The Centre trained civil society organizations on reporting on the European Social Charter

On September 27 2022, we organized a seminar for civil society organizations on the role of CSOs in monitoring of economic and social rights guaranteed by the European Social Charter. The seminar was implemented as part of the project called Enhancing the use of the reporting procedure of the European Social Charter in Slovakia with a main focus on group 4 provisions on children, families and migrants, which the Center is implementing with a financial support of the Council of Europe.

The seminar introduced the European Social Charter (revised) and its monitoring mechanism as a tool for protection and promotion of social rights. We also provided details on its selected provisions on the rights of the child, families and migrants.

Since civil society organizations play an important role in the protection and promotion of social rights, they can provide key information about the shortcomings in the practice and implementation of human rights obligations in Slovakia. We therefore explained to the participants how they can use these resources in reporting to the European Committee for Social Rights, which oversees the compliance of the state parties with the European Social Charter (revised). We also presented a practical manual (in Slovak) prepared for CSOs to clarify the reporting process. The seminar also included a practical workshop with the aim of identifying possible topics for reporting in the current reporting cycle and planning the preparation of the alternative reports step by step.

In addition, a representative of SOCIA – Social Reform Foundation  presented her experiences with drafting an alternative report on the European Social Charter (revised) in 2021 as part of a coalition of CSOs. She also shared her experiences with reporting to other international human rights bodies.

The seminar also served as a platform for establishing future cooperation between the participating civil society organizations or the Centre. We also held follow-up online consultations for CSOs to address outstanding questions about reporting in the month of October.