Youth Activist Forum: Engaging the OSCE to Address Racism and Xenophobia
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As manifestations of anti-Semitism, racism, xenophobia, intolerance and discrimination continue across the OSCE region, the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) continuously receives information on hate crimes and incidents motivated by racism and xenophobia and other bias motivations which target groups that include but are not limited to people of African descent, LGBTI, Muslim, Jewish, and Roma and Sinti individuals. Data collected by ODIHR also demonstrates that gender plays a role in how victims are selected and/or impacted, and that some people might be at greater risk of violence because of bias towards multiple and intersecting aspects of their identity, such as their race, ethnicity, religion, gender, sexual orientation, or disability. Youth must be part of the conversation regarding how to best address these concerning manifestations of intolerance.
In line with the OSCE commitments and following related past activities, ODIHR will organize a forum for youth activists addressing racism, xenophobia and discrimination from 23 to 25 September 2019 in Warsaw. The training on 23–24 September will be a closed event, and on 24–25 September, the participants will take part in working sessions of the Human Dimension Implementation Meeting (HDIM) focusing on addressing intolerance, discrimination based on religion or belief, racism, xenophobia, and hate crimes.
Part of the Turning Words into Action (WIA) project, the training will bring together a group of approximately 20–25 youth activists from across the OSCE region who are actively engaged in addressing anti-Semitism, racism, xenophobia, intolerance and discrimination. Participants will receive training on how to efficiently and effectively advocate in contemporary international fora and an opportunity to put their skills into practice during the HDIM.
More detailed information, including the description of selection criteria and procedure, and the application form are available below.