Representatives of the Roma Women Fund Chirikli took part in the All-Ukrainian Forum of Project Solutions for the Development of Roma Communities, held on 29–30 July 2026 in Uzhhorod.
The forum brought together representatives of state bodies, local self-government, international organisations, donors and Roma civil society organisations to discuss how to strengthen the development of Roma communities in Ukraine.
A forum about solutions, not only challenges
The event’s name contains the key phrase — “project solutions”. That shaped the conversation: instead of listing the problems of Roma communities, participants discussed what to do about them and with whose funding.
The focus was on access to education, community development, improving housing conditions, international partnership and projects capable of changing people’s lives in practice. Having donors and public authorities at the same table gives such conversations a practical outlet that purely expert venues lack.
Chirikli’s experience in advocacy
Kapitolina Kondur, project manager at the fund, presented the organisation’s experience in international and national advocacy for the rights of the Roma national community.
This means working on two levels at once: within international institutions, where standards are formulated, and inside the country, where those standards have to become concrete decisions by public authorities. The gap between these levels is a constant theme of the fund’s advocacy work.
Roma mediators: the daily work on the ground
A separate part of the presentation concerned the work of Roma mediators — people who help communities access services, defend their rights and build trust between Roma and state institutions every day.
A mediator works where formal procedure meets reality: a person without documents, a family unaware of the assistance available to them, a conflict with an institution caused by misunderstanding. It is through mediators that Roma communities in Zakarpattia learn about their opportunities.
The same network underpins the social atlas of Roma communities — the household survey is carried out by the fund’s own mediators and activists.
Why Zakarpattia
The forum was held in Uzhhorod for a reason: Zakarpattia is home to one of the country’s largest Roma communities, and it is here that both the achievements and the gaps are most visible.
It is also where the fund documents problems requiring systemic solutions — among them the segregation of Roma children in education. A forum of project solutions is the venue where such problems can be translated into the language of concrete projects.
The conclusion we take away
The development of Roma communities is possible only when decisions are made in partnership — with the communities themselves, with the authorities, with international partners and with civil society. A decision made about a community without that community usually does not work.
Ahead are new joint initiatives and partnerships. The goal remains the same: that the rights of the Roma community are not only declared but guaranteed in practice.
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