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.
For the second time, the Centre prepared an alternative report on the implementation of the European Social Charter (Revised). The alternative report was prepared in accordance with Art. 23 (1) and Art. 27 (2) of the European Social Charter for the review of the European Committee of Social Rights, which decides whether the national situations comply with the Charter.
The aim of the 2021 Human Rights Report is to provide the public with a comprehensive assessment of the status of selected human rights and fundamental freedoms in Slovakia and at the same time formulate recommendations for improving the protection and implementation of human rights and fundamental freedoms.
The year 2021 continued to be marked by the COVID-19 pandemic which had a significant impact on the level of protection and promotion of human rights and fundamental freedoms. In addition to the COVID-19 pandemic, several criteria determine the content of the 2021 Human Rights Report. It includes topics which have shown deficiencies in practice or have aggravated problems that the Centre has been addressing systematically and for a long time.
As part of official visit to Slovakia, we welcomed the delegation of the Special Representative of the Secretary General on Migration and Refugees , Leyla Kayacik. The Special Representative held talks with Executive Director Silvia Porubänová and legal officers from the department of policy and international relations Zuzana Pavlíčková and Katarína Medľová. We discussed the main challenges in protecting and supporting the rights of people fleeing to Slovakia from war in Ukraine.
On 26 April 2022, the Centre welcomed Michael O’Flaherty, Director of the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA), together with Ludovica Banfi, expert in field of migration and social research. The representatives of FRA met with the Executive Director of the Centre, Silvia Porubänová, as well as with Zuzana Pavlíčková and Lilla Ozoráková, legal officers from the department of policy and international relations. During the meeting, we discussed our priorities with a view to a closer future cooperation between the Centre and FRA.
For those seeking legal assistance or general guidance on temporary asylum and asylum, we have produced leaflets in four languages – Slovak, English, Ukrainian and Russian.
The leaflet contains general information about what discrimination is, what are forms and areas of discrimination and how to proceed if a person has been victim of discrimination.
On March 21 2021, Executive Director Silvia Porubänová, alongside with the Centre representatives Zuzana Pavlíčková and Katarína Medľová, met with Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights Dunja Mijatović and her team as a part of a monitoring/mapping visit to Slovakia in connection with people fleeing Ukraine’s war conflict. Representatives from the Office of the Public Defender of Human Rights, the International Organization for Migration (IOM), and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees also attended the meeting (UNHCR).
The main aim of the meeting was to exchange preliminary findings on the protection and promotion of human rights and fundamental freedoms of people fleeing Ukraine’s war conflict, such as access to information on their fundamental rights, protection from human trafficking, protection from discrimination, and the specific challenges faced by vulnerable groups (women, children, Roma and third-country nationals). The Centre informed the Commissioner of its preliminary findings from the mapping exercise, as well as the next actions and activities planned, at the meeting.
The protection of fundamental human rights and freedoms is also important in such unprecedented times. We are ready to provide assistance for those who feel threatened by the war. For people from Ukraine who come to Slovakia, we have set up an email contact: pravnapomocutecencom@snslp.sk, through which you can ask us questions regarding legal aid.
Ladies and gentlemen, we have published a Report on the Observance of Human Rights, Including the Principle of Equal Treatment in the Slovak Republic for 2020, which is published every year by the 30th of April.
The spread of the COVID-19 disease marked the year 2020 and had a major impact on the exercise of human rights and fundamental freedoms, with a particularly negative impact on the most vulnerable groups.
Although the pandemic undoubtedly changed the way of life of each individual, the marginalized Roma Communities, persons with disabilities, older persons, homeless persons‘ Women, children and many others felt the negative effects of the measures in response much more sensitively. The COVID-l9 pandemic and the measures taken by the state authorities have further exacerbated existing inequalities and underlined vulnerability of certain groups of Slovak population.
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