The Campaign

The “For Diversity. Against Discrimination.” information campaign is run by the European Commission, Directorate General for Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities. It is funded through PROGRESS, the EU’s employment and social solidarity programme.

The campaign works in all 27 EU Member States to raise awareness of discrimination, and the legislation which exists to combat it, as well as to promote the benefits of diversity.

It works to fight discrimination based on a person’s race or ethnic origin in all areas of life (which is outlawed under the Racial Equality Directive, 2000) and on age, disability, sexual orientation and religion or belief in the workplace (which is illegal thanks to the Employment Equality Directive, 2000). Measures to combat discrimination based on a person’s gender are covered by other EU initiatives funded through PROGRESS.

Activities in 2008

Campaign activities in 2008 include the ‘For Diversity. Against Discrimination.’ truck tour which will visit ten EU Member States: Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia. At each stop, activities including debates, quizzes, painting and music performances, will bring together business, NGOs, musicians, artists and the general public to explore discrimination and diversity issues.

The Journalist Award also returns in 2008. Now in its fifth year, the award honours journalists in the EU who, through their work, contribute to a better public understanding of the benefits of diversity and the fight against discrimination. This year’s competition will include a special focus on the Roma as a community which frequently suffer from racial violence, hate speech and discrimination in accessing employment, education, health care, and public and social services.

Working with NGOs, business and governments

So that the campaign is effective throughout the EU it is coordinated through a unique structure which brings together discrimination experts from different sectors and organisations in all 27 EU Member States.

This structure includes:

• Groups in each country made up of stakeholders working in discrimination issues, including non-governmental organisations (NGOs), employer associations and national ministries, who provide input on campaign activities

• A network of national contact people who help gather information and facilitate these groups

• A European-level group which represents the views of NGO networks, business organisations and national ministries and provides overall direction for the campaign.

By bringing together representatives from NGOs working in the five different grounds for discrimination dealt with by the campaign, business organisations, employer and employee associations, trade unions, and national ministries, the campaign is able to gather information and benefit from the expertise of a wide range of people working across the EU.

For more information on the campaign’s work in your country, please see the national information pages. For any questions on the campaign, please contact the campaign team.

History

Since its launch in 2003, the campaign has brought together around 500 organisations, and organised hundreds of activities including an annual journalist award, a yearly truck tour which has visited 78 cities in all 27 EU Member States, poster and photo competitions, sports events, training seminars and conferences and a successful cooperation with the music channel MTV.

For more information on previous activities, please see the brochure ‘5 years of raising awareness in the European Union, the “For Diversity.Against Discrimination.” information campaign’.