Initiator and organiser of the national ‘Migrant Media Prize’ (ADO MEDIA PRJIS) since 1987, the ADO has co-ordinated, nurtured and stimulated initiatives and research on the basis of a yearly European Migrant Media Prize. The object of such an award is the encouragement of a professional attitude in the media that opposes discrimination against ethnic groups, favours cultural diversity and promotes human understanding throughout Europe.

In November 1995, the Centre organised a conference in Sofia (Bulgaria) titled ‘Prospects for Integration’ in collaboration with the Netherlands Institute for Social and Political Studies of Bulgaria. The conference was intended as a forum for Central and Eastern European researchers involved in studies on civil-military relations and minorities, foreign policy. These two research projects were initiated during a conference in Groningen (October 1994). Researchers from the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Poland, Ukraine, Romania and Hungary (a total of fourteen, seven on each topic) have each worked on a ‘national’ paper.

The Centre’s aim is to provide a forum for exchange of ideas and discussion on issues surrounding migration and minority protection. The Centre has 20 members, all of whom are from the Faculty of Law at the university.

Current research projects include: Persecution by Third Parties; European Asylum and Immigration law; Security of residence for long resident aliens in member states of the European Union; Immigration law and the legal status of aliens in the Netherlands; Gender and asylum.

ERCOMER was founded in 1993 with the intention of becoming a new type of research centre, operating at a European rather than national level. The Centre developed five priority areas for development. First, it initiated research activity based on European networks of linked teams. Second, it developed a research training function for young researchers in two ways. The Centre sought to build a multi-national staff that in 1997 numbered 30 people from 11 European countries. Particular use was made of the Marie Curie Fellowships funded by the European Commission. In addition, the Centre ran research training summer schools, the first of which took place in Greece in 1997. Third, the Centre started to build a European documentation service (European Documentation Centre on Migration and Ethnic Studies/EDCOMER). Fourth, it provided an information service using both a newsletter (MERGER) and a pioneering website started in 1995. Finally, the Centre supported a publishing programme with its own book series and hosted the Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies/JEMS.

The FIER is a private, non-profit organisation established in 1993 in The Hague. Its aim is to promote research and co-operation on interethnic relations. In particular the Foundation seeks to co-ordinate specialised programmes directly supportive of the work of the High Commissioner on National Minorities of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE)

To this end the Foundation: a. Co-ordinates documentation, research, and policy analysis on specific minority-related issues that are immediately relevant to the High Commissioner’s functioning, but have not been adequately elaborated from his perspective; b. Organises expert consultations for the High Commissioner on certain minority-related issues and on interethnic relations in specific countries in order to assist him in his conflict prevention role; c. Convenes country-specific seminars for key government authorities and minority representatives on enhancing implementation of constructive approaches to minority issues in situations which have received the High Commissioner’s attention.

IMES, attached to the University of Amsterdam, was created in 1994 as an interdisciplinary institute intended to co-ordinate the research of a number of different faculties. It is based in the Faculty of Political and Socio-Cultural Studies. In addition to research, the Institute co-ordinates a teaching programme and organises research seminars. The editorial board for the quarterly Dutch journal Migrantenstudies is located at the institute.

The IMES research programme identifies three basic themes which are: ‘International migration and the social demography of migrants’, ‘Ethnicity, culture and inequality’; ‘State, politics and policies in relation to migration and ethnicity’; ‘Theory and programme development’. Migration law will soon be added.

FORUM, Institute for Multicultural Development, is a recently established national institute, created from an amalgamation of seven national organisations working on behalf of ethnic minorities.

SIM was established as a foundation in 1981 and has been a part of the Faculty of Law since 1986. In 1992 SIM became a research institute of Utrecht University

SIM’s activities in the field of human rights consist mainly of the publication of research, the maintenance of a documentation and information system, and teaching. SIM’s documentation and information system comprises various kinds of publications, including books, journals, accounts of inter-governmental and non-governmental organisations. An increasing part of the collection is now contained in data files accessible by computer. SIM is an active participant in HURIDOCS, a global network of over one hundred non-governmental human rights organisations.

In 1995, a major development in the Netherlands for the study of human rights was the formal recognition by the Royal Academy of Arts and Sciences of the National Research School for Human Rights, which is a joint initiative of the universities of Utrecht, Limburg and Rotterdam. This School aims at encouraging academic research in the field of human rights.

The PIOOM Foundation is a non-partisan Dutch-based non-profit research organisation promoting, supporting and conducting interdisciplinary research on causes of gross violations of human rights. It was established on 4 October 1988.

PIOOM has developed links with the UN Rapporteur on Torture, the UN Voluntary Fund for Victims of Torture, the UN Development Programme, the UN International Scientific and Professional Advisory Council, Dutch policy-makers, Amnesty International and the European Union.

Recent ongoing projects of PIOOM include: ‘Early Warning System on Conflict Escalation’; ‘The Role of the Judiciary in India, Philippines, Sri Lanka and Burkina Faso’; ‘Human Rights Training Manual for Police Officers’; ‘Human Rights and Obligations: A Guide for Teachers’; and ‘Principles and Practices of International Migration’.

The scope of the projects covered by PIOOM is worldwide, but with some regional and East-European focus. Interethnic relations as such are not dealt with specifically by PIOOM but by LISWO, the parent research institute. PIOOM gives attention mainly to the conflict escalation potential of intra-state tensions.

STOA is a co-operative body made up of organisations representing more than 20 nationalities within Dutch society. It was founded in 1980 and has two purposes: to enlarge and stimulate the participation of migrants in the mainstream media and to realise programmes for various nationalities in their own languages on radio and television. It acts as a lobby group on the Dutch mainstream media and the Dutch government. It is presently running several projects to encourage members of ethnic minority groups to play their part in the mainstream media.

Unpo News is published six times a year and distributed internationally to governments, NGOs, ‘Friends of UNPO’ and other subscribers. It includes news and educational articles about UNPO members and the activities of UNPO.

The Centre works on the relationship between human rights, social justice and development strategies, in particular with regard to self-empowerment, self-reliance and human development.

Its current research projects cover issues such as ‘Adjustment policy and development strategy in a changing world economy’, ‘Changing state/society relations’, ‘Industrialisation, labour relations and urban employment’ and ‘Rural development: macro strategies, agrarian transformation and rural livelihood’.

The centre was founded in December 1993 and comprises a group of staff working in the area of human rights within the Faculty of Law. Research activities cover the role and significance of human rights in domestic and international legal orders. Particular research has focussed on the role of internationally recognised human rights in decision making and quasi-judicial organs at the regional (European) level.

Currently research is being undertaken on: human rights and foreign policy; minority rights; women’s human rights; and economic, social and cultural rights.