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- Creative Competition promotes Diversity and Equality on MTV
- Closing this year’s Diversity Truck tour after more than 34.000 km
- European Photo Competition for Diversity: winners awarded in Lisbon
- The European Year of Intercultural Dialogue 2008 - Launch in Brussels
- Diversity Football Tournament in the UK
- The EU Journalist Award ceremony in Brussels
- “Mass Media and Racism” workshop for University students in Greece
- Voice your opinion!
- Introducing our national partners: the Swedish Disability Federation HSO
Creative Competition promotes Diversity and Equality on MTV
October saw the launch of a new EU competition on MTV to get young people thinking and creating around the themes of diversity and equality. Until 8 December, MTV viewers were asked to submit films, photos, posters, or collages which represent their views on diversity and equality.
On the competition’s webpage www.eudiversity.com, participants could but upload their entries, also create an online identity and, from 9 until 16 December, they can vote for their favourite entry. The winner will be announced on 17 December 2007 and will win a trip for two to his or her favourite European city.
Closing this year’s Diversity Truck tour after more than 34.000 km
On 18 and19 November, as the closing conference of the 2007 European Year of Equal Opportunities for All was taking place, the bright yellow EU Diversity Truck, the Portuguese Truck, as well as the information truck of FNAJ (the Federation of local Portuguese Youth Associations) hosted festivities in Lisbon. This was the last stop for the Diversity Truck, which has been travelling the past four years through all 27 EU countries. More than 72.000 kilometres have been covered and 99 stops in 78 cities have been made. During its journey, over half a million people were informed about anti-discrimination laws and equality and diversity issues.
On Sunday 18 November, the EU Diversity truck hosted discussions on transgender and intergenerational issues. In the afternoon the Czech Roma hip-hop band, Gypsy.cz, gave an energetic performance and got the audience dancing.
On Monday 19 November, the trucks opened their doors to six hundred primary school children, providing them with information and hosting acts of top artists such as Chapitô, a Lisbon based socio-educative association and school for circus arts. In the morning Portuguese Secretaries of the State, Idália Moniz and Jorge Lacão, along with the Director-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities of the European Commission, Nikolaus van der Pas, and the Vice-President of the European Parliament, Rodi Kratsa-Tsagaropoulou, visited the festivities and gave a special award to the drivers of the anti-discrimination truck, who made it possible to bring the Year’s messages to so many people.
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Left: Chapitô entertains the audience with stage acts and upbeat rhythms Right: The short-listed pictures of the Breaking Stereotypes Photo Competition were exhibited at the Truck stop |
European Photo Competition for Diversity: winners awarded in Lisbon
On 18 November 2007, one day before the Lisbon Closing Conference of the 2007 European Year of Equal Opportunities for All, the three winners of the pan-European “Breaking Stereotypes” Photo Competition were officially awarded for their creations promoting diversity and a society free of discrimination. The ceremony took place on the stage of the Diversity Truck, which made its last stop in Lisbon after four years of touring.
The award ceremony was hosted by Ms Elza Pais, who coordinates the European Year of Equal Opportunities for All in Portugal. Her speech stressed the importance of creating dialogue with young people, exchanging different points of view, and questioning prejudice. This is exactly what the three young photographers expressed; they not only depicted what the world would look like without stereotypes and discrimination, but also shed light on the problem of discrimination, opening people’s eyes to the impact it has on our lives.
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Left: Elza Pais (right) with the winners: Nora Krauß from Germany (2nd prize left), Maja Kurant from Poland (3rd prize middle) and the winner of the competition, Krzysztof Goluch, from Poland Right: The winners and their photos |
The European Year of Intercultural Dialogue 2008 - Launch in Brussels
On 4 December, the European Year of Intercultural Dialogue 2008 with the slogan 'Together in Diversity' was launched to the pan-European press in Brussels. Present at the press conference was Ján Figel’, the European Commissioner for Education, Culture, Training and Youth as well as seven high-profile “European Ambassadors for Intercultural Dialogue”, including the writer Paulo Coelho and the winner of this year’s Eurovision Song Contest, Marija Šerifovic. At the same time, the seven pan-European flagship projects and national projects funded by the European Commission during the Year were announced and the official website of the European Year was launched. The site will help keep people up to date on intercultural events taking place in 2008, as well as serve as a discussion platform. The site allows visitors to access civil society initiatives concerning intercultural dialogue, and features a special section to facilitate networking and partnerships across Europe.
