REPUBLIC OF MACEDONIA Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Transcription

1 REPUBLIC OF MACEDONIA Ministry of Foreign Affairs INTRODUCTORY SPEECH BY MR. LJUPCO MESHKOV, MINISTER OF LABOR AND SOCIAL POLICY IN THE GOVERNMENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF MACEDONIA, AT THE 37 TH SESSION OF THE COMMITTEE OF THE UNITED NATIONS ON ECONOMIC SOCIAL AND CULTURAL RIGHTS, ON THE OCCASION OF THE REVIEW OF THE INITIAL REPORT OF THE GOVERNMENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF MACEDONIA UPON THE COVENANT ON ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL RIGHTS Geneva, 13 November 2006

2 Distinguished Chair, Distinguished members of the Committee, Allow me, at the beginning, to express how greatly satisfied I am with the opportunity to exchange opinions with the distinguished members of the Committee, on the implementation of the obligations under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights on the part of the Republic of Macedonia. We believe that the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, through its commitment to the implementation of the aims of the Convention makes an essential contribution towards raising the awareness about the necessity to respect this group of rights at the broadest, global level. We are facing plenty of work that we need to do together, which requires additional efforts by the Governments, non-governmental sector and the international community. Still, the almost universal ratification of the Convention once again reiterates the importance and the relevance of this instrument for the betterment of the situation in this area, all around the world. As you know, the Republic of Macedonia has acceded to the Convention by succession from former SFRY. For our state, it entered into force on 17 November We have submitted the Initial Report in July Our Initial Report upon the Covenant, which covers, I would say, an unusually long period for the standards of this Committee, has presented the progress achieved in a number of areas, such as the education, healthcare, political participation, non-governmental sector. Still, there is lot of work to be done, especially in the area of employment, groups of social rights, healthcare, advancement of the position of the women, with the purpose of uniform implementation of all provisions of the Covenant in all areas of its scope and extent, for the best interest of this category of rights in the country. This report and the dialogue with your Committee are of extraordinary importance, they provide clear directions on the future activities, in order to further improve the overall conditions in the Macedonian society. Allow me, very briefly indeed, to address the reasons for excessive, according to all assessments, delay in the fulfillment of this important and essential obligation of the Republic of Macedonia within the corps of reports upon the celebrated Bill of Rights of the United Nations. The reasons are multilayered, but in this occasion I would underline (1) the transition period, through which the Republic of Macedonia is passing, where it is exactly this group of rights that is under in-depth revision and subject to frequent legal amendments, which makes the legal framework inconsistent and with incomplete scope when certain rights are concerned; (2) a large number of obligations of this type, initial reports upon various documents of similar nature and within this context the limited capacity of the administration to respond to the volume of obligations of this type; (3) profound reforms and challenges that the country has faced, especially after the year 2001, etc. Still, allow me to stress that the orientation of the Government to rapidly fulfill the delayed obligations provides the initial, already clearly visible results. In the past two years, five initial or combined reports have been submitted to the respective committees, and after their review, of which today s is the first 2

