Unlocking the potential of Rome women returnees and the other vulnerable groups ...

UNLOCKING THE POTENTIAL

OF ROMA WOMEN RETURNEES AND THE OTHER VULNERABLE GROUPS OF WOMEN FOR THE INCLUSIVE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

Belgrade, 2020.

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Foreword Economic empowerment, creation of business opportunities and improvement of skills for the labor market and thus employability of returnees are key aspects of cooperation of the glo-bal program “Migration for Development” with civil society organizations (CSO) in Serbia.

Even more challenging is that, considering the returnee population in Serbia as an extremely vulnerable group, we often talk about multiple vulnerable and hard-to-employ persons. Most of the returnees are Roma, the most sensitive group still facing discrimination in all spheres of life, and it is even more difficult for Roma women. Reintegration into the community is a major challenge for them, and an additional one is integration into the labor market. The values we are guided by, as a Program, are the activation of this group, the inclusion in the formal labor market and the provision of decent work.

cal context and are tailored to the needs of returnees, but also of the local population for the purpose of social cohesion and inclusion.

Therefore, we support CSO initiatives aimed at improving the quality of life of returnees, potential migrants and the local population.

These initiatives are implemented in the lo-

Svjetlana Đokić

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Initiatives such as this and cooperation with the Association of Business Women in Serbia are of the utmost importance because the activities target women, especially Roma women, who are the most vulnerable population and furthest from the labor market.

By participating in the training, trainees have acquired a permanent capital in knowledge, highly applicable and sought after in the labor market, which enables them to contribute economically to their families, successfully plan time and optimally harmonize family and business responsibilities. Last but not least important, they become a positive role model for others in the community, especially for young Roma women.

National Coordinator of the global program „Migration for Development“ by GIZ Serbia

ABOUT THE PROJECT Unlocking the potential of Roma women returnees and other vulnerable groups of women for the Inclusive economic development Unlocking the potential of Rome women returnees and the other vulnerable groups of women for the inclusive economic development is part of an initiative under the global “Migration for Development” program, funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and implemented by the German Organization for International Cooperation - GIZ. The aim of the “Migration for Development” program is to support the economic and social integration of returnees under the Readmission Agreement, potential migrants, and other vulnerable population groups in Serbia. The “Migration for Development” program is implemented in cooperation with the Ministry of Labor, Employment, Veteran and Social Affairs, the National Employment Service and the Commissariat for Refugees and Migration. Services and support measures are provided in cooperation with local institutions, relevant partners and civil society organizations across Serbian cities and municipalities.

Local partner of the Association of Business Women in Serbia: Radio Advertising Bureau Serbia (RAB Srbija) with its member, the online Roma radio „New World“.

DELIVERING ORGANIZATION: Association of Business Women in Serbia (ABW) Belgrade PROJECT DURATION: 01.05.2019 to 30.04.2020 PROJECT SUPPORTED BY: German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) implemented by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH.

THE AIM OF THE PROJECT Rising the employability of Roma women returnees and other vulnerable groups of women, such as poor single mothers and non-returnee Roma women residents, by providing them integration through new job perspectives and socio-economic sustainability in their native country Serbia.

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ROMA MEN AND WOMEN IN SERBIA

This project contributed to opening up new employment perspectives for Roma returnees and to breaking gender and ethnic stereotypes.

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Marriages of Roma girls under 18, increasing

2014.

2005.

Source: Multiple indicator on children and women position survey (UNICEF, 2005&2014)

Roma in Serbia face obstacles in enrolling and ongoing segregation in education, with over-representation in underachieving schools, discrimination and lack of acknowledgement of a positive Roma identity in the curriculum. Roma population prevail among the returnees, introducing even more limited access to jobs than non-returnees Roma. Impossibility of employment and gaining an income remains the biggest problems that returnees are facing in Serbia.

Even within the Roma returnees, Roma women are double discriminated category with ther high drop rate from school. Weak striving for self-development accompanied by segregation in education makes them vulnerable lateron, while they struggle with employment difficulties. Roma women with low level of education are less economically active and start giving birth at the age of approximately 15 years.

EDUCATION Roma children general population of children in Serbia

High school finish

11,05%

enrolled in primary school

finish primary school

Source: Protector of citizens Special report, December 2019

while higher and high school finish only Roma men and women

0,7%

Source: Office for Human and Minority Rights, Ruma, 28.03.2018

.

