DIRA was an international project managed by the Deaconess Foundation with partners from Italy, Serbia and North Macedonia. The Finnish Roma Association participated the project as an associate member, and it provided tailored digital skills guidance for Roma migrants.

The main objective of the project was the improvement of the socio-economic state of Roma adults through IT education and development of digital skills and competences. In 2022, a survey on the digital skills of the Roma communities in Finland, Italy, Serbia and North Macedonia was compiled. In Finland, the survey was implemented among the migrant Roma residing in Helsinki (N=49). According to survey, there was a major gap to be addressed in the digital skills of the Roma migrants in residing in Helsinki and their ability to perform everyday tasks and to access basic e-services. Their inability to perform basic online tasks and to access e-services generally went hand in hand with the inability (or limited ability) to read and write in their native language and with poor foreign languages skills.  

The Finnish Roma Association had earlier compiled surveys on the digital skills of Finnish Roma. Basically, there was no need for support when using digital devices, but support was needed for navigating the services of the authorities, doing digital transactions and understanding official language.

The DIRA was a project that involved five international partners in Italy, Serbia, North Macedonia, North Macedonia and Finland, and was funded by the Erasmus+ programme.