3 in line, the situation with regards to the Republic of Macedonia could be brought to a normal, satisfactory level. Distinguished members of the Committee, On the road towards the advancement of the democratic processes in the Republic of Macedonia there is a continuous developmental process. The universality of the human rights, accepted through the principle of nondiscrimination, is the cornerstone of the legal system of the Republic of Macedonia. The acceptance of the universality with regards to human rights issues can be recognized at both normative and institutional level. The analysis of the legal framework in the Republic of Macedonia from the aspect of this group of rights indicates a relatively broad scope in several normative acts and a treatment which, essentially, adheres to the international orientations and positions. Starting from the estimated, i.e., inherited situation of a relatively high degree of respect of this group of rights inherited from the period before 1991, a relatively huge step forward has been made towards formal and legal equalization between the categories of beneficiaries of these rights, but relatively little has been done towards changing the complex in the real-life relations. Unfortunately, the determining reason for this situation is the very weak economic situation and still very high level of poverty in the Republic of Macedonia. In order to follow the general intention of the global social changes, and in order to create a system which will incorporate the solutions from the international legislation, changes are needed, in both the basic approach to the legislation and the individual legislative provisions. But, much more visible is the need to build an institutional structural foundation which provides for the operational follow-up of the normative provisions. The priority activity in this area was the harmonization of labor legislation of the Republic of Macedonia with the EU acquis. In this sense, within the reform of labor legislation of July 2005, the Law on Employment was adopted, which incorporates all relevant and most recent achievements in this area. Presently, I would highlight: the Council Directive on the principle of equal salaries for men and women; the Directive on Equal Access to Work, Education and Equal Working Conditions, and the Directive on Burden of Proof in Case of Discrimination. Using this opportunity, I would like to inform you that the Republic of Macedonia works seriously on the preparations for the accession to the European Union, and the rapprochement of its institutions and legislation to EU standards. Particular attention is paid to the corps of issues in the area of human rights and freedoms, as well as equal opportunities for every citizen. In this sense, it will continue working with dedication in the area of economic, social and cultural rights, too, aware that true democratization of the country is not possible without complete and unimpeded enjoyment, especially of this group, of rights, which is greatly predetermined by a certain level of economic development of the country. Distinguished members of the Committee, 3

4 Allow me, very briefly, considering the detailed and comprehensive report that we are reviewing today, to touch upon the state of play in some areas under the competence of my line ministry. In order to overcome the unemployment problems, the Government of the Republic of Macedonia assumed the obligation to develop a National Strategy for Employment, for the period The Strategy contains the mid-term strategies for employment, as well as the main challenges for the labor market in the period until 2010, from the aspect of the macro-economic and micro-economic policies, employment policies and labor market policies, then the policies in the area of social security and social protection. It also establishes the goals and specific policies for employment, which will provide for the fulfillment of the objectives contained in the Strategy for Employment. The National Strategy for Employment incorporates the policies for employment from the revised Lisbon Strategy and the Integrated Guidelines of the EU. The Strategy will be implemented through the National Action Plan for Employment, and other operational documents which will provide for the implementation of the National Strategy for Employment in close cooperation with the social partners; active policy that will promote full employment, quality and productiveness in the workplace; and social cohesion. Aside from this, the National Action Plan for Employment contains an overview of the funds necessary to implement the foreseen measures and activities that it contains, as well as an overview of the legislation that needs to be adopted or amended. The National Strategy for Employment and the National Action Plan for Employment were developed within the frameworks of the extended partnership between the ministries in charge of the implementation of the macro-economic and the microeconomic policy, as well as the employment policy (Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Economy, Ministry of Education and Science, Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management, Ministry of Local Self-Government), involving also the Employment Agency of the Republic of Macedonia, the State Statistics Office, the Association of Units of Local Self-Government and the social partners. In the course of development of the aforementioned documents, used were also the data and analyses of national and local experts, as well as experts retained by the CARDS Project Employment Policy II. In order to meet the established goals and policies aiming at reducing the unemployment, the Republic of Macedonia, apart from the funds from the Budget of the Republic, will provide financial support from the funds of the European Union and bilateral donors. For 2007 the Government of the Republic of Macedonia has developed a Programme with active political and employment measures, defines the type of measures for different target groups that will be comprised with the Programme implementation. Also, aiming at implementation of the foreseen measures and policies, prepared was an indicative budget estimate of the funds necessary, precisely defining the source of funding for the foreseen measures and activities, as well as the entities responsible for their implementation. For complete and successful implementation of the foreseen policies and measures, activities are planned to amend individual legislation items. 4

