“Solutions for Inclusion” Hackathon. The First Digital Platform for the Roma Community in Moldova Was Created

The Roma community in the Republic of Moldova enjoys an interactive digital platform due to the “Solutions for Inclusion” hackathon organized by the Independent Journalism Center (IJC). The project was implemented in 2023-2024 by the National Association of Community Mediators (NACM) from the Republic of Moldova, which was included in the list of the winning teams within the contest.

Via this digital platform, the association intended to solve the issues of socio-economic inclusion of the Roma, promoting the community mediators’ function and facilitating fair access to information and public services for the community as a whole.

About the www.anmc.md Digital Platform

In the Republic of Moldova, the Roma are faced with social exclusion, poverty, and discrimination, and remain one of the most vulnerable communities in our country. The position of community mediator was created to support the Roma’s social integration. “Until last year, there was no online platform dedicated to the Roma in our country, and there was no platform providing necessary information about community mediators. The NACM team members were motivated to apply and won the ‘Solutions for Inclusion’ hackathon initiated by the IJC, because we intended to launch a webpage dedicated to the Roma community, and we also wanted this platform to become a ‘friend’ for every Roma, a place where they could get some information and contact a community mediator from their locality or from the neighborhood if necessary,” Sergiu Bugai, the project manager, says.

“For the first time, we have a Roma website in Moldova, and it’s managed by the Roma and for the Roma. It’s a platform providing useful information on such important issues as healthcare, education, and social protection”, Valeriu Caldararu, NACM Executive President, affirms.

The www.anmc.md platform created during the hackathon is an essential tool facilitating the Roma’s access to important information in such spheres as education, healthcare, social protection, and employment. The website is structured into the two main modules: the one dedicated to community mediators, which includes updated resources and guidelines for their activities, and the one for beneficiaries, which provides essential information for the Roma and other vulnerable groups.

In addition, this digital platform provides the Roma community with the information regarding each community mediator, their activity, and the ways they could be contacted. “The objective of our project was creating an online platform aimed at promoting the community mediator activity, and, in its turn, it could provide access to important social information for the Roma and other communities. The information is available in Romanian and Russian, as well as in the Romani language. As far as we have observed, this newly created platform will boosted the complicated process of social and economic inclusion of persons of Roma descent,” Silviana Feraru, President of the NACM Administrative Council, emphasizes.

According to the NACM team, the platform is accessible for the entire Roma community, regardless of the visitors’ age or studies. In addition, explanatory videos in the Romani language can also be viewed. “We have also developed a special tool for persons who cannot read or write. They can send voice messages, so that we could contact them later and provide the necessary answers,” Silviana Feraru adds.

The “Solutions for Inclusion” hackathon had the mission to develop tools, platforms, and/or applications for promoting inclusion and diversity, increasing the chances for public involvement of socially vulnerable and marginalized groups.

The hackathon was organized as part of the project “Building social cohesion in Moldova through promoting inclusion and diminishing discrimination”, carried out by the Independent Journalism Center as part of the program “Joint Initiative for Equal Opportunities – Phase II”, implemented with the support of the Government of Switzerland.

 

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