The CHARM Factor Handbook for YOUR youth organization

Handbook for YOUR youth organization

The CHARM Factor: Handbook for YOUR youth organization Compiled by: Vladislav Petkov

C.E.G.A. Fondation

The views expressed in this publication are the responsibility of the authors and do no necessarily reflect the opinions of the Council of Europe.

This publication has been produced with the financial support of Fundamental Rights and Citizenship Programme of the European Commission. The contents of this publication are the sole responsibility of C.E.G.A. Foundation and can be in no way be taken to reflect the views of the European Commission.

2011

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The CHARM Factor:

Contents Introduction – why this handbook is for you?..............................................................................................29 CHARM Factor (our project in brief)......................................................................................................................31 Our charming vocabulary – what terms do we use and why...........................................................33 Issues that we deny to have...........................................................................................................................................35 What are the attitudes of your organization and their implications for respect for difference.............................35 Who are your target groups, beneficiaries and volunteers?.........................................................................................................................39 How do we organize our work with regards to inclusion? (places, time, communication channels). ........................................................................................................................41 What does our organization support, and how is this decided? (support of declarations, campaigns and initiatives).....................................................................................................42 What terms do we use in the organization, and are they correct? (terminology). ............................................................................................................................................................................44

How to start?................................................................................................................................................................................45 Research and needs analysis of organizations.....................................................................................................................46 Measures for meeting the needs of the organization......................................................................................................47 Drawing up of shared principles of the organization and drafting of the document itself...................................48

Our experience – challenges, lessons and perspectives.....................................................................48

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The partners in the project.............................................................................................................................................50

Handbook for YOUR youth organization

Introduction Why this handbook is for you?

Are you part of a youth organization, group or involved in youth work, then the handbook is exactly for you. Whether the organization or the group is registered or informal, it has existed for just a few weeks or several years, concerned with the environment, youth participation, recreation, professional orientation, active citizenship or intercultural dialogue, the handbook is for you. In short the book is for each and everyone working in the field of youth. It does not matter whether the organization is public or non-governmental, either if it receives funds or it is voluntary. From our own experience in the youth field, we strongly believe that this book will enhance your work and benefit your organization and its members, because it is an outcome of direct experience and it does respond to urgent needs. We call this charm. We are convinced that this CHARM factor has a vital role to play in all areas of public life for all of us who are active in the youth fields.

We know that we do not know all the answers to all the core questions that arise in the youth work.

Yet, we do invite you to read on, help refine and improve the ideas and recommendations outlined in this handbook. The issues addressed in the book are the results from practical experience that has been gained in the course of the year long implementation of the project, including the informal interaction with stakeholders of the project. Hence this handbook documents the most important lessons learnt and experiences gained, as well as the challenges met and how they were overcome during the development and implementation of the Youth Against Racism project in six European countries: Bulgaria, Denmark, Greece, Hungary, Italy and Spain. For more info, read more about the project in part “CHARM Factor (our project in brief )�.

Besides being written from practical experience in the field, the ideas outlined in the handbook are based on our belief that Europe needs a qualitative change in its attitude towards people who are different from the mainstream population. This change is a long shot, the need for such change has been declared in several policy documents on the European, national and local levels. However, the application of these policy statements is yet to be seen, as quickly and as effectively as it is hoped for. Thus, while hundreds of youth groups and organizations have set out to achieve this change, the conclusion we came to is that: this is not enough. Those youth need more support to tackle such a daunting task. They need YOUR support: of all youth centers, organizations, clubs and groups, regardless of their field of activity. As young people, we believe that you have the will and capacity to help because active young people, like you, have the vision, time, creativity and energy to inspire and mobilize our apathetic societies. So, allow us to suggest ways in which you can give it.

As last evidence that this book is appropriate for you, we suggest you to do a short test. We call it Charming Quiz – or a test measuring how charming is your organization.

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The CHARM Factor:

CHARMING QUIZ

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1. When you are preparing your activities in the organization, they are focused on: A. Concrete aims of the organization B. Concrete aims of the organization and human rights C. Concrete aims of the organization, human rights and other European values 2. How many ethnic groups are you working with?

A. one B. two C. more than two 3.Your organization believes, that the inclusion of young people from different ethnic origin in the activities is necessary, if: A. You get such kind of project B. The funding structures require it C. It is good to be included regardless the project and donors 4.When you are developing a project which is seeking to describe the intercultural dimension of the activities, you: A. Fill in style “blah-blah” B. Describe the values which are already the policy of your organization C. Understand that it is important, however you still have difficulties to answer 5. You would like to have more activities related to: A. Sports events, games and dances B. International youth exchange C. Inclusion of “different” people both abroad and in the country 6.If your organization decides to include promotion of human rights in its activity, it will be because: A. Such activities are well funded B. You do not want to fall behind the other organizations C. You believe that it is important 7. Please, point out which theme of the European years is more close to your ideas in the organization: A. 2007 - European year of equal opportunities for all B. 2009 – European year of creativity and innovations C. 2010 – European year for combating poverty and social exclusion 8. Your understanding about gender distinction between men and women is closer to: A. Everyone has her/his duties and everyone knows their place B. There is no distinction, the only difference is biological C. Women may deal with many things, however, they need support 9. If you get the chance to organize training for members and volunteers of your organization related to human rights you would do it, because: A. You think your organization needs this B. Training may open opportunities for cooperation and funding C. You use each opportunity to build capacity 10. In terms of social engagement which of the celebrities you like the most?

