Dear UNITED Network,
this E-News is the first after our spring conference From Rumours to Respect: Challenging Stereotypes and Promoting Diversity, happened on April 22nd-27th 2024 in Reggio Emilia, Italy.
As usual we rejoined the opportunity to meet the members of our Network and in addition to that, we had the chance to work in cooperation with the groups of the dIVERSAMENTE project by ICEI, our partner in organising this conference and that supported us in bringing the youth at the core of this conference.
The event was designed to focus on bottom-up participation, non-formal education approach and the Anti-Rumours strategy developed within the Council of Europe, taking advantage of this two years project designed to combating phenomena of hatred, intolerance and discrimination by valuing diversity in all its meanings and promoting cultural, social and economic interaction, in order to promote the consolidation of an inclusive society in 5 different cities in Italy, including Reggio Emilia.
We went deep into the topic of institutional racism in Italy and in Europe with a panel composed by Marwa Mahmoud, a representative of the city of Reggio Emilia and part of the Centro Interculturale Mondinsieme as well as by Mackda Ghebremariam Tesfau' an academic researcher form the University of Padua and activistm for Razzismo Brutta Storia and by Umit Ozturk, representing EuroMernet, a local organisation part of our Network
We had also the chance to know more about the work on counter narratives to hate speech by Council of Europe and to be hosted by the local Centro Sociale ORTI Lazzaro Spallanzani where we were welcomed by young rappers/trappers that helped us having a deeper understanding of 2nd generation italians, also through the research by the PHD Candidate of the University of Toronto Rachel Grasso. On top of that we had the chance to be officially welcomed by the Mayor of the City, Luca Vecchi, and to join the public manifestation for the 25th of April, the Day of the Liberation from the nazi-fascist regime in Italy, celebrating this important event as a reminder to always be aware of the dangers of hate and propaganda in our societies. It has been a blast and we deeply thank our donors, our partners, the amazing IPG (International Preparatory Group) and especially our great participants, who made this possible.
Last in person training of R2COM project
The training involved over 40 professionals, from our 8 partner countries and delved into:
How to intervene in P/CVE
The
fundamentals of exit work
Methods and tools to support change and (re)integration
These were three intensive, yet very inspiring, days of exchange and learning, reaffirming the power of multi-agency cooperation and a holistic, humane, and empathic approach.
Our Delegate at the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues
The event wa held between April 16th until April 26th at the
United Nations headquarters in New York, focusing on "Enhancing Indigenous Peoples’ right to self-determination in the context of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples: emphasizing the voices of Indigenous youth” .
The United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII) is a high- level advisory body to the Economic and Social Council. The Forum was established on 28 July 2000 by resolution 2000/22, with the mandate to deal with indigenous issues related to economic and social development, culture, the environment, education, health and human rights.
Considering our commitment in contrasting marginalisation and discrimination of young people and particularly of those with a migrant background, in Europe and everywhere, we are very much looking forward to hear Banok stories from this meeting and we'll keep you posted about it!
Georgia protests against "Law on foreign Agents"
We have been following what's happening in Georgia since last year thanks to the work of our members in the country and especially to
ტოლერანტობის სამყარო - World of Tolerance , who explained to us the situation and since then has said that the protest regarding the passing of the so-called "Law on foreign agents" sees the clash of two parts of the country, one that wants to look at the future and a possible integration within EU and another nostalgic of an authoritarian
past.
This division is really clear in these image and in its artistic representation by the artist @
anthy.ge , which we thank.
Divisions and polarisation are always dangerous and we do hope that it will be possible to find a solution that won't cause harm to any people and that the Georgian government would listen to the will of the majority of the country. At the same time we express our solidarity to the protesters who are in the frontline of this clash, to promote the value of human rights, diversity and openness in the face of oppression.
We'll keep to follow the situation closely and hope for the best.
If you want to know more about the context you can listen to our interview to Mikheil Lazginiani , Executive Director of ტოლერანტობის სამყარო – World of Tolerance NGO on our website
here.
Let's reflect together on EU Pact on Migration and Asylum - Tell us what you think and let's make our call!
We started our call on the last E-News and we're still looking for the Network opinion to help us to understand how the new EU Pact on Migration and Asylumwill affect people and if it will truly help those who seek for a safer and a better life on our continent. We have just celebrated Europe Day and only one month is left until you can #Makeyourmark in these EU Parliamentary Elections, so reach ut to us and remember that we can all make the seeds of activism blossom.
We are also approaching our campaign for World Refugee Day, thinking that our UNITED List of Refugee Deaths is now counting 60.000 people and in this pivotal year for our continent we decide to stress what was written in the Schuman declaration
World peace cannot be safeguarded without the making of creative efforts proportionate to the dangers which threaten it
Despite it being used to underline the economical roots of the Union, as to imply that human rights and equality will never truly be at its core, we still believe in it, because this declaration is actually saying that, even though it all started for economic reason, economy as always been a tool, never the objective. PEACE has always been the objective and therefore the need to make it "appealing" for the nations separate interests.
We know that in a time of global crisis we cannot afford a "naive" vision of peace that doesn't take into account the differences among countries, but we want to play our part in contributing to the "creative efforts" that can make it possible.
So let’s continue working toward a more peaceful and united world. Feel free to #makeyourmark and contribute to our imperfect yet beloved Europe!