UNEMPLOYMENT

54% 46%

Roma men Roma women

Source: Protector of citizens Special report, December 2019

Employment of Roma men and women

by National Employment service /NSZ was offered, I accepted 13% Job

was offered, I refused 15% Job

72% I was never offered a job Source: Protector of citizens Special report, December 2019

Roma men and women unemployment rate is

36 %

extremely high comparing to the rate in general population that is

16%

Source: Editorial of the 59.

Newsletter on Social Inclusion and Poverty Reduction, Slavica Denić, Roma social inclusion coordinator, government Social Inclusion and Poverty Reduction Unit.

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THREE TRAININGS IN THREE CITIES Belgrade, Novi Sad and Pirot Trained are

TOTALLY

135

PARTICIPANTS

being diferent age and educational structures

Trainings were rated with excellent grades by the trainees, for being receptive, having well-selected, interesting topics that meet the specific needs of this population and are relevant for (self) employment opportunities.

1. training MAPPING MY POTENTIAL TO BE EFFICIENTLY EMPLOYED Trained are

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PARTICIPANTS OVERALL

Two-day training in three cities

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2. training LITTLE SCHOOL OF MASSAGE Trained are

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PARTICIPANTS OVERALL

36 classes within three months

3. training SCHOOL OF PROGRAMMING Trained are

5

PARTICIPANTS

18 days within three months

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1. training MAPPING MY POTENTIAL TO BE EFFICIENTLY EMPLOYED

How may I become an entrepreneur

The aim of the training was to help Roma women enter the job market with more confidence, make decisions based on the wider information scope, realize their own strengths and weaknesses and motivate themselves for continued creativity and innovation.

This training was the first one, before the massage and programming trainings, in each city. In order to gain the trust of Roma organizations, it was important for the workshop to achieve its goal – to deliver new and useful knowledge, to maintain attention and to involve participants in the interactive work. Attendees in all three cities – Novi Sad, Belgrade and Pirot, confirmed that these goals were met, the trainer was professional, openhearted and honest, and that they would gladly follow the other potential trainings, delivered by ABW. The learning process consisted of simulating different business situations, taking individual role by every single participant, case studies, team work, discussions, short lectures and presentations.

The training started with mutual introducing each other, after which the essential characteristics of women entrepreneurs were discovered, how other people see us and what their opinion reveal to us, why is the creativity important for entrepreneurship and how to overcome the competition – what is meant by inventivity, what by innovativity. Next segment was dedicated to discovering and clarifying the characteristics of various marketing tools (marketing mix).

On the second day, participants invented their own business ideas, communicated them to the four-membered team, after which the best/ most promising ideas were presented to all other teams – a type of competition (microselection) for the best business idea at the whole group level.

The interconnection of some business ideas was also considered. Finally, SWOT analysis and the possibilities of the business promotion through the internet and social networks, were last topics to learn.

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2. training LITTLE SCHOOL OF MASSAGE

How may I become a masseur and assistance in the welness sector

The goal of the training was to capacitate Roma women to give a full body massage, to a healthy person, as well as anticellulite, antistress and other programms intended to a healthy population exposed to a daily stress.

The duration of 36 training hours was scheduled for each group of 10 women, in three cities. However, as demonstrated in the praxis, the interest for this workshop exceeded the expectations.

The connection among certain problems (stress, adaptability to change‌) and consequences (energy blockages) that result in muscle tension, rigidity or even pain, has been explained

through the theoretical part to future masseurs or wellness sector assistants. As a good starting point for a problem diagnosis, this enables the best choice of the treatment. The basis of human anatomy and aromatherapy, as a part of a theoretical knowledge, gave a good support to practicing of a massage. Roles of therapists and models were changed while practicing manual techniques, based mostly on the lymphatic drainage, since the drainage enables deep body purification.

Despite of the fact they didn’t have any foreknowledge, it turned out that women from Roma population are extremely talented for giving the massage.

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3. training SCHOOL OF PROGRAMMING

WEB Development/ WEB design and HTML/CSS programming languages coding

The goal of the training was to equip Roma women with the basic knowledge and skillset required for development, content entry and design of more complex websites.

Through “Module II”, attendees deepened the knowledge related to web development. They were instructed how to implement any idea on their previously created webpages in WordPress, with a little bit of HTML/CSS programming languages coding.

„Modul I“ is conceptualized as a complete training which educated the participants how to implement WordPress and what options this software offers to users without any prior knowledge, for easy creating websites.

The participants learned how to adjust any of pre-made free WordPress themes to their own design, and make a unique website, following good web design practices.

