CVEK

Project Monitoring minority policies in Slovakia has had an ambition to fill in the domestic gap in monitoring minority policies with a broader objective changing the discourse on minorities and related policies. Project also complemented existing periodical monitoring of international bodies. Saliently, CVEK was hoping to embark on processes that could help alternate minority rights debate, improve minority policies and increase political commitment necessary for their sustainment. The project has been based on an idea that Slovakia shall no longer be constructed as a state owned by ethnic Slovaks, but as a multicultural country of all its citizens and permanent members to ensure the inclusion of minorities. The transformation would mean that minorities are no longer viewed as a danger to the majority and consequently to peace and stability. Instead, their claims should be viewed as a matter of justice and equality. Such discourse would open new innovative avenues for accommodating even the most deprived groups such as the Roma.

To achieve our objectives CVEK engaged with research and monitoring of minority policies standards accompanied with advocacy activities to convey these policy changes through capacity building of relevant decision-makers; and participation in policies drafting

CVEK experts draw on international minority rights, the Slovak constitutional law, and political theory of liberal pluralism to develop standards for monitoring. CVEK monitored how international standards contained in such important treaties as the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities has been observed and implemented. CVEK also evaluated developments in minority’ policies by reference to two foundational criteria of minority protection: peace and security, and human dignity, accepting that moving towards human dignity means progress. Developing minority rights through reference to human dignity also required a contextual accommodation of diverse minority groups and their individual members given their multiple sources of identities.

Monitoring:

The project’s monitoring resulted in two main deliverables: a quarterly newsletter and an annual report on minority policies in Slovakia. Electronically issued quarterly Minority Policy in Slovakia timely informed, highlighted, and provided a critical reflection on the most recent events in minority policies. The annual report, published in both Slovak and English language, provided both a grasp of broad trends as well as detailed and informed analysis of particular events based on developed minority rights standards. The annual report contains also one in-depth case study on a selected issue relating to minorities and minority policies and includes also a set of concrete policy recommendations.

Advocacy:

The advocacy component of the project employs two approaches: capacity building of relevant decision-makers through a series of workshops and participation in policies preparation. The objective of the workshops has been to educate about various avenues on thinking about minority policies, explaining alternatives of minority policies and thus increasing their capacity to adopt sound policies. Additionally, through the workshops CVEK attempted to establish a channel of regular communication with state officials and politicians that create and influence minority policy following on the policy recommendations contained in the annual report.

The other segment of the advocacy strategy has been directly focused on participation in policies drafting. Furthermore, CVEK made use of state administration’s inter-departmental amendments procedure, that allowed CVEK to submit its objections and suggestions and enter policies discourse before they are adopted by the government.

The objective of this project has been large scale as it seeks to be one of the important elements in promoting fundamental changes to conceptualize Slovakia and its relationship to minorities. CVEK recognized that our center and this project have limited capacity to investigate these changes and this agenda must be supported by at minimum a broader social movement of several stakeholders, including saliently minorities themselves to be successful. Challenge notwithstanding, CVEK believes that sustained and independent research monitoring accompanied with advocacy activities will contribute towards the development of inclusive, fair and context-sensitive policies for the diverse minority communities.  

At the beginning of May 2011 CVEK issued 1st volume of the critical quarterly MINORITY POLICIES IN SLOVAKIA. Quarterly is a part of the project Monitoring of the minority policies in Slovakia and critically evaluates topics of minority policies for first quarter of 2011. It focuses on issues such as double citizenship; amendments of a law on state language and on usage of minority languages; so-called Roma crime; regional elections from the perspective of Roma political participation; proposal of the law on aliens status, or on integration of migrants.