If you would like to sign up for the Year’s newsletter, please click here. For more information on the Year, you can visit the website at: http://www.dialogue2008.eu/.
Diversity Football Tournament in the UK
Diversity in practise at Under-17s South London Special League girl's football tournament in October
The “For Diversity. Against Discrimination.” campaign teamed up with the South London Special League to host a Diversity Football Tournament for young people with special education needs. The tournament took place at Long Lane Junior Football Club in South London on 7 December, and pupils from eight schools were involved.
The day began with an interactive diversity workshop. Afterwards, the tournament itself took place and the event ended with a prize ceremony and press conference given over lunch.
The partner for the event, the South London Special League, is a successful community based organization that enables people with disabilities to participate in football leagues and tournaments. It is open to people of all ages, gender and levels of ability.
Speaking about the football tournament, Sharon Brokenshire, Project Manager for South London Special League, said: “We are delighted to be able to cooperate with the “For Diversity. Against Discrimination.” campaign. The tournament was a great opportunity to introduce our young footballers to ideas of diversity and non-discrimination, as well as provide them with a day of fun!”
The EU Journalist Award ceremony in Brussels
The 2007 EU Journalist Award wraps up on 18 December with the announcement of the prize winners for the EU award. The day begins with a press briefing at the Residence Palace in Brussels, where the winners will be announced.
Throughout October, national juries representing all 27 Member States chose winners from their respective countries. On 12 November, a pan-European jury got together to select the three overall winners of the competition and the winner of the special award. The pan-European Jury consisted of Wilfried Rütten, Media Expert and former Journalist; Shada Islam, Journalist concentrating on development policies as well as immigration and anti-discrimination issues; Patricia Prendiville, Executive Director of ILGA-Europe; Florencio Chicote, Project manager for the Anti-Discrimination Network in Berlin of the Türkischer Bund; Rafaela Gracio, editor in chief of the Brussels-based official website of the European Youth Week; and Ilze Brands Kehris, Director of the Latvian Centre for Human Rights and Ethnic Studies. Winners will be also announced on the Stop Discrimination website on 18 December, http://www.stop-discrimination.info/.
“Mass Media and Racism” workshop for University students in Greece
Around 70 students took part in the “Mass Media and Racism” workshop in Athens
A workshop for students took place in Athens on 30 November in the framework of the “For Diversity. Against Discrimination.” campaign. Under the title “Mass Media & Racism,” the workshop was addressed to mass media students at the university level. Its main objective was to get future journalists thinking about anti-discrimination issues. The workshop was attended by the General Secretary of the Ministry of Employment & Social Protection, Mr. Kontos, as well as the General Secretary of Communication, Ms. Margarita Papada-Xeimona. Scholars in the field of mass media were invited to speak about educating young journalists, and, in addition, well-known journalists spoke about prejudice in Greek media and how it can be avoided in the future. The final panel discussion of the workshop featured active participants in the campaign against discrimination, such as the national winner of the “Special Award” from the 2007 Journalist Award, a member of the award’s jury, the Greek Diversity Ambassador, and members of the Greek national working group which oversee the running of the information campaign in Greece.
Voice your opinion!
The EU’s information campaign “For Diversity. Against Discrimination.” was first launched in 2003 . To take stock of the campaign's achievements, and also to prepare for future awareness-raising initiatives, the European Commission is asking for your opinion. The survey asks how the campaign has helped raise awareness around issues of equality and the fight against discrimination, and what the campaign could do better in the future. To voice your opinion, please visit the campaign website.
Introducing our national partners: the Swedish Disability Federation HSO
The Swedish Disability Federation, HSO, is the unified voice of the Swedish disability movement that speaks before governing bodies, parliament and national authorities. The federation was founded in 1942 and today consists of 43 national disability organisations with approximately 500 000 members. Each organisation makes its own decisions and determines its own activities, but on issues where all member organisations agree, common action is taken. The largest organisation is one for people with rheumatism, and has approximately 60 000 members. The smallest of the organisations is for deaf-blind people, with almost 600 members.
The basic principle of HSO is that everyone is equal and has the right to create his or her own life. A central task of the organization is to create a social climate characterized by solidarity, equality and participation, as well as to raise awareness on issues of disability among policy makers and the general public.
The Swedish Disability Federation (EDF) is also a member of the European Disability Forum, an umbrella organisation representing about 37 million people with disabilities in Europe.
