It is to address this issue that Pistes Solidaires launched the project Youth2Unite in November 2019 with the support of the European Programme Erasmus+ Youth. Gathered in Pau, the partners from Cyprus, Greece, Germany and Great Britain agreed on the following observation: it is now more than ever necessary to encourage and conduct a reflection on discrimination. As hate speech pervades Europe, discriminatory violence is on the increase. Although many governments are willing to propose a range of solutions to combat these acts, there is still a need for prevention.
Associations in Europe carry out awareness-raising work, often focusing on minorities that are particularly affected. Their considerable work is often carried out with young audiences with the desire to tackle prejudice from an early age.
Youth2Unite therefore wishes to support socio-educational workers in their actions by creating tools for them and with them. It is difficult to fight against discrimination among young people without addressing sensitive and sometimes private subjects. How to facilitate a general awareness?
The project partners will work collaboratively to answer this question by bringing together methods adapted to young people; the use of the internet, social networks and concrete examples will be particularly featured.
The project aims to work directly with young people by means of an online kit enabling them to understand hate mechanisms and to find the best ways of intervening when they are confronted with discriminatory acts or statements.
Although the project is aimed at a young audience, the issue is addressed to society as a whole. Addressing the fight against discrimination is promoting citizenship across Europe. Our next meeting is in Liverpool in April 2020 where we will be developing our curriculum for youth workers.
Denis Largueze
Pistes Solidaires