A. Bono from U2 B. Madonna C. Justin Bieber

Handbook for YOUR youth organization

Key Question 1 Question 2 Question 3 Question 4 Question 5 Question 6 Question 7 Question 8 Question 9 Question 10

Answer А 0 0 1 0 0 0 2 0 2 2

Answer В 1 1 0 2 1 1 0 2 1 1

Answer С 2 2 2 1 2 2 1 1 0 0

From 15 to 20 points From the information we have here, we could assume that your organization is unarguably charming, open to differences and responsive to building a more tolerant Europe.

However, it is possible that we make a mistake. Anyway you should continue reading the handbook – at least to compare the practices that we offer to yours. We would be happy if you share them with us.

From 8 to 15 points No doubt, your organization has charming features. However, more needs to be done. The attitude of your organization towards European values is very good, but your organization’s policy in terms of those values is a bit off. We hope our handbook will help in this regard.

Below 8 points Your organization exceptionally needs this handbook. As well as a great charm. We hope we could provide it.

CHARM Factor (our project in brief) What exactly is the CHARM Factor? CHARM stands for “Civic Help for Anti-Racist Measures” and is the slogan of an online campaign, running in parallel and supporting the international project “Youth Against Racism”. The project runs through 2010 and 2011 in six European countries.

Its idea is to spread this specific type of CHARM around the youth field in Europe, and especially in Bulgaria, Denmark, Greece, Italy, Spain and Hungary. We want to raise the awareness of human rights among various youth organizations and bodies and to encourage them to join the European-wide efforts to build a more tolerant Europe, where nobody is excluded.

The overall aim of the project “Youth Against Racism” is to transform youth work into a sphere free of harmful stereotypes, and thus to insure that racism and xenophobia do not exist in youth projects and activities any where in Europe. The project aims to tell the story of racism and xenophobia among youth activists, organizations and institutions which are not dealing specifically with these issues, but work with young people, support their active participation and influence their values, attitudes and behavior.

The concept of this project emerged during training of trainers on theme “Human Rights Education”, organized in 2009 by the Council of Europe,

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The CHARM Factor: which involved some of the project partners. The other partners were invited to join as experts in training, intercultural dialogue, work with young people and anti-racist policies. Thus, a fun but expert partnership with the following participants was formed: - - - - - -

C.E.G.A. Foundation - Bulgaria United Societies of Balkans – Greece Hungarian Association for Community Development – Hungary Crossing Borders – Denmark Union Romani Andalucia – Spain Accadmie Europea di Firenze – Italy

Brief outline of the partners and their contact details are on the last page of the handbook.

The project was launched in January 2010 with a coordination meeting and continued for a year and a half. Below are the major milestones of the project implementation (and dozens of smaller, that we will spare you): Training for trainers. It took place in June 2010 in Bulgaria and brought together three youth leaders and trainers from each of the six participating countries. The main purpose of the training course was to prepare the participants to become trainers, plan and organize training seminars for youth organizations in their respective countries. The training for trainers combined participatory methods and presentations for the maximum benefit to participants both from a thematic point of view (racism, discrimination, minorities, social exclusion) and from a practical point of view (communication, facilitation, conflict resolution).

Detailed report of the training course can be found in the section “CharmLoad” on the project website: www.charmingyouth.eu.

National trainings. Europe was hit by our trainings between August and November 2010. There were two 2-days training workshops organized in each of the participating countries, which make a total of 12 training seminars that were attended by approximately 150 people – representatives of youth organizations and informal groups, active young people, leaders and multipliers. From Barcelona to Sofia they were learning and discussing important and “hot” issues related to social inclusion in the youth field and our role in these processes. More information for each of the trainings can be found on the charming website.

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International partner meeting: took place in Denmark with representatives of the project partners. The meeting enabled the partners to share experiences, good practices and practical strategies on the implementation process of the project in the respective countries.

