Month: May 2019

European Parliamentary Elections

UNITED E-News
—#MakeThemSmallAgain!
Release of UNITED’s Index of Discriminatory Parties in Europe


Who are the parties and politicians spreading hatred and intolerance in Europe?

Dear Friends and Colleagues,

A week before the European Parliamentary Elections (23 – 26 May 2019), UNITED is launching an online Index of Discriminatory Political Parties who spread hatred and discrimination in Europe, trying to undermine the achievements we’ve made in terms of equality, solidarity and diversity.

With close to 100 million European citizens still undecided how they will vote, we appreciate the challenge of casting an informed vote.

UNITED’s Index of Discriminatory Political Parties in Europe therefore provides a crucial overview of political forces that we do not want to see in the European Parliament.

UNITED greatly appreciates the valuable feedback received by our member organisations and volunteers on ground. Without your support this index would not have come to existence!

“We want to return to normality. We want to live in Poland, not in the eurokolkhoz Land, not in the Republic of Polin Friends, not in some rainbow republic in which Jews, sodomites, communists impose on Poles not only how to rule, what is the state system, but also how we are to raise our children, about what history we can remember, what traditions we are allowed to cultivate.” – Confederation (KORWiN), Poland.

“Part of our organism–an important part: our immune system, that which should protect us–has turned against us. We’re being weakened, undermined, surrendered in every respect. Malevolent, aggressive elements are being smuggled into our social body in unprecedented numbers, while true causes and consequences are kept hidden.” – Thierry Baudet, Forum for Democracy (FvD), the Netherlands.

“For our children, to leave behind an Islamic caliphate with sharia law in our cities is not something I want to do and I’m going to do everything in my power to avert this sad ending for Europe.” – Matteo Salvini, Lega Nord (LN), Italy.

These are just few of the examples of racist, hateful, discriminatory messages spread by politicians running for the European Parliament in 2019. Unfortunately, there are many more.

We must not let these forces gain more power by being elected to the European Parliament. This is why we need to continue our fight. Please keep reporting by filling in this form, so that we can expand the index and better inform European citizens whom not to vote for!

We are also using social media to track and call out any incidents of hateful and discriminatory discourse. Follow our actions on Facebook and Twitter, and help us hold nationalist and xenophobic parties accountable. If you come across any unacceptable rhetoric, raise your voice, call them out, tag us in your post, so together we can #MakeThemSmallAgain!

#LetsVote

We also encourage you to keep organising activities motivating young people in your area to vote in the EP elections! If you need a last-minute inspiration, check out our activity suggestions – we developed quiz, game and activity ideas for you!

Happy Voting and see you on the brighter side!

Yours truly,

UNITED and its Campaign Preparatory Group

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European Parliamentary Elections 2019
EPelections@unitedagainstracism.org
Website | Facebook | Twitter

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UNITED is the pan-European network against nationalism, racism, fascism and in support of migrants and refugees, supported from more than 550 organisations from 48 European countries. How to join the network: see www.unitedagainstracism.org/supporters.
 
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This campaign has been made possible with the support of the Council of Europe (European Youth Foundation) and the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Union.
The information contained herein does not necessarily reflect the position nor the opinion of our sponsors. Sponsors are not to be held responsible for any use that may be made of it.
 
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UNITED E-News is an irregular email service to over 12,000 organisations and contact persons active in the working fields: anti-racism, refugee support, anti-fascism, against antisemitism, migration, minority issues, intercultural youth work, against nationalism, etc.
 
You have received this E-news because your organisation or institution is listed in the UNITED online database and/or Addressbook Against Racism; you have attended a UNITED event; have participated in a UNITED campaign; are a partner in the working fields above; and/or have expressed an interest in UNITED network’s issues.
 
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UNITED for Intercultural Action
European network against nationalism, racism, fascism and in support of migrants and refugees
Postbus 413 – NL 1000 AK Amsterdam
phone +31-20-6834778 – fax +31-20-6834582
info@unitedagainstracism.org
www.unitedagainstracism.org


ICYE UK and STAR E

I attended the ICYE STAR-E meeting in Helsinki. Other UK Trustees, as well as staff, have benefited from attending the STAR-E meetings: these are a great opportunity to learn about our federation partners and to be part of vital joint initiatives which become stronger and more effective from the intra-federation collaboration. Inter-cultural exchange is a fact in our relationships and partnerships, not just in our name.