5 Presently, under way is the implementation of several pilot project, financially supported by UNDP, which yield positive results in the implementation of active employment measures. Protection at work, pursuant to the legislation of the Republic of Macedonia is designed as a constituent part of the organization of work and the work process, and on that basis it is provided for any worker and any gainful employment, regardless of the type and complexity of work, which is in accordance with the constitutional principle of the right of every employee to be protected at work. For the workers in the industry sector and the administrative sector, the Law on Protection at Work prescribes several obligations related to the planning and regulation of the protection at work in their working environment, organization of protection at work, vocational training and skills development for the workers to work independently and safely; tests and examinations of working tools, of the biological, chemical and physical harmful agents and micro-climate in the working and auxiliary rooms, medical check-ups (initial and periodic) of the workers who work under special working conditions, etc. With regards to the implementation of the European directives in this sphere, the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy will undertake development and adoption of several acts within its scope of work. Distinguished members of the Committee, With the enlargement of the European Union of May 1 st 2004, the Roma are the largest, the poorest and the fastest growing minority in Europe. The total population of Roma across Europe is estimated at between 7 and 13 million. They amount to around 2% of the 450-million strong population in the enlarged European Union. Approximately 6 million Roma live in Central and Eastern Europe and almost 5 million in the new member-states of the EU. The challenge of the economic and social development of the Roma is one of the remaining important issues on the agenda of the countries of Central and Eastern Europe and other EU countries. The Roma issue is a key issue related to poverty. The poverty of Roma is multi-faceted, starting with the low education level, inappropriate housing, poor health status, large unemployment rate which leads to the vicious circle of poverty and exclusion. These reasons reflect the everyday life of the Roma. In relation to the Roma as an ethnic community, the Republic of Macedonia has made a significant positive step forward in comparison to other states. The Republic of Macedonia joins the countries that have demonstrated preparedness to promote a principle of active protection of the Roma rights. For the state this does not mean just a moral obligation, but the care for the Roma is it s duty regulated by law. Namely, the care provided by the state refers to the duty to respect the aforementioned rights through adequate legislation, but also to secure their institutional protection through administrative and other measures necessary for full enforcement of the proclaimed rights. At the moment when the Republic of Macedonia promotes the quality of the multicultural society and moves forward towards EU integration, it is very important that it demonstrates the will and the industriousness in defining and implementation of the strategic priorities related to the Roma needs. 5

6 In the course of 2004, coordinated by the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy as the leader in the activities related to the Decade, the National Working Group was established, composed of representatives of line ministries and representatives of the relevant Roma bodies. The group prepared four National Action Plans on the four priority areas of the Decade (employment, education, healthcare and housing), where it included the general objectives, activities, indicators and relation with the three general themes (poverty, discrimination and gender equality). The National Action Plans were adopted at Government s session at 31 st January 2005 and by virtue of this adoption the Republic of Macedonia undertook the obligation of implementing them. The Republic of Macedonia is the only country participant in the Decade which has developed and adopted Operational Plans for faster and more successful implementation of National Plans and has been proclaimed the leader in the Decade by the World Bank and the Open Society Institute. During 2004 another very important document was prepared in the Republic of Macedonia the Strategy on Roma in RM, which presents a comprehensive policy of the state towards this ethnic community. Since the general aim of the Strategy and the Decade is the integration of the Roma in the Macedonian society, as well as the strengthening of the Roma community, it is necessary that the proclaimed strategic aims and activities are harmonized with the general reform policy of the state. Additionally, considering the current situation with the Roma community, a need arises to employ special measures through which equality in the access and opportunities for the Roma will be achieved in all domains of the society. A prerequisite for this is the development of a clear and operational state policy towards the Roma. The main long-term indicators for the overall success are the achieved positive changes in the general quality of life of the Roma and the achieved increased participation in the social life in the Republic of Macedonia. In the final part of my intervention, distinguished Chair, distinguished members of the Committee, I would like to use the opportunity to emphasize the active and successful cooperation of the Republic of Macedonia with the United Nations and its agencies, especially those represented in the country, which I hope will continue in the future. At the very end of my intervention I would like to introduce to you the members of the Macedonian delegation, which, as you can see, are many, which is one more indicator for the commitment of the Republic of Macedonia to the aims of the Covenant. I hope that through the dialogue that follows we will be able to provide complete and competent answers to your questions. Thank you. 6