It continued an essentialconversation about the real needs and challenges faced by Roma communities.

Today we held a productive discussion with UN representatives, including the UN Humanitarian Coordinator in Ukraine, Matthias Schmale, and presented the key challenges facing the Roma minority, as well as the priorities and recommendations for the UN Country Team developed during the previous sessions.

These recommendations cover six priority areas:

  • Strengthening organizational capacity, access to funding, and the resilience of Roma CSOs.
  • Access to humanitarian assistance and participation in humanitarian response.
  • Enhancing protection and social services to address gender-based violence and promote gender equality.
  • Inclusion and participation in recovery and reconstruction processes.
  • Access to social protection, healthcare, and medical services.
  • Access to education and the labour market/livelihood opportunities.

Behind each of these priorities are real stories of survival, struggle, and resilience in wartime. We gathered insights from Roma organizations working across Ukraine, organizations that understand their communities, know their needs, and have experience supporting highly vulnerable groups and driving meaningful change.

We presented a detailed analysis of each priority area. The discussion addressed systemic discrimination, which continues to limit Roma women’s and men’s access to humanitarian assistance, education, healthcare, and other essential services. Equally important was the conversation about supporting Roma CSOs, ensuring fair involvement in recovery and reconstruction processes, and strengthening Roma participation in decision-making — especially on matters related to resource allocation.

Of course, the second day of the Thematic Dialogue also highlighted key achievements made possible through the support of UN Women and the WPHF. These include grants for Roma women’s organizations, the amplification of our voice at the international level, programmes that strengthen women’s political participation, as well as comprehensive support in developing contextualized Regional Action Plans for implementing the National Roma Strategy.

This dialogue continues the systematic work initiated in 2023, when Roma organizations, together with the UN, first developed concrete recommendations to improve access to assistance, education, healthcare, social protection, and Roma participation in Ukraine’s recovery process.

For the third consecutive year, we see strong interest from UN representatives in addressing these issues and a willingness to listen to Roma voices. This is deeply meaningful to us. Every meeting brings us closer to ensuring that recommendations do not remain on paper but translate into real improvements in the lives of Roma communities across Ukraine. It is essential that Roma organizations serve as full-fledged partners for international actors — not merely intermediaries between communities and donors.

The team at Voice of Romni is sincerely grateful for the opportunity to contribute to the organization of this dialogue and to lead the facilitation of the Preparatory Meeting. This became possible thanks to the support of the Gender in Humanitarian Action Working Group (GiHA WG) and the advocacy work of our organization. We truly value this cooperation, which ensures that Roma leaders’ voices are heard. We look forward to concrete follow-up steps from the UN that confirm our shared vision for a gender-responsive and inclusive recovery process — one that considers the needs of Roma communities.