Aspirations and Reality: British Muslims and the Labour Market [antikvár]

prefacePrefaceThe Open Society Institute (OSI) Budapest is a priváté operating and grant-making foundation that develops and implements a rangé of programs in civil society, culture, education, média and public administration, public health and humán and womerís rights, as well as social, legal and economic reform.In 2002, as part of its programme on minority protection in Europe, EUMAP, OSI's EU Accession Monitoring Program, now renamed the EU Monitoring and Advocacy Program1, published a report on minority protection in the five largest EU member states. The reports looked at the situation of Muslims in Francé, Italy and the United Kingdom and of the Roma/Sinti communities in Germany and Spain.The UK report, Monitoring Minority Protection in the EU: the Situation of Muslims in the UK, launched by the then Home Office Minster Lord Fiikin, was a snap shot of the situation of Muslims, in terms of minority rights and their experiences of discrimination and disadvantage. It identified the severe levels of disadvantage and discrimination experienced by British Muslims, which are significant barriers to their participation and integration in British society.One underlying theme in the UK report was the need for policy makers in government and public bodies to ensure that their polices for tackling disadvantage and discrimination took account of the faith dimension in the identities of Muslim communities. The report made over 30 recommendations to the UK government and other public bodies, calling upon them to take steps to encourage, facilitate and support participation in society by Muslims.Following publication of the UK report, and noting the positive attitűdé to engagement in the issues raised by the report írom the Government, the Open Society Institute is keen to ensure that the recommendations are taken forward. To this end, the UK policy project will publish policy reports on four areas: education, employment, criminal justice and discrimination. It has commissioned experts to undertake research and analysis and to develop detailed and practical recommendations in each of these areas. Aspirations and Reality: British Muslims and the Labour Markét, is the first of the four policy reports to be published. Ali four policy reports will be published together in one volume in autumn 2004.The policy reports provide an opportunity to build upon the findings and conclusions of the first UK report. They seek to support and complement existing research initiatives and programmes, drawing on available generic research on ethnic minorities or minority faith communities. With their specific focus on Muslims, they seek to highlight the specificities of issues as they affect Muslims, and make recommendations that are targeted to address those specificities. In this way the research will contribute to enriching the policy process.1 EUMAP's Minority Protection and other reports are available at