PROJECTS IN 2013

 

1.            Children's' right to healthy environment - Project

2.            "Good Practices for Tolerance - With Communication for Equal Dignity - Inclusive Speech contra Hate Speech" - Project

3.            "Decent Start – Job Opportunities for the Youth"- Project

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  1. Children's' right to healthy environment - Project

The Ombudsman continued his thematic children's rights project launched in 2008,this year he focused on the importance of examining children's right to physical and mental health in a broader context, focusing as well on the interest of future generations, poverty, deprivation, environmental risks and access to basic services, like clean water.

During the inquiries conducted by the Commissioner for Fundamental Rights as a quasi children's rights ombudsman in the course of 2013 concerning  right to a healthy environment the Commissioner relied not solely on previous related works of the Parliamentary Commissioner for Future Generations and the Parliamentary Commissioner for the National and Ethnic Minorities Rights but on the results of the project 2011 on children's physical-mental health and provisions of the Basic Law and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, and used international standards as the EU Children's Environment and Health Action Plan for Europe (CEHAPE) programme or WHO's researches as well.

The environment has positive and negative impacts on human rights. It plays a vital role in ensuring human life, producing food and raw materials essential for the industry and development. At the same time, some environmental risk factors like excessive radiation or contaminated drinking water may endanger children's fundamental right to a healthy environment or even life. In view of this, the inquiries focused on two main areas:

-          right to a healthy environment in schools (education, special trainings, environmental consciousness, access to services, meals/special needs, bio organic food, local products);

-          ensuring rights of   vulnerable children or children living in extremely poor or conditions in the context of the right to a healthy environment.

 

  1. "Good Practices for Tolerance - With Communication for Equal Dignity - Inclusive Speech contra Hate Speech" - Project

This project was made especially timely by the realization that the socio-economic crisis, the neediness and the ever-growing defencelessness lead to scapegoating and discrimination. The state organs and the actors of the civil sphere in the broad sense face serious tasks in the formation of a tolerant and prejudice-free social environment.

Within the framework of the project and investigations, the colleagues of the Office have contacted several relevant authorities for receiving information on their actions and plans regarding the prevention of hate speech and the promotion of tolerance. The results of the project's inquiries were depressing: the state authorities have been failed to comply enough. The goal should be a creation of a democratic society with participants with adequate political culture, for which the state organs should support every initiatives of the civil society.

The importance of the theme of hate speech should be examined and dealt closely by every participants of the society. Furthermore, the Commissioner urges "the change of mentality and attitude towards the question, as the prevention should be in the centre of attention and not the sanction and penalization of the convicts. A tolerant society should be developed with members having an appropriate political behaviour.  Therefore, education receives a special attention and importance on this field."

 

  1. "Decent Start – Job Opportunities for the Youth"- Project

In the last 6 years, the colleagues of the Commissioner for Fundamental Rights have addressed the question of employment, especially focused on the employment for the youth. Today the high unemployment rate of the youth is a pan-European problem and sadly the most prepared generation is hit by the crisis. The Office had already inquired the public employment from the perspective of fundamental rights in 2012.

The project of 2013 entitled "Decent Start" had the objective of investigating employment and employability for the youth and whether and how the connection of education and employment is accomplished and what the state does or can do in order to facilitate employability for the youth. In this project, our colleagues dealt with the issue of how the young generations could become entrepreneurs, the Office examined to what extent the legal and administrative institutions prevent the young generation from starting an enterprise and pose difficulties for them.

Within the framework of this project, the Office was supported by the Hungarian Association of Craftsmen's Corporations and has also cooperated with other organizations.