All five trainees have excelently fulfilled all tasks provided by the training. A strong interest in website creation, openness and a desire to learn, have resulted in their evident progress, regardless of their prior technical and educational levels.

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A word from the mentor, Tijana Sekulić

MENTORS ABOUT THE PROGRAM

As a trainer and consultant on entrepreneurship, I had the wonderful opportunity to feel the sincerity, immediacy and creativity of Roma women, especially while working in groups where we generated synergistic business ideas that could be realized. Through further work on SWOT analysis, they realized their own strengths and weaknesses and identified opportunities and dangers from the external environment The energy released at training and group mentoring was incredible. Working interactively, with positive thinking, through discussion and amusing exercises, they came to very serious insights about themselves and their capabilities. Introducing to each other makes the exceptional quality and contribution of this project, because the networking (exchange of information and knowledge) is extremely important for a support. In the mentoring period, they formed online groups, still active.

The conslusion of most training and mentoring participants is that starting own business demands courage, creating a network with similar persons (branch) and having more in-depth knowledge of marketing, internet and social networking opportunities in small business.

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Open-minded, practical savvy and above all creative, they show the potential of having their own small shop, a beauty / hair salon, tailor shop, cleaning (maintenance) agency, a farm etc. They should be supported with more education and financial grants to help them start and realize their business ideas.

A word from the mentor, Таtjana Jevdjović Drawing on past experience of therapist and trainer of various massage techniques, over the decades I have been learning about the cultures and customs of different nations. Working with Roma women from three cities in Serbia appeared as a challenge, due to the patriarchal culture and relatively lower educational level.

Although most of them have never personally been to a massage, it turns out that women from Roma population are paying close attention to theoretical lectures and practicing the presented tecniques. Almost without exception, these women are extremly sensitive, able to listen to the patient’s body and are very talented for providing massage.

The months of mentoring showed that after completing the training, they continued to practice on their family members. In the circle of friends, they encountered various conditions on how to deal with specific painful conditions. Many issues reqire further training or specialization in and additional area – e.g. acupressure.

I’m sure some of them can becom classy therapists and become financially independent if they continue to practice and refine their adopted skills. An important condition for their proper further development in the field of massage is the provision of adequate space, equipped with at least the necessary equipment (tables, sills, towels, various oils and a minimum of additional equipment).

A word from mentors, Jovana Čenejac Stašuk and Dragana Čalija We responded to the invitation to design and deliver short training for Roma women and girls gladly. The global shortage of IT professionals coincides with the employment trend in Serbia: formal education is no longer a prerequisite for working in IT business.

After completing the training based on the given topics, during the mentoring period, each woman independently developed a website of her own choice. The topics of the websites were: patisserie, farm, Roma association, register of secondary raw material collectors, creation of computer animations.

The choice of the topics shows the great practical importance of the project to the participants. They have excelently learned the most sought-after skills needed to work online, from home or from any place where the internet is available. This knowledge is necessary for them whether they decide this should be their future career, or a useful tool in another profession. A major contribution to the Roma population would be the further refinement and concretization of the acquired skills of these trainees, the expansion of experience in building sites for various purposes, as well as the inclusion of new trainees in the program for creating and managing the website content. In this respect, informal types of education are very important.

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PARTICIPANTS IMPRESSIONS

completing entrepreneurship and massage training, I “Upon decided to remodel one part of the house to create a space for massage. Until the conditions are met for me to tidy up the salon, I will continue to practice on family members and acquire skills that will benefit me in my future work.

- Marica Kanurić

“

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Marica Kanurić training participant from Bačko Gradište A trainee Marica from Bačko Gradište, shared her impressions about the training program: “Desiring to learn something new, I signed up for entrepreneurship and massage training. At first, I was confused by the terms „holistic massage“ and „lymphatic drainage“, but the calm voice of our trainer instilled great confidence. During the training, we discovered a new approach to meeting a client who, upon entering, may not be familiar to us, but by following the rhythm of his breathing and discovering painful spots, we gain insight into his temperament, kind of habits and fears.

When the theoretical part of the training started, I realized that everything we do practically has a serious reason and that I will continue to do this profession.

Intuitively, before bathing, I used to massage young children, so this training helped me to form my unconscious movements into a system that may mostly help my patient. Hearing about energy blockages, I changed my perspective on both, the cause of the pain and solving the ongoing problems. I believe that every person can be helped by a massage.”

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Aleksandra Aleksandrović training participant from Novi Sad Aleksandra is a master of an „Applied theatre Programme“ at the Art Academy in Novi Sad. She finds that she may help and support a human being, using both, the art and the holistic massage approach.

