Slovak Republic - Facts by Country

Slovakia, Structural Funds and Roma

OP Employment and Social Inclusion

The measure “Supporting the social inclusion of persons at risk of social exclusion or the socially excluded through the development of care services with special regard to marginalised Roma communities” within the Operational Programme (OP) Employment and Social Inclusion is aimed at:

Promoting increases in the access to, quality and effectiveness of care services (social services and measures of social and legal protection and social curatorship, and other specific measures) that improve the access of at-risk and marginalised groups to the labour market and society at large.
Activities designed to support communities and care services aimed at promoting the basic functions of the family in order to create adequate conditions for the integration of family members into the labour market.
Activities promoting community work and producing and supporting change within local communities and sensibilisation activities.
Strengthening professional expertise in the delivery and building of human capacities in the area of social inclusion.

The measure “Promoting equal opportunities in access to the labour market and supporting the integration of disadvantaged groups in the labour market with special regard to marginalised Roma communities” will be aimed at:

Programmes of education and training of disadvantaged jobseekers, with a focus on persons distanced from the labour market, particularly persons from marginalised Roma communities.
Promoting the creation of new jobs, including projects designed to encourage self-employment and innovative approaches for disadvantaged jobseekers and members of marginalised groups (i.e. the target group for this framework activity).
Second chance type programmes enabling the completion of primary or secondary school, the acquisition of vocational skills through work experience, with special regard to marginalised Roma communities.
Programmes designed for employment service delivery and training for employees at risk of collective redundancy, with special regard to older workers and workers with poor education.
Promoting mechanisms for the prevention and elimination of gender inequalities in the labour market.

The budget envisaged for both measures within the 2007-2013 programme totals 151 994 119 EUR (EU resources + State budget). Measures will be implemented via pilot and demand-driven projects.

On the political front, the deputy prime minister for the Knowledge Society, European Affairs, Human Rights and Minorities is responsible for the horizontal priority of marginalised Roma communities (MRC). The coordinating agency of the horizontal priority of MRC is the Office of the Plenipotentiary for Roma Communities of the Government of the Slovak Republic, which established a department for the coordination of the said horizontal priority aimed at the elaboration and execution of methodologies activities backing the horizontal priority of MRC.