Association of Roma students from Novi Sad

Advocacy training summer school is conceived as a way for scholarship beneficiaries to get trainings aimed at: personal development, fostering leadership skills, getting a broader perspective on the health advocacy process and the Right to Health and learning about the specificities of Roma culture and tradition. The school will also provide the opportunity for networking of the Roma health professionals who will be an important partner in development and implementation of public policies and further in the inclusion process implementation.

Association of Roma Students was registered in December 2000 with the Federal Ministry of Justice under number 1718 on the registry list 764. The organization was founded by a group of Roma students, when only 18 Roma studied at the University of Novi Sad.

The motive for self-organization of this small group was a need for a new and different cultural foundation as a fundamental assumption for healthy integration of the Roma community into the society.

More about the Association of Roma Students:

Mission:

“Improvement of the Roma status in the society through capacity building of Roma community, advocacy of Roma interests and promotion of different image and Roma cultural identity within the scope of the majority population and the very Roma community.”

Objectives of the Association:

Raise the value of achievements in education to a higher degree in the Roma value system;
Promote achievements of the Roma “high culture” and distantiate from the “circus” and “exotic” image by which Roma are best-known to the majority population;
Cherish new visions and Roma identity;
Recruit a generation of young Roma intellectuals as a “flywheel” of the Roma people integration into the society;
Develop workers’ identity in Roma and awareness of own entrepreneurial potentials.

3 key achievements of the Association:

The 2007 recipient of the Council of Europe Award for the best TV spot for fight against prejudice towards Roma “Enough”, with Tony Gatlif as the chief judge of the jury, Strasbourg 2007
Assistance in the drafting of the Action Plans for Roma education in 7 municipalities of Vojvodina: Apatin, Zrenjanin, Bač, Sečanj, Opovo, Senta, Beočin, all of which were adopted by local self-government units.
Assistance in the drafting and adoption of the Action Plan for Employment of Roma in the Municipality of Bečej.

Projects and Funding:

During nine years of work, Association of Roma Students realized over 30 projects in the field of education, employment, health, community development, youth activities and Roma cultural achievements.

The most remarkable donors of the Association are: European Commission, CARE International, Roma Education Fund, Pestalozzi Foundation, SPOLU Foundation, Council of Europe, UNHCR, Fund for an Open Society, Office for Education, Office for Human and Minority Rights, NOVIB/OXFAM.

Resources:
Human Resources:
The Association has a staff of 3 full-time employees: Executive Director, Program Coordinator and Accountant (according to the academic degree, one of them is a Sociology Professor and another one is a Philosopher). The organization engages 10 people on the basis of the employment or authorship contracts, most of which are Roma students, while 18 out of 46 members are actively involved in various projects as volunteers.

Donors