The Institute for Public Affairs or Institut pre verejne otazky, (IVO), is an independent public policy research institute founded in February 1997. The Institute’s mission is:
- to analyse social, political, economic, foreign policy, legal, cultural, and other issues of public interest
- to conduct research on public policies and their consequences, to publish and to disseminate widely its findings, and to make practical recommendations for improved government policy
- to study, document, and help to promote Slovakia’s transition to a free, democratic, and open society
- to stimulate public debate on important issues through lectures, seminars, workshops, and roundtables
- to promote the active involvement of informed citizens in public life
- domestic politics
- European and Transatlantic relations
- ethnic minorities (particularly Slovakia’s Roma minority)
- civil society development in Slovakia