Our Priorities

We have our priorities in our work with Roma youth, see below:

1. Support of young Roma in the process of High School education

2. Support in giving information for scholarships, internships etc. for getting in to University

3. Developing the feeling for self-inclusion and active citizenship among young Roma

4. Cooperation with the local self-governments, governmental institutions and NGO’s in/for creating youth policies

5. Promotion of positive values of Roma in society:

· Life in harmony with nature

· Social inclusion

· Multiculturalism

· Peer education

· Team work

· Creativity

6. Initiating and conducting youth policies on local, national and international level

7. Transformation of the organizational structure, as the structure of the network and strategic choice of donors and partners. In this way, the organization strengthening itself in making strategic choices and assuring the creation of a young and competent executive team.

8. Personal development of the young people, exchange of experience, as using it in the implementation of the activities of ROMA.

Our Mission

The Mission

ROMA as an informative educational centre for supporting young Roma from the north-east region of the Republic of Macedonia works on affirmation and promotion of the opportunities for personal development and integration, as well promoting active citizenship and self-inclusion in the creation of youth policies of young Roma.

Our Vision

The Vision

The young Roma are promoters of positive values and actors in the creation and implementation of public policies, which address multiethnic issues.

Why we are doing this?

These days the educational system in our country does not have foreseen much after school activities and does not give the chance to young people to develop in the direction of their interests and predispositions.

Not engaging the non-formal educational as important for development of the youth is one of the problems that lead to this current stage. Generally speaking, although they are organization that works on this field, the non-formal education does not reach out to the youth and least to the governmental institutions, who are responsible for the education in our country. As a result, the young man don’t get a lot of opportunities for his personal development and remains passive in his community, that passiveness can be seen among young Roma and their communities.

This passiveness leads towards another problem, which we face in the Roma communities, young Roma having no information how to get involved and included to act positively on this situation. It might be a fact that the young Roma is kind of isolated from these happenings. The Data that young Roma are not included in the decision-making process and not having enough youth policy papers, also strengthening the situation which young Roma facing these days in Macedonia.

In Macedonia are existing Youth organizations that try to bring the youth forward as stakeholders or creators of the civic opinion. Those organizations are concentration on problems which include more the majority with a low sense for addressing multicultural or minority issues. This leads to passiveness of the vulnerable groups such as Roma Youth. The main Roma Youth organization is stationed in Skopje, so the only way for Roma students to get the benefit of this organization is to live or to study in Skopje. By doing so, the Roma youngsters which are coming from the rural places are not included in the youth making policy process at all. Organizations as ROMA are needed to give those youngsters a chance to express their knowledge, to build up their capacities, to promote the positive values of the Roma community and to get in the youth policy creation and the decision-making process, not only to make them aware of bringing decisions, but also to take responsibility over them.

The youth represent the best scanner for detecting the real issues that exists within the Roma Community and Society. With some guidance they can detect the root of the problem and build their way up to find a permanent solution to get rid of the root of the problem.

ROMA as an organization of young Roma leaders is motivated to work on giving young Roma more opportunities to get involved, to promote non-formal education, multiculturalism, the need of self-inclusion and active citizenship, as strengthening the capacities of future Roma leaders.