Serbia Archives

European REYN Early Childhood Study at a glance

Category: early childhood | Types of resource: study | Year: 2023 | Region: Europe |

The REYN Early Childhood Research sheds light on young Roma children and their parents throughout Europe. The study brings together unprecedented Roma related early childhood data, exploring six key areas impacting upon the child’s development: family and living environment, health and well being, safety and security, early learning, responsive parenting, and discrimination and antigypsyism.

The study has been carried out in the 11 countries in which National REYNs operate: Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Hungary, Italy, Kosovo, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Ukraine. Data has been analysed from questionaries, in depth interviews, and focus groups from over 900 people, including more than 500 Roma families, 312 professionals, 56 practitioners, and 47 policymakers. Despite drawing from a considerable sample size, the present data should not generalize the status of young Roma children and their families in countries or in Europe as a whole.

The findings from the REYN Early Childhood Research are of an indicative nature. They flag the challenges and barriers that need further investigation in order to inform transformative approaches and policy actions which may improve the status of young Roma children in Europe. In turn, this will enable each young Roma child to reach their full potential to grow and thrive!

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One in One Hundred: Drivers of Success and Resilience among College-Educated Romani Adolescents in Serbia

One in a hundred Roma makes it to University, why is that? The study One in One Hundred: Drivers of Success and Resilience among College-Educated Romani Adolescents in Serbia, is a collaboration between the François-Xavier Bagnoud Center for Health and Human Rights at Harvard University (Harvard FXB) and the CIP Center for Interactive Pedagogy in Belgrade. The research goes beyond the scrutiny of educational deficits and obstacles to find out what actually works.

Researchers studied the responses from surveys, interviews, and a “Writing Romani Lives” workshop conducted with 89 Romani adolescents who made it to college and 100 who did not. The findings showed that strong teacher and peer support systems, access to early childhood development services, and a high level of education among immediate family members corresponded to educational success.

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Realizing the rights of Roma children and women in Eastern Europe

Summary analysis of key findings from MICS surveys in Roma settlements in the three countries.

The lack of information on Roma communities, especially children, young people and women, hinders the development of effective social inclusion policies. In response, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Serbia are taking crucial steps to end Roma exclusion, by monitoring progress and developing policies to prevent discrimination. These bold initiatives set a valuable example for other countries to follow.

Drawing on these efforts, the UNICEF Regional Office for Central and Eastern Europe/ Commonwealth of Independent States (CEE/CIS) has produced a study on the situation of Roma children and women in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, and Serbia to find out how Roma children fare in comparison to non-Roma and where positive progress has been made in social inclusion. This study fills a major gap in available research and disaggregated data on Roma children, young people and women.