History of organization

History of the Center for Roma Initiatives

• Center for Roma Initiatives is the first women Roma and Egyptian NGO in Montenegro, which was established in September of 2004.
• Since its founding, the organization has implemented a significant number of projects for the empowerment of Roma and Egyptian women and children and help to improve their situation and integration within the Roma community, as well as the entire society.
• CRI in 2010 founded the first female Roma and Egyptian Network “FIRST”, which is composed of Roma and Egyptian activists from five towns in Montenegro – Niksic, Podgorica, Berane, Ulcinj and Herceg Novi, which deals exclusively with the problems of Roma and Egyptian women.
• Through the work of the organization, Center for Roma Initiatives addresses numerous problems with which women and children from the Roma and Egyptian communities face, such as: discrimination within the Roma and Egyptian communities on gender basis and within the majority society based on ethnicity; reproductive health; education; domestic violence; juvenile delinquency; forced and arranged child marriages. The organization also initiates and participates in the process of creating strategic documents relating to the Roma and Egyptian population, as well as recommendations for existing local and national action plans that address the problems of the Roma and Egyptian population and lobby for their adoption and adequate implementation.
• We became visible and recognized by the state ministries which call us and include in the process of creating the official government documents that focus on improving of the situation of Roma and Egyptian women.
• CRI works directly with users in the community through home visits, educational workshops, trainings, and campaigns; cooperates with other Roma and non-Roma organizations, international organizations, as well as with institutions to improve the status of women and children from the Roma and Egyptian population. CRI records a large number of beneficiaries for whom we have provided help and it is recognized by target groups, as well as by many international and national donors who support our work.