Roma Women Organization from Macedonia DAJA

Roma Women Organization of Macedonia "DAJA" from Kumanovo is nongovernmental, non-profit, nonpolitical and first Roma women organization on the Balkans and Macedonia, with headquarters in Kumanovo.
RWOM "DAJA" is established on 6th of June 1993, with am to provide help to Roma population on several issues. Its project, realized in continuation, the organization base on official state data considering the status of Roma in Macedonia, as well on personal researches on the field of education, health, economy and gender, as fields where are located most of the programs of our target group. The methods for working that Daja implements are: classes, workshops, campaigns, platforms, conferences, etc.

Having in consideration that RWOM “DAJA” is first Roma women organization in Macedonia, it is active all the period of its existence, and it has achieved credibility and authority in local and national frames, for which it has great number of awards and acknowledgments.
In the period from RWOM Daja’s establishment the situation among Roma was as following: Roma girls weren’t included in formal education, and even there were enrolled, they drop-out very quickly. Juvenile marriages, in which most of the girls were 12 years old, were often as well as the traditional influence by the parents on these marriages. Even in the Kindergarten at the beginning there were more boys then girls. The parents were also uninterested for their children, due to what they didn’t attend the workshops and the parental meetings. Especially uninterested were the fathers. On the other hand, the platforms that Daja organized were rarely visited by Roma women, due to the traditional norms and values of Roma families toward women’s place.