Dear participants, ALL EQUAL,
In my choice of words in the salutation I was inspired
of course by the name of the Conference. We all know that today’s Conference is
held in the framework of the European Year of Equal Opportunities for All.
Therefore I extend the greetings to all of you here, to all the people of
Lithuania irrespective of their gender, racial or ethnic origin, religion or
belief, disability, age or sexual orientation, in other words, I wish equal
treatment for every member of our society. I must admit that sometimes
discrimination does take place in our country particularly in the fields of
employment and education.
The data from the Office of the Equal Opportunities
Ombudsman, active in Lithuania for eight years already, show that people mainly
complain about discrimination on the grounds of gender, age, ethnic origin, and
disability. Even though cases of discrimination on the grounds of sexual
orientation or harassment, as well as religion or belief get wide coverage,
they make only a tiny fraction of the total.
The growing number of appeals filed with the
Ombudsman’s Office speaks of public awareness and readiness to defend one’s
infringed rights rather than of the growing number of actual cases. Let me draw
the conclusion that it is the result of publicity and transparency, which, in
its turn, witnesses progress – the development of civil society and its aim to
engage as many people representing various views, beliefs, ages, and interests
as possible. Once the understanding is there, I believe, the implementation of
the National Anti-Discrimination Programme for 2006-2008 will be crowned with
success.
I want to focus on one problem and
different ways of resolving it, highlighted in the Programme. Lithuania’s
disabled population amounts to 250 000. The key means of their involvement is
their employment however because of poorly adapted physical and informational
environment and poorly equipped work places, because of lack of knowledge on
the part of employers and the public, and lack of effort put into the
development of a favourable attitude towards and tolerance of the disabled,
only one out of seven are employed in Lithuania. To this end, volumes on equal
opportunities in the labour market will be published; seminars inviting
employers as well as labour market and municipal institutions will be held; and
round tables will bring social partners together. Today’s Conference will hear
quite a few speeches on the subject. Finally, I hope, after the situation has
been analysed and different suggestions received, amendments to respective
legislation will be initiated.
A very important piece of news is that the European
Institute for Gender Equality will be set up in Vilnius. This will be the first
EU institution to be housed by an Eastern European country. Its activities are
expected to make a significant contribution into gender equality in Europe.
The Constitution of the Republic of
Lithuania, passed by a referendum on 25 October 1992, is the basic document that
enshrines respect for human dignity and beliefs. The functioning of the State
of Lithuania rests on the constitutional provision that all persons shall be
equal before the law.
There is no doubt that human relations are extremely
complicated and problems are unavoidable. But what all democratic states must
do is to eliminate any conflicts on the ground of discrimination. I am
convinced that the efforts of Lithuanian legislators, competent public
authorities, first and foremost the Office of the Equal Opportunities
Ombudsman, have led to the tangible results comparable to those attained in
other European Union members.
I wish the Conference a creative approach and useful
work. I wish our public comprehended theoretical principles of equal
opportunities and realised them practically.
