Strengthening Roma Youth Engagement Through Interactive Learning: Training in Pristina on REF’s Practical Guide
Prishtina, March 25, 2026 – The Roma Education Fund (REF) organized two trainings in Kosovo*, focused on the presentation and practical use of the Interactive Practical Guide on Roma Youth Empowerment and Leadership, developed within the framework of the project EU Regional Action for Roma Education: Increased Education Support and Opportunities for Roma Students in the Western Balkans and Turkey (RARE II), funded by the European Commission (DG ENEST).
The Guide, titled “Practical Guide for Roma Youth Empowerment and Leadership – How to Work with Roma Youth to Bring Their Potential?”, was developed by Tanja Đorđević, Jovana Trbojević Jocić, and Mirjana Beara Benjak. It represents a comprehensive and interactive digital resource designed to support those working with Roma youth through mentoring, tutoring, and community-based approaches.
The first training session gathered Roma youth in tertiary education and was officially opened by Nataša Markovska, REF’s coordinator for secondary and tertiary education and access to employment within the project, who emphasized the importance of investing in Roma youth not only as beneficiaries, but as future leaders, changemakers, and active contributors to their communities. She highlighted that REF’s Guide is more than a learning resource, it is a tool to support young Roma in building confidence, strengthening their identity, and developing leadership skills needed to navigate education, employment, and civic life, encouraging participants to see themselves as agents of change shaping both their own futures and those of their communities.
Both training sessions were facilitated by our colleague Edis Galushi, country facilitator in Kosovo*. The first session, engaging Roma youth in tertiary education, focused on the module on Roma identity, encouraging participants to reflect on self-awareness, cultural pride, and resilience, and to explore how identity shapes their educational and professional pathways.
The second session brought together Roma youth in secondary education, alongside mentors working with Roma youth. Building on the identity component, it introduced mentoring, tutoring, and coaching approaches, with a focus on practical tools to support young people during key educational transitions.
Taken together, the sessions underscored that sustainable impact comes from pairing identity development with structured support systems, creating the conditions for Roma youth to grow into confident, engaged, and future-oriented actors.
Reflecting on the purpose of the Guide, one of its authors, Tanja Đorđević, emphasized that empowering Roma youth requires more than access to education. It requires creating spaces where young people can build confidence, explore their identity, and develop the skills needed to actively shape their futures. This perspective closely echoes the message shared during the opening of the training, underlining a common focus on identity, agency, and leadership as key elements of youth empowerment.
„Investing in Roma youth is one of the most sustainable pathways to building inclusive and resilient communities. Supported by the European Commission through DG ENEST, this initiative advances the empowerment of Roma youth by complementing access to education with concrete opportunities for young people to build confidence, strengthen their identity, and develop essential leadership skills. By creating such opportunities, the project contributes to a supportive climate in which Roma youth can thrive, actively shape their own futures, and become drivers of positive change within their communities and wider society.” – Monica Călin, Project Manager and Programs Director in REF Romania.
These training is part of a coordinated series of eight regional events, most of them delivered within the same week, designed to accelerate impact at scale. Positioned within the future of work agenda, these initiatives move beyond standalone interventions and contribute to building functional pathways that connect skills, identity, and opportunity. Through this approach, REF is advancing innovative, inclusive, and community-anchored models that equip Roma youth not only to realize their potential, but to actively participate in and shape the evolving labour market, driving more resilient, competitive, and equitable societies.
*This designation is without prejudice to positions on status and is in line with UNSCR 1244/1999 and the ICJ Opinion on the Kosovo declaration of independence
