Paper/Speech Details of Conference Program for the 14th NISPAcee Annual Conference Program Overview IV. Working Group on Democratic Governance of Multiethnic... Author(s) Agnes Horvath University of Tokaj Sarospatak Hungary Title Equal opportunity:the entrance of the Roma into the public life with the help of multinational companies File Paper files are available only for conference participants, please login first. Presenter Abstract In Hungary central governmental policy has tried to motivate the participation of minorities in political life by transforming the legal system and establishing the political, legal and economic conditions of the system of institutions. However the human conditions of minority politics show a lot of problems in the future too. „Dealing with politics for living” – which is not a problem in itself – does not connect with central programs being able to create the appropriate level of human resources for participation in local or national level politics. The goal of the lecture is to show -through study cases - the possible role of multinational companies in dealing with minority – ethnic problems and in promoting the participation of the Roma in public life. From time to time these companies show good examples of social responsibility. This responsibility covers not only employees, proprietors and customers but also their competitors, people living in their neighbourhood and non-governmental organizations. By analysing the activities of some big companies I would like to present the results and consequences of the concrete programs they have realised in Northern Hungary to promote the social and political integration of the Roma. The centre of production of these companies is situated in Northern Hungary, which has become the most undevelopped region of the country following the political changes in 1990. At first the unskilled and semi-skilled workers were afflicted by unemployment and among them the proportion of Roma was significant. Since the political changes the Roma question, the social and political integration, reintegration of Roma have became one of the biggest challenges of the East-European and Hungarian social and political systems, and also of the European Union since 2004. Multinational companies have great influence directly and indirectly on the living conditions of Roma minorities. The job creating activity of these companies is a challenge for the population of the neighbouring settlements. The high level of working culture transforms the attitude of workers also in everyday life: they become more sensitive to cleanliness, discipline, punctuality and keeping commitments. The social and health measures of the multinational companies may result in improvement in the state of health of their employees. In co-operation with the governance and local self-governments, more and more big companies start programs – e.g.: scholarships and training programs - that may help the participation of minorities in public life. The lecture is also trying to find the answer as to how the partnership can be realised between the governance and the multinational companies, and also between local self-governments and the multinational companies in the field of assuring equal opportunity. By the accession to the EU, Hungary is among those countries, where the companies’s social responsability is not only determined by voluntary cooperation or their own market interests, but also by the legal regulations of the Europen Union. I intend to examine the relationship between multinationals and non-governmental organizations, minority organizations (like minority local governments): whether there is a one-way process or there are feedbacks too. In addition to this, we are trying to find the answer to the motivation of multinational corporations. The lecture presents the partial results of the research supported by the Bolyai János research grant. The research is based on deep interviews made among multinational companies, the governance, self-governances, minority organizations and on the analysis of programs already finished or in process and also on annual reports of multinational companies.
