Slovenia

Governmental equality bodies

In Slovenia, the responsibility for promoting gender equality is set at the ministerial level. The Minister of Labour, Family, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities (MDDSZEM) is responsible for the promotion of gender equality, and the Minister is vested with the same power and authority as other ministries in autonomous policymaking initiatives. Ministerial responsibility is established by law and encompasses gender equality, along with labour relations, labour rights, social and family policy or disability issues.

The Equal Opportunities Division (Sektor za enake možnosti) of the MDDSZEM is responsible for gender equality. It was established in 2012 to replace the Governmental Office for Equal Opportunities (formerly named Women’s Policy Office) that had been in place since 1992. The Division is established as a unit and thus exists at an intermediate level within the Ministry. It coordinates gender equality policy and proposes, recommends, implements and promotes programmes and measures for strengthening equality between women and men. It provides expert support to ministries and municipalities in implementing gender mainstreaming. The Ministry prepares the National Programme for Equal Opportunities for Women and Men, as well as analyses, produces reports and carries out awareness-raising campaigns. It cooperates with the EU, international organisations, and civil society in the field of empowerment of women and achievements of gender equality. Moreover, the Head of the Equal Opportunities Division is directly responsible to the Minister.

The Equal Opportunities Division has seven employees. The Division is rarely consulted about government policies, programmes, and measures in fields other than gender equality, as policies are generally seen as being "gender neutral", and thus having the same impact on both women and men. However, the Division is sometimes consulted during the inter-ministerial coordination phase of adopting new policies and legislative proposals.

In accordance with the Equal Opportunities for Women and Men Act (Article 13), gender mainstreaming is coordinated through officials appointed within each of the 16 ministries and they perform the duties of a coordinator for equal opportunities for women and men. The coordinator is responsible for the implementation of tasks within the competence of the ministry based on this Act and must cooperate with the gender equality body to this end. Coordinators for equal opportunities for women and men perform their tasks alongside their regular work.

Independent equality body

In 2012, Slovenia dissolved its independent gender equality body and re-established it as an equality body, covering all grounds of discrimination, initially operating under the MDDSZEM. Since October 2016, a new independent body for the promotion of equal treatment - the Advocate of the Principle of Equality (Advocate) (Zagovornik načela enakosti), established under the Protection against Discrimination Act (PADA), has been operational. It covers all grounds of discrimination as per PADA. It was established in response to a formal notice by the European Commission concerning the implementation of Directives 2000/43/EC, 2004/113/EC, and 2006/54/EC. This new body is vested with increased autonomy when compared to its predecessor.

The mandate of the Advocate is the promotion of equality and prevention of discrimination on several grounds, including gender, ethnicity, race or ethnic origin, religion or belief, disability, age and sexual orientation.

The Advocate is consulted regarding new or existing policies on an ad-hoc basis. However, even when not consulted, the Advocate may still give recommendations i.e., to introduce a policy at any time. Input tends to be given during the process of public consultations and may be provided through participation in the Gender Equality Expert Council of the Ministry for Labour, Family, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities, which is consulted on selected topics approximately once a year.

The Advocate has 20 employees who spend 0-25 % of their time on gender equality issues, as the body covers multiple discrimination grounds, and no staff member works exclusively on gender equality issues.

The Ombudsperson is the public body responsible for the protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms and is independent of state authorities, local government and public authorities.

Parliamentary body

The Commission for Petitions, Human Rights and Equal Opportunities (Komisija za peticije, človekove pravice in enake možnosti) is located within the body of the National Assembly (Državni zbor Republike Slovenije) and covers gender equality as a specific part of its brief. The role of the Commission is legally based on the Ordinance regarding the establishment and tasks of working bodies in the National Assembly (2014). Its tasks encompass the broader scope of petitioning as a democratic and public mechanism for exposing various potential inequalities and discrimination in the actions of the National Assembly, as well as monitoring, analysing and promoting human rights and liberties, including equal opportunities policies (specifically mentioning gender equality).

Regional structure

Local administrations are obliged to promote and create equal opportunities according to their jurisdiction and to take a gender perspective into account when planning and implementing their actions and activities (Article 30, paragraph 1 of the Equal Opportunities for Women and Men Act). They can establish a local Coordinator for Equal Opportunities for Women and Men, who cooperates on the planning and implementation of gender equality policy at the local level.

The Ministry encourages local administrations to appoint such a coordinator at the start of new local mandates. Some 20 % of municipalities have done so and there is a trend of strengthening local engagement and local gender equality policy and practice. Around 5 % of municipalities have also adopted specific gender equality action plans. The Ministry has developed guidelines for the preparation of these plans, alongside guidelines for the elimination of stereotypes and the strengthening of gender equality (2016). These guidelines present case studies of gender-blind local policy, together with advice on how to better incorporate a gender perspective into the work of local institutions.

Consultation with civil society

Article 3 of the Equal Opportunities for Women and Men Act posits a legal obligation for the government and ministries to cooperate with social partners and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) working in the field of equal opportunities in formulating solutions and proposals for achieving the purpose of this act. A legally established advisory body is also attached to the MDDSZEM responsible for gender equality - the Expert Council for Gender Equality. The Council is composed of various professionals working in a variety of fields, from academia to trade unions and NGOs active in gender equality, alongside the Advocate of the Principle of Equality. Independent civil society organisations are often partners of the Ministry in EU-funded projects that promote gender equality issues. They are also consulted when gender strategies or laws are being implemented. When the Ministry organises conferences or seminars on gender equality, they also invite civil society to take part.