In New York City, the 69th session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women is underway

The events dedicated to the protection of women’s rights is attended by Nataliia Tomenko, co-chair of AURA Ukrainian Roma Advocacy Alliance and Deputy Director of ARCA Youth Agency for Roma Culture Advocacy.   

The 69th session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women began on the 10th of March and will last until the 21th of March. The session has primarily focused on the review and evaluation of the Beijing Declaration, Action Platform, and the results of the 23rd Special Session of the General Assembly. Organisers invited representatives of member states, UN structures, and NGOs from all across the world to attend and join in the Conference. Nataliia Tomenko, co-chair of AURA Ukrainian Roma Advocacy Alliance and Deputy Director of ARCA Youth Agency for Roma Culture Advocacy who is participating in the 69th session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women told us that she had been invited to participate as a member of the nongovernmental delegation on the initiative of Ukrainian women’s organisations, including the «Voice of Romni». 

«It is important to attend the session and to tell the audience about the needs of Roma women—both the ones who have stayed in Ukraine and those who fled the country as refugees amid the war»

«I was invited on the initiative of the Voice of Romni—an organisation we have been co-operating with for a long time now. This was a scheduled trip as we discussed it several years ago. And so, this year, our plans became the reality. The 69th summit is a special one, as the current situation in the US is unstable, so we fear this might well become the last women’s summit. So it is very important to attend the session and to talk about the needs of Roma women and girls—both the ones in Ukraine and the ones abroad, enjoying temporary protection. These are Roma, Ukrainian refugees in EU countries. And so, we are going to talk about their rights, needs, and what the European and American community can and should do about that».  

«As we talk the job market, it is of crucial importance that Roma girls receive higher education and have special training programmes»

Nataliia Tomenko has also commented on which issues faced by Roma women are currently the most pressing and widespread ones.

«I think that this is a complex issue. And that there is plenty of issues and options on how can one resolve that. One important aspect has always been (and still is) education. Ever since the outbreak of the full-scale war, there is no possibility to get an education (or an education of the proper quality). As the war has been underway, the remote learning has proved to be far from efficient. Some Roma girls just do not have hardware (smartphones, tablets etc) to connect to remote learning suites. As we talk the job market, it is very important that these girls also receive a decent higher or vocational education. That is why it is of paramount importance that custom curricula for them be devised. By and large, topic of women leadership and business are of pressing importance. And it is most important today to invest in women’s startups. A lot of men are nowadays defending the country so someone should be keeping the country afloat», — stressed Nataliia Tomenko, Deputy Director of ARCA.