News from UNITED
Updates - November 2019
On September 17th to 22nd, UNITED For Intercultural Action held its biannual conference in Slovakia, and it was a big success!
With over 40 young activists in attendance, our UNITED network both expanded and strengthened links already present. Participants came from as close by as Hungary and as far away as Turkey, Italy, even from close to the Arctic Circle (Tromso, Norway).
We kicked off with a welcome note from the UN Special Rapporteur on Minority Issues, Dr. Fernand de Varennes, with an impassioned plea on the danger of hate speech and how it affects minorities in particular; followed by Ivan Hromada, European Steering Committee for Youth, on the necessity for crating a relevant narrative and counter-narrative to combat rising xenophobia across Europe; Natalia Chardymova, from the Council of Europe with her definitive statement “You cannot stop a movement”, and Martin Poliačik, Slovak MP, on the need for empathy with the other side as an effective mechanism.
These powerful words kicked off an exciting week of grouping, planning, and strategizing. Working groups on counter-narratives, viral videos, street action and artivism were formed, and the conference room was abuzz with ideas on contemporary incidents of hate, and strategies on how to them. At the end, participants came together with longer-term ideas. Many exciting projects came from this: from a short film on a Roma LGBTQ activist organizing the first ever Pride event in Pécs, Hungary, to an Erasmus+ grant bringing together youth activists for a project hosted by the No Hate Speech Movement at the Council of Europe.
We are UNITED are so excited to see the inspired faces and inception of some fantastic initiatives, and look forward to seeing and supporting whatever comes out of them. Stay tuned for an updated website and gallery for a glimpse of the enthusiasm and energy from the week!
Meanwhile, our campaign on the Day Against Fasicsm continues to run. Don't forget to contribute to our antifascist calendar with activities from your country!
News from our network
The call for proposals to actively participate in the programme of the 11th international EFRJ conference is open until 10 December! Over 100 proposals have been received on innovative and inspiring topics connecting restorative justice to space, time, language and narratives.
The Global Campus of Human Rights is an inter-disciplinary centre of academic excellence supported by the EU. They are offering a MOOC titled "Children Deprived of Liberty: Learning from the UN", and enrollment is open until 31st of December. More information here.
13-14 March 2020, at the Swedish Research Institute in Istanbul (SRII), in İstanbul, Turkey, a two-day short course places the Palestinian refugee case study within the broader context of the international human rights regime. Applications open. More information here.
