The NGO Romani Women’s Fund “Chiricli” has initiated a series of working meetings with regional and local authorities in order to propose a mediation service to government structures. This service aims to address a range of issues in their communication with the Romani community, as well as to provide qualified and timely social and medical assistance to the Romani community.
During the period from March 14 to April 4, meetings were held in Odessa, Volchansk (Kharkiv region), Kirovograd, Simferopol, Dnipropetrovsk, and Zaporizhzhia. Representatives from regional and local departments and deputy heads of local councils were invited to discuss social and medical issues, as well as the lack of identity documents and the education of Romani children.
Representatives of the authorities acknowledge that the problems faced by the Romani population are due to a complex of socio-economic reasons and require considerable attention and new approaches for their resolution. They recognize the urgent need for programs like the Romani Mediators program. They believe that Romani mediators will help address a complex set of problems related to Romani access to social and medical services and establish cooperation between Romani individuals and medical and social institutions. The NGO Romani Women’s Fund “Chiricli” and the representatives of the aforementioned cities’ authorities have agreed to collaborate and explore the possibility of developing a plan for joint actions.
These meetings were conducted as part of the project “Improving Romani Access to Medical Services in Tuberculosis Prevention through Romani Medical Mediators,” supported by the “Development of Ukraine” Foundation and the “Renaissance” International Foundation.
