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Description
Lithuania is one of the leading countries in the European Union in terms of the risk of social exclusion and poverty of the population. Roma community in particular stands out as a risk group that not only lives in unfavorable economic and social conditions, but also suffers negative public perceptions. There is a strong segregation of this group in the society - 63 percent of the country''s population would not want to live in a Roma neighborhood. Therefore, in order to solve this problem, the Lithuanian Roma community, together with its partners, initiated the project I CAN, which is focused on strengthening one of the most vulnerable groups in society - the Roma.
The main goal of I CAN project is to empower Roma community by promoting their social inclusion. The aim of this project is not only to enable Roma to become more actively involved in local community activities, but also to promote the dialogue between Roma and non-Roma, thus reducing negative attitudes in society. The target group of the GALIU project is Roma living in Vilnius region (Vilnius city and Salcininkai district municipalities), Siauliai and Marijampole regions.
During the project, Roma community will be encouraged to engage in voluntary activities, develop social business concepts and implement intercultural dialogue events that will bring Lithuanian and Roma cultures closer. The project will be carried out with the active involvement of local communities and civil society organizations. During the project, the empowerment measures will reach 300 Roma in three regions of the country, and 410 000 residents of the country will be aware of the existing issue of Roma exclusion. Four organizations working with vulnerable groups will also strengthen their capacity to increase the impact of their activities on the groups they represent.
Summary of project results
The GALIU project aimed to reduce the social exclusion of the Roma community in Lithuania, and in other words, to increase the positive attitude of society towards the Roma. Therefore, in the municipalities where the project activities took place, the Roma were engaged to be active participants more ready to get involved in community activities. In the municipalities of Vilnius, Marijampole, Šiauliai, the residents had the opportunity to get to know the Roma culture more closely and actively participate in common activities (workshops of intercultural dialogue). A deeper knowledge of the Roma community made it easier to feel open and comfortable in the multicultural environment and contribute to problem solving.
The main activities of the project were the development of volunteering activities, implementation of volunteering activities, strengthening social entrepreneurship skills among Roma community, events promoting intercultural dialogue, development of social campaigns.
The Roma who participated in the project not only acquired social entrepreneurship skills and started social business initiatives, but also got involved in voluntary and cultural activities and established a network of acquaintances both with representatives of different organizations and with members of the non-Roma community. It is hoped that the connections, shared experiences and activities created during the project have reduced the social isolation of the Roma, as they became better known in the local communities. During the project, the competences acquired by the Roma, the knowledge of CSOs and the enhanced ability to work with this ethnic group, as well as the cooperation created between organizations will be effectively used as examples of good practice in presenting the results of the project to members of the Roma community who did not directly participate in the project, about the possibilities of volunteering and social business.
The importance of the project is the effort to reduce negative, stereotypical attitudes towards the Roma, anti-gypsism, and to enhance the opportunities to integrate into society.
One of the strengths of the project was a collaboration of partner organizations and their competences in the field. They actively helped to organize intercultural dialogue events and also carried out communication activities: they shared project news and invitations to participate in project activities and events on their organization''s Facebook account and website, organized meetings aimed at attracting Roma and non-Roma individuals and organizations to participate in volunteering activities.