UNITED Against Racism Conference, Lithuania

Deadline: 3 April 2013
Open to: participants living in the countries of the Council of Europe who represent (inter)national antiracist, antifascist, refugee, human rights and minority rights organisations
Venue: 26-31 May 2013, in Lithuania

Description

“Diversity” has become a key term in contemporary social and political discourse. Diversity is a reality, a value, an aim and a normative prescription for how to achieve the objectives of social cohesion. Despite the openness and fluidity of the concept, we still tend to perceive ethnic, cultural, religious and other groups as homogenous entities.

This is particularly visible in the anti-discrimination domain, for instance: discrimination of a Roma person is prohibited on the grounds of ethnicity, but how to deal with situations where ethnic background is not the only factor to cause unequal treatment? What if a Roma woman with mobility disability is being denied employment or housing on the basis of the all the grounds?

Against this background, UNITED is organising an international conference in Lithuania from 26-31 May 2013. UNITED is the largest pan-European anti-racist network of more than 550 organisations. With its conferences antiracist and human rights activists from all parts of Europe meet and discuss effective ways of combating racism and discrimination. They aim at placing the concept of “identity” at the center of the discussion. A number of questions, including how majority communities perceive minority communities and how minority communities address diversity within their own community, will be addressed. In particular they will focus on discussing the need to build new coalitions which stretch across NGOs working in a particular field based on a common framework of human rights.

Financial conditions

The participation fee of the conference depends on the country where the nominating organisation is based:

  1. 120 Euro for participants from group 1: A, B, CH, CY, D, DK, E, F, FIN, GB, GR, I, IS, IRL, L, M, N, NL, P, S
  2. 60 Euro for participants from group 2: BG, CZ, EE, H, HR, LV, PL, RO, SI, SK
  3. 40 Euro for participants from group 3: AL, ARM, AZ, BH, BY, GE, H, KZ, KY, LT, MK, MNE, MD, RS, RUS, TR, UA, UZB, XZ

Full board & lodging and the complete program is included.  UNITED can contribute to international travel costs in the following amounts:

  1. Participants travelling from group 1: A, B, CH, CY, D, DK, E, F, FIN GB, GR, I, IS, IRL, L, M, N, NL, P, S – UNITED can contribute maximum 80% to the costs of your travel, not more than 275 Euro.
  2. Participants travelling from group 2: BG, CZ, EE, H, HR, LV, PL, RO, SI, SK, TR – UNITED can contribute maximum 85% to the costs of your travel, not more than 300 Euro.
  3. Participants travelling from group 3: AL, ARM, AZ, BH, BY, GE, H, KZ, KY, MK, MNE, MD, RS, RUS, UA, UZB, XZ – UNITED can contribute maximum 90% to the costs of your travel, not more than 350 Euro.
  4. Participants travelling from Lithuania: UNITED can contribute maximum 75% to the costs of your travel, not more than 100 Euro.

The cost of your VISA can be reimbursed by UNITED on the base of an original invoice from the Embassy. The conference will take place in Lithuania (LT) and will start on SUNDAY AFTERNOON 26 MAY 2013 with a bus transport to the venue. Departure from Vilnius is foreseen for Friday afternoon 31 May 2013.

The usual discourse of anti-racism work sometimes fails to include other organisations – such as disability or LGBT, feminist organisations, or trade unions. By stressing “intersectionality” and “diversity” this conference aims to provide organisations with a chance to unite upon the cause of social inclusion and sustainable growth. The path of human rights would enable participants to act UNITED – developing responses to shared challenges including building new coalitions, exploring possible frameworks for international litigation and providing conference recommendations for policy makers at both European and national levels.

The conference will make use of a variety of working methods: thematic working groups, plenary sessions and workshops. Five thematic working groups will provide a safe space to rethink diversity throughout the whole event. Your active participation and contribution to these working groups will be highly valuable.

  1. Minority as a Label: Going Beyond Minority Identity
  2. Building New Coalitions to Address Challenges Faced by Undocumented Migrants 
  3. Making the Case for Equality: Legal Responses to Discriminatory Practices 
  4. Turn on – Log in – Take Action Against Online Hate Speech
  5. International Solidarity: Joining Forces to Counter Right-Wing Threats and State Repression 

For more information on the working groups, see the official call for nominations HERE.

Eligibility

The conference is planned for 75 participants (living in the countries of the Council of Europe) who represent (inter)national antiracist, antifascist, refugee, human rights and minority rights organisations. Active grass-roots groups from all over Europe are also invited. Priority will be given to nominations from young delegates (under 30 years old) with a minority background. Preference is given to those organisations that actively take part in UNITED campaigns.

Each organisation can nominate only ONE delegate. The conference language is English. All participants are expected to have at least basic knowledge of English.

Application

Organisations interested in nominating a delegate should send their nomination (Expression of Interest form AVAILABLE HERE) BY EMAIL before the DEADLINE of 3 APRIL 2013 to lithuania@unitedagainstracism.org.

Each organisation can nominate ONLY ONE representative (living in Europe). Priority will be given to nominations from young delegates (under 30 years old) with a minority background. Only selected candidates will be informed about the result of their selection AND RECEIVE FURTHER INFORMATION via e-mail end of April 2013.

For questions, contact the organizers at info@unitedagainstracism.org. For more information, please see the official website HERE and the draft program HERE.

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