As the Czech Republic gears up for regional and Senate elections later this month, an intensive political training program aimed specifically at Romany, or Gypsy, women has positioned several of them to make a run at public offices.

Nine have just completed the six-month program, the first ever tailored specifically to Romany women. Three are running in elections in north Bohemia, central Bohemia, and in Prague.

"It's important to set a positive example for Romany communities," says 27-year-old Gabriela Hrabanová, who helped coordinate the program and took the course herself. She is now a Green Party candidate in Prague 5. "A lot of Roma feel that they're unwanted, and they harbor a mistrust of the whole political system."

To say that Roma are under-represented in the political system is an understatement. Since 1989, only two Roma have held seats in the Chamber of Deputies. The current government doesn't include any.

The Czech Republic isn't alone among Central European countries in its lack of political representation for the Roma. Neither Poland nor Slovakia has any Romany deputies in their current governments. Hungary, with a Roma population estimated at 600,000, is an exception. The Hungarian Constitution states that groups recognized under the Act on Minorities are to be represented in the government.

In 2004, a Hungarian deputy became the first Romany member of the European Parliament.

Several nongovernmental organizations, including Athinganoi and Manusche, organized the program. It incorporated a series of lectures by active politicians as well as weekend retreat workshops, where the women practiced speaking on camera, talking to journalists, engaging in political debates and constructing election platforms. The lectures, usually held once a week, focused on four key topics, with an emphasis on Romany issues: housing, education, employment and health care.

Amálie Berkyová, a 26-year-old teacher from Hostomice, north Bohemia, also completed the course and is now No. 2 on the European Democratic candidate list for her town. Berkyová says she doesn't over-emphasize her ethnicity in her election campaign.

"I want to attract the widest possible spectrum of voters and address problems that don't just deal with Romany issues," she says. "At the same time, I feel like I can serve as an example for other Romany women who feel under-represented. I understand Romany issues, and I can relate to them."

Like Hrabanová, Berkyová says she gets the sense that there are a lot of educated, capable Roma out there who would be interested in entering politics.

Roma remain one of the most marginalized of this country's minorities, a group with distinct customs and specific problems that activists say politicians have long needed to address.

Although only some 11,700 citizens identified themselves as Roma in the 2001 census, unofficial estimates state that there could be as many as 250,000 Roma in the country.

Some, like Cyril Koky, the coordinator for Romany affairs for central Bohemia, say the biggest obstacle in gaining government representation comes from the existing political parties.

"There's a lack of will within most parties to recruit more Romany members," he says. "In high politics, it's always the same group of people."

Introducing quotas for a minimum number of Romany representatives could be an effective way to change that, Koky says.

Monika Mihalíková, a Roma who represented the Freedom Union in the Chamber of Deputies from 1998 to 2002, disagrees.

"I don't think political parties are closed to the Roma," she says. "The motivation has to come from within the Roma communities."