Roma Versitas Albania · Tirana · Working since 2016
Education that empowers. Leadership that represents. Inclusion that lasts.
We support Roma students through every stage of education, building the skills, confidence and pathways that lead to leadership and a voice in the institutions shaping their communities.
How we began
Roma Versitas Albania was built from work that was already changing lives.
Since 2014, the RomaVersitas Programme had been supporting Roma students in Tirana with mentoring, academic guidance and the practical help needed to stay in university and move forward with confidence. By 2016, the programme had grown beyond an initiative. It had become a community, a responsibility and a long-term commitment to Roma students and their futures.
That year, Roma Versitas Albania was established as an independent Albanian association — able to manage its own grants, build a professional team and be directly accountable for the impact it creates.
What began as support for students became something larger: a Roma-led organisation helping turn access to education into opportunity, leadership, inclusion and representation.
- Founded
- 2016programme work from 2014
- Registration
- Decision No. 5347Tirana Judicial District Court, 30.05.2016
- Legal form
- Non-profit associationLaws 8788 & 8789 of 7.5.2001
- Based in
- TiranaAlbania
Education is not charity. It is the route by which a community stops being spoken about and starts speaking.
Roma Versitas Albania
Four pillars, thirteen programmes
The organisation's own framing.
- Pillar 1 Education Support at every stage — from a child's first year of school to postgraduate study. 8 programmes
- Pillar 2 Employment Placing Roma graduates inside the public institutions that shape Roma lives. 1 programmes
- Pillar 3 Participation Roma who do not only vote, but stand for office and shape public debate. 2 programmes
- Pillar 4 Social Inclusion Legal advocacy and cultural work against the prejudice that holds exclusion in place. 1 programmes
What the work looks like
All 13 programmes-
Education
RomaVersitas Program
Retention, academic performance and graduation support for Roma students in tertiary education.
Completed -
Participation
Roma Political School
Structured capacity-building in political participation, leadership and public policy.
Completed -
Education
WinForVET
Vocational education and training routes into employment for young Roma in Albania and Kosovo.
Completed
Policy research · 2025 · Commissioned by RVA
Roma enrolment in vocational school fell by two thirds in a single year.
-
−64%
Roma vocational enrolment fell from 251 students to 91 in a single year.
-
70%
of students report having felt discriminated against at school.
-
61%
have never received career counselling, a service mandated by law.
-
9%
have support from a Roma or cultural mediator, despite standing recommendations.
Work with us
We partner with institutions, universities and civil society across Albania, the Western Balkans and Europe.