The Roma Education Fund, based in Budapest, was established in 2005 to address the significant disadvantages that Romani children in central, eastern and southeastern Europe faced when trying to access education. The Roma Education Fund (REF) was created within the framework of the Decade of Roma Inclusion in 2005. Its mission and ultimate goal is to close the gap in educational outcomes between Roma and non-Roma. In order to achieve this goal, the organization supports policies and programs which ensure quality education for Roma, including the desegregation of education systems.
The REF works in all tiers of education, including offering scholarships for university level studies and supporting innovative, quality early childhood education and care programmes for Roma children, ‘A Good Start’ initiative (http://www.romaeducationfund.hu/good-start-eu-roma-pilot) and the collaboration with UNICEF and Open Society Foundations Early Childhood Programme, the Roma Early Childhood Inclusion studies that were carried out in Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Croatia, Macedonia, Rumania and other countries.
Web-site: http://romaeducationfund.org/