About Us

     RWAR is a non-governmental organization based in Bucharest, Romania. In this section of the website you will find its mission and history, as well as a list of its membership, staff and volunteers.
     Contacting RWAR is easy and we welcome your opinions about our web pages; you may also send us as new information which will be posted on these pages. Find out more about us by visiting the "ACTIVITIES" section, where we present the programs and projects developed by RWAR.

     Mission

     The mission of RWAR is to defend the rights of Roma women and support the development and expression of ethnic, cultural, linguistic and religious identity of its members. In order to achieve its mission, RWAR will work to:
· improve women's access to job opportunities
· ensure the quality of educational opportunities
· provide health care and reproductive health for women
· provide social assistance
· protect Roma women and children
     RWAR will work in partnership with Romanian Government institutions to develop social programs that benefit the Roma community in general, and help the emancipation of Roma women in particular.

     Staff

     Permanent Staff:
     Violeta Dumitru - Executive Director and Program Co-ordinator (Gypsy woman); previously worked for the Romani CRISS (Roma Center for Research and Intervention); presently enrolled in the School of Management (University of Bucharest) and in the National School of Political Science and Public Administration; participant at the conference of Central and Eastern European Roma Women organized by the Council of Europe in Strasbourg (September 1995); member of the Romanian delegation at the U.N. sponsored Beijing+5 Conference (New York, June 2000)
Contact : violeta.dumitru@rdslink.ro
     Valy Ivan - Assistant to the Executive Director (Gypsy woman); has previously worked for the Romanian Roma Party; RWAR liason with the Romanian Department of Labor Protection
contact : e-mail : valy@yahoo.com
     Mihaela Zatreanu - Executive Secretary (Gypsy woman); teacher of Romany language; instructor of the course "Volunteering for RWAR"; graduate of the Pedagogic high School; future student at the University of Bucharest; e-mail : M.Zatreanu@yahoo.com
     Volunteers: contact : office@romawomen.ro
     Ancuta Georgescu (Gypsy) student at the College of Electronics and      Electrotechnical Sciences
     Marius Gheorghe (Gypsy) student at the School of International Law
     Elena Musat (Gypsy) future college student
     Simona Draghiciu (non-Gypsy) bookkeeper
     Cristelle Carreaux (non-Gypsy) international volunteer - France
     Jennifer Tanaka (non-Gypsy) international volunteer - United States
     
     RWAR has the following structure :
     I. Accounting-Financial Department :
     Ms. Monica Draghiciu - Economist, she is in charge of everything related to book-keeping within RWAR. She is a graduate of the Faculty of Economic Sciences in Romania, 1995 promotions. She is non-Roma and about to get married.

     II. Social Service: contact : social@romawomen.ro
     Ms. Vasilica Ivan - vice-president of RWAR, she is in charge of everything related to social service within RWAR, together with a team of Roma girls, students at the Faculty of Social Assistance. Ms. Vasilica Ivan is of Roma origin, graduate of the Faculty of Social Assistance in Bucharest, Romania, is married and has a 10 years old girl.
     At present she runs a program in several settlements in Romania based on social investigations about traditions and taboos within traditional Roma communities. Precisely the Roma customs linked to a girl's marriage. This research takes place at the same time in several countries: Macedonian , Bulgaria , Hungary , Croatia . All the results of the research will be posted on the website www.romawomen.ro after the project finishes.

     III. Health Department: contact : health@romawomen.ro
     Ms. Anda Smedoiu
     Ms. Victoria Minu
     They are the two doctors specialized in reproductive health working in clinics together with teams of medical assistants. They do not belong to the Roma community, they are graduates of the Faculty of Medicine, they have been working as doctors for 10 years, they are married and work for RWAR as collaborators.

     IV. Human Rights Department: contact : human_right@romawomen.ro
     Mr. Marius Gheorghe - 4th year student at the Faculty of Law, runs a program of monitoring the situation of Roma communities from the point of view of the conflicts between Roma and Police forces, including the expulsion of Roma families out of developed European countries. The program is financed by European Roma Right Center in Budapest who offered him his present scholarship.
     He is of Roma origin, is not married and has been working as a volunteer within RWAR since his first academic year.

     V. Department of education: contact : educational@romawomen.ro
     VI. IT Department - website development: www.romawomen.ro
     contact : webmaster@romawomen.ro

     Translations contact: office@romawomen.org
     provided by:
     Monica Roxana Voitovici - graduate of Geography-English Department, translator, she is of non-Roma origin
     Veronica Donat Karlan Planned Parenthood of Palm Beach
and Treasure Coast Area, USA
     Julye Donat Washington, DC

     The above staff members are/were paid per project, as funding is/was available.

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