"We don't want to hide anymore," said a Roma girl, when explaining why she became involved with a program bringing together Roma and non-Roma youth in community building activities in Moldova and Romania. This sentiment was shared multiple times by Roma youth proudly affirming their ethnicity and sense of belonging. After two years of working in inter-ethnic teams as part of the Youth Civic Engagement and Dialogue Program (YCED [7]), 100 youth from Romania and Moldova recently celebrated the achievements of the YCED Program in Bucharest, Romania. Nineteen youth teams presented the results of their projects, shared lessons learned, and planned for the sustainability of their initiatives.
Participants also reflected on the impact the YCED program has had on their lives, schools, and communities. Below are some images and quotes from the participants sharing the impact of the program on their lives.
YCED is a program of the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor of the U.S. Department of State [8]. YCED is implemented by IREX in partnership with Romani CRISS [9], an NGO that works to defend and promote the rights of Roma throughout Romania.