"All Different - All Equal" - European Youth Campaigns for Diversity, Human Rights and Participation

In 1995 - 50 years after the end of World War II - the Council of Europe ran a European Youth Campaign entitled "All Different - All Equal" in order to reinforce the fight against racism, Antisemitism, Xenophobia and Intolerance.

Nevertheless the struggle - 10 years afterwards - still goes on. For this reason, from June 2006 to September 2007, the Council of Europe will run a new Campaign for Diversity, Human Rights and Participation, based upon the same slogan and using the same successful logo.

The 2006-2007 Campaign is being organized in partnership with the European Commission and the European Youth Forum.

What is the slogan "All Different - All Equal" about?

It refers to the fact that people all over the world differ in so many ways, for example what people believe in and how people look, but regardless of these differences they should be given equal rights. Did you know that in some regions of Europe people with a non-white skin color are afraid of walking alone on the streets? Did you know that in some regions of Europe gay people cannot kiss in public without fearing harassment? Did you know that in several regions of Europe having a handicap means not taking part in public life? Did you know that you have the right to be heard in all decisions regarding young people's issues? That is what the Campaign is about: to respect diversity, to know about human rights and to take action in defending your own rights as well as to stand up against the discrimination of others.

What is the aim of this campaign?

The aim of the European Campaign for Diversity, Human Rights and Participation is to encourage and enable young people to participate in building peaceful societies based on diversity and inclusion, in a spirit of respect, tolerance, and mutual understanding.

Who are partners in this campaign?

The partners in organizing this Campaign are the Council of Europe, mainly the Directorate of Youth and Sport (DYS), the European Youth Forum, and the European Commission. Its activities will be undertaken essentially by young people in partnership with public authorities.

Who is the target group?

The target group of the Campaign is the civil society, both at European and national levels. However, the Campaign should of course reach out to as many young people in Europe as possible, with a particular focus on those who are victims of discrimination, and in particular through activities involving schools.

How the campaign will be implemented?

The main action of the Campaign will take place between June 2006 and September 2007.

A European Steering Group of the Campaign, made up essentially of members of the Joint Council Youth, and the European Youth Forum, has been established to oversee implementation of the Campaign. National Campaign Committees, involving all partners (youth and other NGOs, local a national authorities, government institutions, the media, etc.), will be set up in the member Stales.

Activities will be undertaken at the local, national and international level, bearing in mind that bulk of the activities should focus on involving populations at the local level.

Material provided from the DYS (a Campaign "toolkit") will be used to provide a common thread for all Campaign activities, bearing in mind however the need to avoid a top-down approach - each National Campaign Committee will decide on its programme of activities according to its possibilities, both financial and otherwise. European level events will also be organized, which will either constitute the basis for national or local activities, or serve to present their outcomes.

Activities will be implemented principally around the three following main poles:

• Youth Promoting Dialogue (no respect for diversity without dialogue);

• Youth promoting participatory democracy (no sustainability of those actions without thorough cooperation at all levels);

• Youth Celebrating Diversity (no promotion of diversity without a genuine cultural dimension).

Organizing the Campaign in the framework of those 3 key poles should ensure a comprehensive approach to promoting diversity and human rights in Europe through this large scale European campaign.

1. First of all it would respond to the need to open a large scale dialogue on the added value of Europe's diversity and how this diversity contributes to building democratic societies.

2. Secondly, the campaign would respond to the need to strengthen partnership between civil society and public authorities to promote this diversity at all levels.

3. The third pole of the campaign would outline the role of culture as an essential means i.-promote diversity.

The European Steering Group and the National Campaign Committees will ensure the interrelation of the activities.

Different actions might be planned to implement the Campaign, including:

• Campaign buses circulating at local level to link local activities and to give them a European dimension;

• Public activities to spread / disseminate information; sticker/calendar expressing diversity: postcard campaign; human rights education material; etc.;

• Round tables at European level to develop policy guidelines on Campaign issues:

• Data collection on European realities on diversity and young people.

Outline of the programme of education and training activities for the campaign

Introduction

The programme of educational activities of the European youth campaign all different - all equal is being progressively developed through proposals from various sources, including:

• The European Steering Group

• The programme of activities of the Directorate of Youth and Sport

• The symposium "all different - all equal" (report "The struggle continues...")

• The proposals from consultants hired to work on this issue, especially the work done by Ms Alexandra Raykova, and Mr Mark Taylor (Mrs Francoise Nerson having been responsible for launching proposals on the communication strategy).

This programme is provisional and should be seen as a blue print for development as the campaign unrolls. The present version has been enriched with the comments and suggestions from the 5^th meeting of the European Steering Group and the st meeting of the National Campaign Committees. This version of the programme is subject to feed-back and approval of the European Steering Group.

The present document is not intended to bring in new ideas but rather to put the different educational activities proposed in perspective and to identify aspects related to their feasibility in view of the preparation and implementation (e.g. budget, calendar, etc). By educational activities we have in mind activities that have a primarily educational or training function.

The activities in this programme should, directly or indirectly, contribute to the following objectives:

• To support and sustain the educational work of the national campaign committees and other partners of the campaign;

• To train multipliers on issues covered by the campaign;

• To explore the contents and issues related to specific campaign topics;

• To develop ways of associating young people and local authorities with the campaign;

• To target and involve specific social and cultural youth groups to the campaign, especially those most directly concerned by the campaign's purpose;

• To deepen the knowledge on issues covered by the campaign and their implications on the campaign message and follow-up;

• To mainstream the issues and experiences of the campaign in European youth policy and projects;

• To evaluate the impact of the education and training activities in the campaign.

The global educational approach, as suggested by the symposium, should have a human rights education methodology where appropriate and with specific approaches being applied to specific objectives and themes of the activities. Content-wise, all activities should strive to cover the three dimensions of the campaign, Diversity, Human Rights, Participation, in a balanced manner unless the activity is specifically focused on one theme.

The different types and nature of activities should contribute to:

• Address and involve different target groups and partners, including, for example and where considered appropriate, the media;

• Address the diversity of realities and issues covered by the campaign

• Train trainers, multipliers and activists and to develop knowledge and exchange experiences on the issues covered

• Contribute to a good level of synergy and integration between the national and European levels of the campaign and support exchange and cooperation between national committees.