Anti-racist organizational policies. This is one of the most important elements of this project and aims to achieve sustainability and to build on the lessons learned at the national trainings. Between November 2010 and March 2011 the project partners worked with the trainees and facilitated a process for implementation of organizational policies to be applied in the respective organizations and to prevent social exclusion practices within them. Policies (which could take the form of a declaration, code of ethics, rules of internal order or other similar document) must ensure that the organization in question is at a satisfactory

Handbook for YOUR youth organization level of anti-racist sensitivity and its activities are carried out according to that sensitivity. Project partners have taken various approaches in their work on this part of the project, and the results form the basis of the present handbook.

International meeting for experience share. In March 2010 the project partners and representatives of involved youth organizations – a total of 36 people – took part in the international meeting, where they presented their policies and practices, exchanged experience, discussed challenges and follow-up activities. The conclusions from this meeting could be seen quoted in various parts of this handbook. Detailed report can be found in section “CharmLoad” on the project website: www.charmingyouth.eu.

This is the project (really) in brief. There were so many other activities taking place during the project implementation that it was very hard to fit in two pages. However, we will get back to those other activities in the following pages, because each sentence of this publication is based on the work under the project.

If you still want to get more information about the project itself, you can do it on the already mentioned website, or by contacting us.

Our charming vocabulary – what terms do we use and why There are several terms that we often used in the project “Youth against racism” and which we should use in this handbook. In order to avoid any misunderstandings, however, we decided to explain those as clearly as possible in advance.

Racism. We assume that everybody knows the meaning of the term racism. However, it is good to know that its volume is variable depending on the context. Initially “racism” is used to refer to the belief that there are different human races, which are divided into superior and inferior categories, which are biologically embedded and could not be changed. Vast majority of people identifying themselves with racism, however, are not satisfied with distinction of “race” only and they introduce new ones – the inferior list also includes people with disabilities, sexual minorities, ethnic and religious groups. Hatred toward all these groups is a part of the job description of the “racist”. That is why in the context of our project “racism” is understood as intolerance to anyone who is “different”, not just about “race”. In this sense, we determine as a racist the understanding that women and young people have no place in management positions, or that men and older people have no place in youth and social field.

Antiracist awareness. In the determination of “racism” we have also defined this expression. Antiracist awareness would mean the ability to determine whether certain ideas or events are racist or not (according to the definition above), respectively to distinguish ourselves from them or not.

Social exclusion. There are dozens of definitions and surveys for “social exclusion”. Most often it is defined as a process where a person or groups of people are deprived of the opportunity to participate fully in the economic, social and cultural life of the society. Since our project is focused on racism in the field of youth, then in this context social exclusion is understood primarily as the inability of group of people to participate in the field of youth, because they are different from the majority of active youth.

Mainstreaming. Unfortunately, most languages have no word that accurately translates the meaning of the term mainstreaming, that’s why we use the English one. In different context the term has different meanings. When used in connection with education, most often means integration of children with special educational needs in ordinary schools. When used in connection with gender equality it means assessment of different dimensions for men and women in the development of each policy. Within the project

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The CHARM Factor: “Youth against racism” under “mainstreaming of antiracist awareness” we understand a process for convincing youth organizations (working in areas other than antiracism and social inclusion) that they are responsible for the anti-racism promotion; process of encouraging these organizations to undertake measures on that issue. In other words, to make anti-racism a horizontal principle in their work, the organization needs to adopt it as a cross-cutting theme.

In order to explain more specifically what we mean when we talk about mainstreaming of anti-racist policies, we would give a few examples with cell phone companies: • Almost every cell phones company has an environmental policy, which explains how the company supports the protection of the environmental (recycling of phones, batteries, etc.). That is their environmental protection policy; • Some cell phones companies also have policies related to sourcing materials that they use for production. Basically, their measures are directed at convincing customers that materials (particularly cobalt) are not mined by minors in some countries of Africa or extraction does not fund military conflicts (mainly in Congo).

Both examples certainly do not change the aim and the main activity of the companies – to produce and sell cell phones. But they show the companies’ responsibility towards the environment and human rights, i.e. these themes are mainstreamed in the activity of the company.

This is what we aim at with our mainstreaming of anti-racist awareness in the field of youth – attraction of various youth organizations for the cause, without expecting to change their main aims and activities.

In this regard we have developed some principles, which we observe within the overall project. They ensure that, while working for mainstreaming of anti-racist awareness in youth field, we: 1. DO NOT intend to undermine the work of youth organizations or bodies which we address. Just the opposite, we support and admire it!

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2. DO NOT expect them to change their sphere of work – we certainly do not want them to leave ecology, charity, youth participation, arts, sports, etc. and start doing projects for social inclusion and fight against racism.

3. DO NOT want to force these organizations to mainstream anti-racism measures in their work. We rely on our educational and communication methods to CONVINCE them that it is important. We will provide support for them when they express desire to participate.

There are dozens of ways you can support the fight against racism and social exclusion through your organization without needing to modify your aims and activities or to develop new projects and seek funding. All you need is the will and little free time. How can you do it – read the next pages.

