Zoe Mowl
Program Assistant
Washington, DC
Zoe is a program assistant on NDI's Central and Eastern Europe team. She works primarily on regional inclusion programming for minority and marginalized populations. Prior to working at NDI, she served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in rural Kosovo and is a proud graduate of Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service.   

One Person Can Make a Difference: Success Stories of Roma Advocacy in Slovakia

Three Roma activists in eastern Slovakia: Rudolf, Stefan and Igor

The Roma, whose numbers are estimated at more than 10 million, make up Europe’s largest minority group, and are also the largest socially and economically-marginalized population. Across the continent, Roma face systemic discrimination in employment, education, healthcare and housing. This leads to poor quality of life, lower life spans, higher school delinquency rates and higher unemployment rates in comparison to their fellow non-Roma citizens. According to official EU statistics, anywhere from 33 to 58 percent of Roma children will experience segregation in public schools and, on average, only 12 percent of Roma between the ages of 18 and 24 will have completed high school.

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