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From 2010 until 2015 International Organization for Migration (IOM) carried out a training programme for public sector representatives providing services to third country nationals in Slovakia. The participants gained skills in intercultural communication and knowledge in the field of migration and migrant integration that can be used in their work with migrants as well as in the cooperation among their institutions.

From October 2012 till June 2013, IOM carried out the third round of trainings along with regional workshops for Slovak state and self-government employees working with migrants. Training and workshop participants learnt from IOM trainers and migrants from Afghanistan, Columbia, Vietnam and Russia about various aspects of migration and integration of migrants and they could get an up-to-date image of migrants living in Slovakia. During the following workshops participants received information about the amendments to the Act on Residence of Foreigners and its application in practice and in the practical part they could practice skills they would use in further communication and work with third-country migrants in Slovakia. Trainings and workshops also helped improve the cooperation among employees of participating institutions at the local level. Trained employees can provide better services to migrants and thus facilitate their integration into society.

According to the results of a representative survey of International Organization for Migration (IOM) Public Attitudes toward Foreigners and Foreign Migration in the Slovak Republic, people form their opinions on migration and migrants on the basis on misconceptions, prejudices and lack of information. The Slovak population is concerned about a high number of migrants who take over Slovak jobs, spread dangerous diseases, represent an economic burden on the state budget and the criminality of migrants may gradually increase. Migrants are seen as a threat to the domestic population and these feelings of threat generate additional prejudices.

The invisibility of migrants in Slovakia, a country with the second lowest number of migrants within the EU, consequently brings about a lack of attention to their experiences with violence in the public space, abuse at home, or exploitation at workplace. Isolated from the public, formal institutions, helping organisations and research agencies, migrants in Slovakia often find themselves in situations that menace their health and well-being.

The international project Next Door Family EU – Inclusive Neighbourhoods was implemented from September 2011 till February 2013 in seven EU countries: Belgium, Czech Republic, Hungary, Malta, Italy, Spain and Slovakia. The coordinator of the project at the international level was NGO Word 21. The project and family meetings in Slovakia were organized by International Organization for Migration (IOM).

In 2012, International Organization for Migration (IOM) introduced the recommendations for preparing programmes and courses of social and cultural orientation for migrants in Slovakia which are supposed to help them to start a life in a new country and to integrate into society.

This international project was implemented by the International Organization for Migration ( IOM ) between September 2011 and August 2012 in seven European countries and in cooperation with partners from Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia. The project was a response to the different guardianship systems, diverse levels of standards of care or lack of fulfillment of obligations in the member states of the European Union (EU), that result from international law on child protection.

The international project Migrants in the Spotlight was implemented by International Organization for Migration (IOM) from November 2010 until December 2011 in collaboration with partner organizations in six European countries: the Czech Republic, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Romania and the Slovak Republic.

The aim of the project in these countries was to increase the expertise of media professionals on migration, and thus through more effective and accurate reporting on migration issues raise awareness among the public about migration and migrants, to reduce the stereotypes and prejudices in society and thereby promote the integration of migrants.

This reasearch was conducted by IOM together with nongovernmental organizations in 10 EU member states: Austria, Belgium, the Czech republic, France, Great Britain, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Slovakia, and Slovenia. The project aimed at contributing to the creation of a common approach for better addressing the needs of vulnerable asylum-seekers including unaccompanied minors (UAMs) and former unaccompanied minors.