ICYE UK is proud to be a part of STAR-E and has been enthusiastically involved at every opportunity. We are incredibly grateful to ICJA for facilitating this opportunity to gain a fresh perspective on antiracism from true experts like UNITED. It has been a privilege to be able to send representatives to all STAR-E training seminars, and the information and ideas they have brought back to ICYE UK have been invaluable.

ICYE UK has already integrated a number of training methods learned at STAR-E seminars in to our own training camps and hope that these new training approaches will help educate our volunteers about racism and their role as global citizens.

ICYE UK has also been given the opportunity and the methods to look at our organisational prejudices. It is our hope to make ICYE UK an even more transparent and accessible organisation, open to the widest possible range of potential volunteers and partner organisations.

ICYE UK is looking forward to the next transnational meeting and promoting the publications to wider audiences. We plan to engage with both our host partner organisations in the UK and our global partners around the world to share our learning and to enable more individuals and organisations to benefit from the outcomes of STAR E.

“STAR E – Be the Change!”: Training on Diversity-Oriented Change Management and Organizational Development

“Great trainers, great group atmosphere, interesting concepts. I hope this opportunity will be taken seriously in my organization and will be actually applied in practice.” (Please find here the final activity report: FinalActivityReport_BeTheChange_Berlin_2019_ns )

The training course “Be the Change!” was developed as an accompanying measure and opportunity to train employees, co-workers and active members of the participating organizations in the field of diversity-oriented organizational development and change management. The training sessions constantly interrelated the values of diversity-orientation, anti-discrimination and inclusion in youth and voluntary service organizations with reflections and practical learning about how to instigate critical dialogue and actually start with and facilitate change processes in NGOs.
The training took place from 18th to 22nd of February 2019 in Berlin. The host organisation “ICJA Freiwilligenaustauch weltweit” was pleased to welcome 20 representatives of its partner organizations from Denmark, Finland, France, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Poland, Russia, Slovakia and the United Kingdom. The training programme was run by the expert organization SOCIUS Organisationsberatung gGmbH.

Group Dynamics:
Even though the program lasted only five days, the group grew together very well even if there was a diversity of age and background. While some participants knew each other since a long time, others had never met. The facilitators were well prepared for the high degree of diversity within the group and implemented many innovative team building and relaxing energizers, allowing participants to express their mood and wishes even dancing. On the one hand, the group itself accepted every activity, never complained and tried to use every opportunity to learn what was offered by the facilitators. On the other hand, the facilitators were flexible, adapted very well the content and methodology to the mood of participants and situation in the group. The coffee breaks were tasteful and interesting at the same time since everyone brought their own snacks and sweets from their home country. People exchanged thoughts and their experience with struggles and strategies and also laughed a lot together which helped to strengthen the bonds of friendship within the partnership.

Seminar Content and the Relevance for the STAR E Partnership:
The program established four competence areas needed for understanding and working towards change with a focus on diversity, anti-racism and inclusion. A wide variety of methods was applied and background information was provided. Participants constantly were encouraged to contribute and reflect about how the seminar content could contribute to bring about change in their organization. After having laid the theoretical basis during the first days, the last two days were very active. Participants could implement the just learned methods to their organizations’ change processes.
In summary, after the training the participants were very happy with the results and looked forward to make use of the newly discovered tools. The training contributed a great deal to the participant’s understanding of the role of change management in working towards diversity and against racism within/ with their organizations. This learning experience will enable them to strengthen their role and profile in combating racism and becoming facilitators of dialogue and inclusion. It could be felt that this outcome was crucial as it will greatly enhance the work of the STAR E (Standing together against racism in Europe) partnership project.

Finally, we would like to thank the facilitators from SOCIUS, Joana Ebbinghaus and Simon Mohn as well as the participants and partner organizations for their great cooperation and highly valuable contributions!