The education and development programme UPre Women, implemented by the Carpathian Foundation and its partners, seeks:
To help Roma women build their self-confidence and acquire the necessary information and skills to make independent decisions.
To be able to gain financial independence and stability and secure their livelihoods.
To become agents of change in their communities and to positively influence or lead other Roma women.
To break down prevailing harmful stereotypes about Roma women, especially on the part of employers, and to alleviate the combined discrimination that Roma women face to a greater extent than non-Roma women, but also than Roma men.
Within the framework of the programme, Roma women are educated in the field of work (writing a CV, preparing for an interview, visiting potential employers…), financial literacy (setting up a financial diary, tracking income and planning expenditures, etc.), as well as in the field of personal development (gender equality, gender-based violence, strengthening communication skills, development of digital skills, self-defence course, etc.).
The whole process is carried out by experts and expert organisations in the communities (read more about the trainers and trainings HERE). The Carpathian Foundation also works with employers in the regions to create job opportunities for the participants. As part of the programme for employers, it has also produced a document summarising barriers and recommendations for employing women from the MRC.
The pilot part of the programme was implemented from January 2022 to August 2023 in marginalized Roma communities (MRC) in Veľký Krtíš and Dobšiná in cooperation with the Labour Agency of the Banská Bystrica Self-Governing Region, the civic association Childhood to Children and the Community Centre for Minorities Veľký Krtíš, and from November 2023 at Luník IX in Košice in cooperation with ETP Slovakia.
After successful implementation of the pilot in these locations, we plan to extend the UPre Women programme to other marginalized Roma communities in Slovakia.
You can read more about the individual activities of the programme in the NEWS section.
UPre in Roma language means “up/uplift”. The name UPre is therefore a pun, as UP in English also means up.
The significance of the UPre women thus symbolizes the upliftment of Roma women in society.
The project UPre Women: A programme for the Development and Employability of Women from Marginalized Roma Communities is supported by Norway Grants 2014 – 2021 and the State Budget of the Slovak Republic.
To find out more about Norwegian grant-funded programmes and projects in Slovakia, please visit www.norwaygrants.sk.
