Chisinau, 24 February 2014

A Round table on Romani Women’s political participation at national and local level: follow up event to the Helsinki 4th International Romani Women’s Conference took place on February 24, in Chisinau, Republic of Moldova.

The aim of the event, which was coorganised by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Council of Europe, the UN Women and the OSCE/ODIHR, is to empower Romani women and girls to participate in society, by discussing the current situation and status of Romani women and identifying the pressing issues needed to be addressed to strengthen their rights and inclusion in the Republic of Moldova. This event was made possible thanks to a voluntary contribution of the Finnish Government to the Council of Europe.

The meeting was attended by 20 Roma Women from various municipalities in the Republic of Moldova, belonging to the Roma women Network organisation, and was opened by Mr Ruslan Stanga, Adviser to the Prime Minister's on Roma inclusion issues. Representatives of the Bureau for Interethnic Relations and the Congress of Local Authorities from Moldova were also present at the meeting addressing the issues like:

  • What is the status of Romani women and girls in the Republic of Moldova?
  • What opportunities exist for Romani women and girls to identify and advance their agendas in the context of upcoming national (2014) and local (2015) elections?
     

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