Deadline: 18 September 2016
Open to: participants between the ages of 18 and 35 years old, linked to an organization or network
Venue: 3– 4 November 2016, Budapest, Hungary

Description

The Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) is the principal institution of the OSCE responsible for the human dimension. ODIHR’s activities are implemented in 57 participating States in accordance with ODIHR’s political mandate.

In 2016, ODIHR commenced the Words Into Action to Address Anti‐Semitism project to strengthen the capacity of OSCE participating States and civil society to prevent and respond to anti‐Semitism. The project aims to carry out activities over three years in three interconnected areas: addressing the security needs of Jewish communities, countering anti‐Semitism through education, and fostering coalition building among different communities. In many OSCE participating States, human rights and tolerance are facing major challenges. One particular challenge is the lack of trust and engagement of youth in addressing these issues and to participate, equally, in the work of democratic institutions. While traditional forms of political participation are decreasing amongst youth, alternative forms of political participation, such as online activism, are becoming increasingly appealing to them.

ODIHR will be organizing a two‐day Youth Activism Seminar (“The Seminar”) on 3‐4 November 2016 in Budapest. The Seminar will bring together youth activists from OSCE participating States to discuss and address contemporary challenges in the field of human rights activism and suggest ways to overcome these.

The Seminar will involve three categories of young activists – representing youth from the most informal structures to the most formal ones.

1. Voice: This relates to informal forms of political participation and focuses on online activism. Ideal candidates include representatives of social media groups and bloggers.
2. Influence: This relates to semi‐formal forms of political participation and focuses on civil society organizations active in advocating and lobbying for changes to policies.
3. Governance: This relates to formal mechanisms of political participation such as political parties and governance institutions, such as young politicians and members of parliaments, government representatives, city councilors, policy and political advisors.

Eligibility

• Youth activists aged 18 to 35;
• Minimum 2 years of experience and proven track record of involvement and engagement within their social community  (i.e. involvement in the NGO sector, student’s unions, local and national political parties, online democracy and human rights associations, political parties and NGOs);
• Gender and geographical balance;
•  A proven track record of engagement within the community, demonstrating potential in addressing human rights, tolerance and non‐discrimination issues, including countering anti‐ Semitism, racism, xenophobia, gender equality, intolerance against Roma, Muslims, Christians and other religions or beliefs, and  other groups.
• English language competency

Costs

• Accommodation and travel costs for the event will be covered by ODIHR.

How to apply?

To apply participants need to submit:

• Application form;
• CV.

Applications should be sent in English with the subject line “Youth Activism Seminar 2016”, to the following e‐mail address:  wordsintoaction@odihr.pl until 18 September 2016, 18.00 Central European Time.

CV must be included in the email together with the application form. Applications will be accepted until 18 September.

In order to apply, please fill in the following application form. 

For more information, please visit the official website.