulties, and who, as she said, strive to help others by their example.
The executive coordinator of the Center for Roma Initiatives (CRI), Fana Delija, stated that, during the duration of the project, the focus was on strengthening the capacity of RE activists, on direct work in the community, and that, as she stated, 1.854 people were involved in various activities.
She announced that this organization, during three years, suppressed 36 child arranged marriages.
"It is a serious problem in the community, and when you suppress such a large number of arranged marriages, it represents a great progress, because you give these young girls the opportunity to continue their lives in the direction of more adequate integration," said Delija.
She said that 31 cases of domestic violence were reported to CRI, and that seven women, who were victims or recognized as potential victims, received training and received a certificate as a hairdresser.
According to her, CRI monitored the integration of children into the schooling process.
"In three years, we enrolled 180 children in the first grade of primary school, and we also established cooperation with schools, to make sure that children do not drop out of school. Also, we monitored the involvement of the RE population in secondary schools, motivated them to regularly attend classes, which resulted in some
d girls who have finished high school also enroll in university," explained Delija.
She said that the Center, through its participation in working groups, contributed to the development of the National Strategy for the Improvement of the Position of Roma and Egyptians, as well as that they initiated the Local Action Plan in Nikšić for the period from 2017 to 2021.
Director of the Montenegrin Women's Lobby, Aida Petrović, assessed that direct work in the RE community was extremely important for reducing the social marginalization of that population.
"All discussions, seminars, strategic and action plans, paperwork are in vain if you don't have live communication with members of the RE population. Work in the field is a priority, which gives visible results and determines further work", said Petrović.
She said that the target group included in the project were women and girls in the Konik camp, Riverside and Tulum settlements in Berane, as well as the settlement under Trebjes and Željezara in Nikšić, as well as institutions and NGOs from those three cities.
According to her, many informative workshops were organized as part of the project, which, as she assessed, lead to a greater degree of awareness and prevention of given problems in the RE population.
"We organized three trainings, one of which was for representatives of institutions and NGOs, the second was about the health consequences of violence and the third was about the coordinated actions of the local community in the prevention and protection against domestic violence. We also organized 11 workshops on gender-based violence and reproductive health, which were attended by 203 members of the RE population," said Petrović.
She said that it is necessary to carry out and spread the education, as well as to involve other non-Roma organizations.
Petrović pointed out that the project involved 114 men who, as she stated, must not be forgotten when solving the problem of gender equality.
"We organized nine seminars for men in Podgorica, Berane and Nikšić, where the project was implemented, on the harmful aspects and legal consequences of gender-based violence, arranged marriages of minors, as well as the importance of education and reproductive health," Petrović said.
She said that the self-support groups organized by the Montenegrin Women's Lobby were extremely important for the empowerment of 56 women who were victims of violence.
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