PAMECUS – Positive Action Measures in Europe, Canada, the United States and South Africa

The Partner Organisations: Ludwig Boltzmann Institute of Fundamental and Human Rights (LBI-GMR) is a partner institution in a European Commission-funded research study on “Positive Action Measures in the European Union, Canada, United States & South Africa” (PAMECUS) to better understand and analyse the role that positive action measures can play in practice in preventing or remedying discrimination.
The LBI-GMR was responsible for the research parts on Austria and the Netherlands. This included the conduct of consensus workshops for stakeholders experienced in the fields of equal opportunities, anti-discrimination and diversity management in both countries, a research on the legal framework and the conduct of interviews with selected actors.

The research is based on a very broad understanding of what positive action measures can mean: All measures targeted at members of socially or economically disadvantaged groups which are designed to prevent or compensate for disadvantages and discrimination, whether these have arisen in the past or are still ongoing, are therefore subject matters of the research assignment. The study is focusing on positive action measures in relation to age, disability, race, religion and belief as well as sexual orientation. Aspects of gender interrelated with other strands were also considered.