Eastern Europe: Roma women's education and employment inclusion,

Regional governments and civil society have intensified efforts to improve Roma women's education and employment inclusion, but experts said significantly additional needs to be done to achieve tangible success.

"By Roma traditions, women usually remain at home and cater to the family while men go to work. Roma women have to cope with … gender and ethnic discrimination," Marian Mandache, executive director of Romani Criss, a leading Roma NGO in Romania;

Only 23 % of Roma women are employed in Romania, according to a recent UNDP study, compared to 36 % of Roma men.

In response, civil society has implemented the Sanitary Mediator programme for Roma women, which was later exported to Bulgaria, Moldova and Spain because of its success.

"We came up with the concept in the 1990s in which Roma women act as interface between the community and the sanitation authorities. As it evolved, in 2002, the programme was assimilated by the health ministry, and in 2008 about 600 women were employed full-time," Mandache said.

The Croatian government's new stimulus measures have provided public works jobs for a lot of of the country's 40,000 Roma.

Moreover, Croatia's employment service recently implemented improved prospects for Roma women in the labour market, offering workshops and training.

Roma women are closed off in their communities, isolated from the world and public life, and a lot of are illiterate, according to Nada Djurivckovic, director of NGO Roma Centre for Women and Children in Belgrade.

"This isolation keeps them in subordinant position in the family and in the society. The major attitude of the Roma family is that the best thing for a Roma girl is to get married as any minute at this time as she reaches womanhood," Djurickovic.

A survey conducted by the Regional Roma Educational Youth Association in Macedonia, part of the international campaign Our Place, Our Space, Our Case, found that Roma mothers pressure their daughters to marry rather than pursue higher education.

"Unfortunately, institutions as well perceive under-age marriages as part of Roma tradition. We appeal to change this attitude and view the issue as a violation of the rights of the child," Daniela Janevska, an association representative, said.

The government will open two new Roma data centres this year to add to the existing seven, and will continue a scholarship programme which annually awards funds to 2,400 Roma students.

The centres, in conjunction with the education ministry, conduct training programmes for unemployed Roma and encourage them to participate in Macedonia's self-employment programme with grants of up to 3,000 euros.

Albania's 2011 census, which the country's minorities boycotted, noted 8,300 Roma, but human rights organisations estimate the number is 10 times higher.

The low census figure has allowed the government to assume an even additional lax attitude, despite Roma street protests about the incorrect figure and demands of protection of their fundamental rights, inclunding for employment opportunities.

About 80 % of the Roma in Albania live below the poverty line, while 55 % of Roma girls do not attend school.

The situation is not much better in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), where 90 % of the nearly 100,000 Roma are unemployed and 65 % have no home.

Government research showed there are no Roma women in any decision-making position in BiH government.

"We have seen that there are Roma women who are capable, know what they want, but there is prejudice holding them back," Indira Bajramovic, president of the Tuzla-based Association of Roma Women for a Better Next.