A strong and consolidated Latvian state is the main objective of the national identity and social integration policy aimed at the development of a national and democratic society that ensures preservation and augmentation of the fundamentals that unite it – Latvian language, cultural and national identity, European democratic values, unique cultural space, inclusion of all people living in Latvia in the society despite their national affiliation and self-identification.
Latvian society is multinational – it represents more than 150 nationalities. There are Latvian, Baltic-and-German, Russian, Jewish, Polish, Ukrainian as well as Estonian and Lithuanian communities.
The Latvian Constitution and legal framework guarantees and protects the rights of national minority members for the preservation and evolution of their languages and ethnic and cultural authenticity.
A number of state-run programmes have been developing in the sphere of social inclusion for years; a system of government support of national minorities and their non-governmental organisations has been established with a view to preserving their cultural heritage and identity of national minorities and promoting tolerance and intercultural dialogue development.
Acting within the framework of the national identity and social integration policy, the non-governmental integration organisation INEUROPE implements the following projects:
- Support and follow-up of third-country nationals and legal labour migrants in the European Union Project.
- Project for the integration of third-country nationals and legal labour migrants in cooperation with the European Migration Programmes, the EU Fund for Asylum, Migration and Integration, and in collaboration with the state institutions of the Latvian Republic in compliance with the tasks indicated in the plan of Basic provisions of the policy of national identity, civil society and social integration.
- Project for establishing a platform for the communication of employers and labour migrants, extension of successful experience in the interaction of labour migrants from third countries and socially responsible employers.
- Project of a partnership programme based on the following directions:
– civic education development;
– strengthening of the public participation forms;
– reduction of discrimination of the socially marginal groups and facilitation of their inclusion in society;
– enhancement of the role of public mass media in integration by supporting multilateral modern and high-quality journalism;
– improvement of Latvian language knowledge among national minorities, non-nationals, new immigrants and the Latvian expatriate community;
– voluntary services.