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                                                                                                                             August 7, 2005
Supporting Grassroots Initiatives
Combating inequalities in Kragujevac

                                   KRAGUJEVAC, Serbia - Fighting prejudice is often an uphill battle, but the Roma Information Center
                                   faces the challenge with determination and spirit. In Kragujevac, a town battered by unemployment and
                                   an influx of refugees, the Center is empowering the sizeable Roma community by helping its members
                                   overcome the obstacles they face.

                                   Roma face many types of discrimination, but the most damaging is the lack of access to education.

                                    With funds from the World Bank’s Small Grants Program, the Roma Information Center (RIC) created a
team from the community who share the dream of helping create a better life for the Roma. It consists of RIC staff; Vesna Petrović, a
family therapist at the Center for Social Work; Tanja Pavlović, a former assistant in the local Ministry of Education who now teaches
kindergarten; and others from city organizations, including Roma representatives.

“This new project allows us to collaborate with local institutions, gather ideas, and synchronize our work,”
says Rozalija Ilić, Executive Director of RIC.

The team’s largest current project is “Equal Opportunities,” a plan to improve the equality of education for
Roma students. It includes teaching the Serbian language and preparing students for opportunities beyond
secondary school. RIC also runs workshops with both Roma and non-Roma children in which barriers are broken down through dancing
and games.

Helping women in Pančevo

The Banat Women’s Initiative is a cooperative formed by 11 women in response to the lack of attention paid to the special needs of
women in the workplace. It is also concerned with women’s health, particularly in light of heavy pollution in Pančevo, a town just outside
Belgrade, as well as social support.

                                        “We want to empower women so they can help themselves and their families,” says Gordana
                                        Aleksić, a member of the cooperative as well as vice-president of the local branch of the Trade
                                        Union of Metalworkers.

                                        The cooperative works primarily with the local petrochemical and fertilizer factories to find additional
                                        employment for women. The factories have provided facilities where women find temporary work.

The Initiative used a World Bank small grant to finance workshops to inform women about job loss and how to start a business. “There is
still a lot of uncertainty in this country regarding how to start a new business,” points out Jasna Milićev, a member of the Initiative and a
literature teacher.

The future of civil society in Serbia

Both the Roma Information Center and the Banat’s Women Initiative have been successful in drawing attention to important issues.
However, the future of nongovernmental organizations in Serbia is uncertain, especially because most of them rely on funding from
international donors.

The Initiative is devising ways to avoid this problem by continuing to help women develop innovative employment ideas. Eventually, the
Initiative hopes it can become a financially-independent organization that provides salaries for its members.

RIC, on the other hand, is uncertain what the future holds due to a lack of long-term funding, but its employees are optimistic. “For six
years we have not known what the future will be,” laughs Ms. Ilić. “We will make it.”

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This success was made possible thanks to the World Bank's Small Grants Program . Click here to read more about the program.