Upon finishing the „How to become an entrepreneur“ training, she realized that she has entrepreneurial potentials, so she started to collect the information and analyze the inputs for a self employment. Her opinion is that all trainers delivered their knowledge openly, without mistification, during the training and lateron, within the mentoring process. Inspiration, creativity and energy release, Aleksandra found in three topics united in herself: music, massage but also web development (digital literacy is essential for the business success).

desire is to bring together in my life “My all that I love to do: the art, massage and imaginative creation of websites. “ .

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Slavica Osmanović training participant from Pirot

Comparing the cost of living and the income generated by the air conditioning plant in Slovakia, Slavica decided to return to her town, Pirot. Since she was not learned not to work, she gladly helped her friends in what she was skilled at: doing manicures, epilation, makeup. When the voice of the good quality of her services spread, Slavica realized that she could turn the hobby into a business, to earn some income. She got employed in one already registered salon where she worked for 10 years.

She noticed that the massage is a field close to her previous activity, that she adopted the skills easily and that the new knowledge makes a pleasure to her. Demonstrating authentic entrepreneurial characteristic, Slavica encouraged herself and accepted TV Pirot’s invitation to speak with a journalist to present the massage training. After the broadcasting of the reportage, all the clients contacted her and asked if she would include a massage service in addition to the previous ones.

The great marketing effect of the TV reportage encouraged Slavica and she set out to lease, register and equip her beauty salon at a prime location in Pirot. The opening was held on March 8, 2020, in a good atmosphere and with the presence of friends who, like us, wish her much success in a loving business.

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training has helped me to get better “ Entrepreneurship prepared for discussions with different organizations:

to see the shortcomings, but also the strengths of my team and project, to be creative and to make decisions based on more information.

- Jelena Brkić

“

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Jelena Brkić training participant from Belgrade Jelena is an economics technician by profession, a mother of two. She is the founder of the Mother Center, AURORA – MINE in Belgrade. She lost her job as all other Roma women in the same company, in 2014. For the next two years, she worked as a volunteer at the MINE Mother Center in Germany.

Upon her return, with the help of colleagues from the MINE Center in Stuttgart, she founded the Mother Center in Serbia. Since then, she’s been struggling to influence improving the position of women and raising cultural patterns in her environment.

With tact and persistence, as well as good training results, Jelena manages to overcome the (initially very strong) resistance of the local community and to make women’s education and employment acceptable and desirable. Her dream is to provide a larger space for the Mother Center (currently the Center leases a total of 25m2) and to equip it with the necessary equipment for tailoring, cooking, manicure / pedicure, hairdressing and massage. For all these crafts, Aurora-MINE members are already educated through the programs of this center. In addition to the work space, Jelena believes that it is necessary to provide a space for babysitting, so the right solution is to build or buy a house.

She knows that she must be patient and very persistent in order to provide more space for women who will be able to earn income from crafts that are required at market, and where they may train other women with the skills they are already competent for.

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Belgrad Production and sale of non-slip footwear Agency for cleaning with a kindergarten for roma children Bakery and catering

Flower nursery / B2B sale KozmetiÄ?ki salon sa masaĹžom

Beauty salon UPGRADE

Hairdresser salon 3 in 1 PARADISE green-

house of vegetables with a cafe cessed winter food

Farm with sweet and salty pro-

Tailor shop Center for Roma employment

ROMA Agency for Networking, Communication and Positive Energy Education / Production Center CASINO ROYAL Maintenance of casino devices and betting salon

Security agency

Novi Sad Beauty

CREATIVA CAFFE /restaurant for children and adult

Florist

shop / arrangements, decorations - online shop Hairdresser salon Fashion dress studio/ for formal dresses Festive ROMA CATERING

HUG centar for relaxing

Beauty salon FOREVER YOUNG

dent club, with afternoon stay MARINA - Hedonistic center

AIDA Beauty salon

Stu-

Complex

Pirot Salon ENERGY - hairdress-

er + make up + fitness training Ethno village AURORA / vine and blacberry products / kindergarten / only vulnerable women employment

Blackberry processing HEALTHY GLASS Humanitarian

organization HELP elry design

Organic cosmetics

Processing and sale of spices and herbs

and crafts from Pirot region/SOUVENIRS salon...

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Wedding dress and jewHandicraft

Fashion and beauty

BUSINESS IDEAS OF ROMA WOMEN generated during the trainings