Македонски центар за меѓународна соработка - МЦМС

Authors: Violeta Petroska Beška and Mirjana Najčevska
Date: 2009
PDF:   equal-opportunities-barometer-2009.pdf

In order to ensure that equal opportunities are enjoyed by everyone and adopted laws against discrimination are implemented in practice, the European Union has designated 2007 as the “European Year of Equal Opportunities for All”. The aim of this European Year was to inform people of their rights, to celebrate diversity and to promote equal opportunities for everyone in the European Union.

In anticipation of this Year of Equal Opportunities for All, the European Commission commissioned a survey about discrimination and inequality in Europe, conducted in the summer of 2006. A follow-up survey was conducted in the winter of 2008 (after the European year ended), tracking how perceptions and opinion in this field have changed due to the undertaken activities in the intervening year. The results of the survey were published in the Special Eurobarometer 296 as “Discrimination in the European Union: Perceptions, Experiences and Attitudes.”

This survey is based on the same instrument (with small additions) and the same methodology is applied. The survey in the Republic of Macedonia was conducted in April 2009. The questionnaire was developed by the Centre for Human Rights and Conflict Resolution, in cooperation with Brima from Skopje on a sample of 1,606 respondents. The report was prepared by Prof. Dr. Violeta Petroska Beška. The Annex presenting the data analysis through the prism of existing experiences was prepared by Prof. Dr. Mirjana Najčevska. The Report is part of the project “Macedonia without Discrimination” carried out within the Progress Programme of the European Commission in the Republic of Macedonia and implemented by Polio Plus, Macedonian Centre for International Cooperation (MCIC), the Centre for Human Rights and Conflict Resolution and the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy. The MCIC is responsible for realizing this project activity.

The survey explores the same six forms of discrimination examined in the EU context, which are defined in the two anti-discrimination directives of the European Union: discrimination on the basis of gender, ethnic origin, religion or beliefs, age, disability (impediment in the development) and sexual orientation. Due to the current context, the research in the Republic of Macedonia also examines the discrimination on the basis of party affiliation, a phenomenon which cannot be compared with the one in the EU countries.

The report for the Republic of Macedonia mainly follows the same structure as the European one:

1.    Setting the context, illustrating the diversity of respondents’ social circles and whether people think of themselves as belonging to a minority (discriminated) group
2.    Presents the perceptions of different types of discrimination on individual grounds and on multiple grounds as well as the attitudes to different groups and the perceived extent of discrimination.
3.    Presents measurements of discrimination on every ground separately, operationalized as direct experiences of the respondents and/or witnessed as happening to a third party.
4.    Presents the assessments of efforts made by the country to combat discrimination.
5.    Presents the knowledge of one’s rights as a potential victim of discrimination
6.    Presents the views on equal opportunities in employment.
7.    Summarizes the findings on discrimination on each ground separately
In presenting and analyzing each of these findings for each of the examined types of discrimination, comparisons were made among different subgroups of respondents, defined according to the following socio-demographic features: gender; age; education – primary (completed and not completed), secondary and higher (college and university); place of residence – urban and rural; ethnic origin – Macedonians and Albanians (as the only ethnic groups sufficiently represented in the sample to allow meaningful comparisons); and religion – Orthodox and Muslims (as the only religious groups sufficiently represented in the sample to allow meaningful comparisons).

Whenever possible the Report compares the results between the “European” and the “Macedonian” survey.

It is expected the findings presented in this report to serve as an illustration of the initial situation in the Republic of Macedonia, prior to the adoption of the Anti-Discrimination Law. These results may serve to monitor the effects of the law and to create policies for improving the situation regarding the discrimination on all grounds.