We had the great honor of welcoming our partners from the Center for Disaster Philanthropy (CDP), as well as representatives of Bosch, Temerty, GIZ, Sigrid Rausing Trust, Porticus, and Razom for Ukraine, to the main office of Voice of Romni in Uzhgorod during their visit to Zakarpattia.

The President of Voice of Romni, Anzhelika Bielova, presented the organization’s work and spoke about the team’s growth: from 4 employees in 2020 to 60 today. This became possible thanks to the trust and support of partners who invest not only in individual projects, but also in strengthening the institutional capacity of organizations. In particular, CDP’s support has helped us strengthen our internal processes and create conditions for sustainable development.

On 25 May, representatives of Roma and pro-Roma civil society organizations also joined the meeting. Some of them received subgrants from Voice of Romni in 2025 with the support of CDP and implemented local initiatives for their communities. For us, it was important to create a space not only for presenting results, but also for open dialogue between international partners and organizations that work in communities every day.

During the meeting, all partners actively engaged in the discussion, showing interest in community needs, the local context, and the challenges faced by Roma communities during the war in Ukraine. Special attention was given to the kind of support local organizations need — from humanitarian response and access to basic services to the development of local leadership and capacity strengthening.

For our team, it is especially important to feel the continued trust of our partners. In particular, CDP supported the First and Second National Forums on the Implementation of the Roma Strategy, as well as a retreat for our team in 2025, which became an important space for physical and psychological recovery.

We value the contribution of all partner organizations whose attention to Roma issues and openness to dialogue help comprehensively strengthen civil society in Ukraine. We sincerely thank you for the visit, as such meetings are not only about exchanging experience, but also about building long-term partnerships, jointly reflecting on challenges, and seeking solutions that help make support for vulnerable communities more sensitive, effective, and sustainable.