Handbook for YOUR youth organization

Issues that we deny to have In this part of the book we will present you some problematic situations, in which many organizations have fallen. They cover some of the ways by which certain youth organizations or groups would appear as not so charming, although it considers itself as open and with an adequate level of anti-racism awareness. All situations described have actually occurred in reality, some are slightly embellished.

After each case described we will give some suggestions on how these situations could be prevented or how to exit from those with less pain. Suggestions are derived from the organizational policies developed within the project, their application, as well as discussions related to these processes. If you have other suggestions, we definitely want to hear them. You can share them in section “CASES” on the project website: www.charmingyouth.eu, where each of the cases below is published.

What are the attitudes of your organization and their implications for respect for difference The story of Vera Vera is 22 years old. From the age of 15, Vera has been volunteering in youth green organization in the town of B. She is among the most active members of the organization and is a part of the informal management team.

For several years now Vera torments herself due to the fact that she is different. After a long period of denial, she now admits to herself that she is a lesbian. But only to herself. Being afraid to be excluded, she hides the fact from her family, classmates and friends. But it seems that it is hard for her to hide it from the organization team, which besides professional connections is linked by strong friendly relations.

Vera tried for several times to gather enough courage to share her secret with the team. But every time something happens, which makes her give up – mostly negative comments about “faggots” carelessly thrown by a friend. Also the fact how volunteers among which she succeeded to build a positive and friendly reputation will look at her, bothers her very much.

Ivan, a manager of the association, falls in love with Vera. They are very close, deeply understand each other and for him the step to something more serious is almost formal. He is surprised when Vera disappears in response to his declaration. She does not answer her phone and does not appear in the office for a week.

Vera stays at home, crying and watching romantic movies. She is wondering what to do.

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The CHARM Factor: Manager between the devil and the deep blue see “... Unfortunately, we have two people in the group who are against the inclusion of people from certain minority ethnic groups in our work. The ideas and opinions of those two people are based on real events in their lives. In this regard, we have serious internal conflicts and oppositions and this almost destroyed our organization in the very beginning. After nearly half a year of disagreements we have achieved delicate consensus – our organization is open to accepting people with disadvantage in the team, except Roma people. If Roma people want, they must undergo a certain level of “probation” and if they prove that they can be trusted and that they accept our principles, they can become full members. The other point of consensus they achieved is the fact that if the organization wants to work on issues related to the integration of the Roma minority, those two people of the team will not participate. This theme is really painful for our organization, but we have found a middle way...”

In both cases described we met the same question – what are the attitudes of the already established members of a youth organization towards the acceptance of different people in its ranks. And while in the first case attitudes are rather unknown (although Vera would hardly keep silence if she was sure that she would be accepted), then in the second case they are more than clear and unfortunately – negative.

Actually, this is perhaps the most important moment for an organization that wants to become more charming – when its members have positive attitudes towards the acceptance of different people, and then any other measures would be introduced and implemented much easier. As often happens – the most important task is the most difficult to implement, it requires creativity, efforts and lot of patience. When we talk about attitudes, our way of thinking and behavior, we can not expect change to occur in a day (although such cases are known). As it was shared by some of the participants in the YAR project, we often underestimate the process of changing attitudes and imagine it to be easier than it actually is. Maybe because, we want it to be like that very much.

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Now is the time to mention that human rights (although a controversial concept, according to some views) are not only good wishes, especially within the EU. Quite the contrary - all Member States have adopted numerous regulations to ensure compliance with human rights of all persons on their territory (including non-EU citizens). In every country there are many instruments that have been created to protect those rights, including prosecution for violating these laws-set rules. In other words, extreme views or discriminatory behavior (especially in providing services or labor relations) could cause the organization and/or its members many problems. This could be used as another strong reason for the organization to adopt anti-racism measures.

However, we must be aware that we cannot expect all our members to become activists and fighters for human rights. In the spirit of reasonable and realistic goals, for starters, we must strive to a level of tolerance in the organization, which makes possible the participation of everyone in its activities. But even that is sometimes more difficult than it sounds. Then, how do we do this?

Handbook for YOUR youth organization Communication, communication, communication Our organization strives to create a safe atmosphere, which allows its members a free and open exchange of views.

Our organization strives to provide place for discussion of conflicts and their peaceful resolution.

From policy of association “GIDA”, Hungary, developed under the project “Youth against racism”

Intrigues have no place in our space and problems are placed outdoors.

Conflicts are a test and are useful if they entail beneficial solutions.

From Code of Ethics of association “Youth Northwest”, Bulgaria, developed under the project “Youth against racism”

This is one of the main findings made by most of those involved in the project “Youth against Racism” organizations - that they need open, accountable and responsible communication with each other. Transparent deliberations and discussions between members, volunteers and all people associated with the organization are essential when it comes to sensitive issues. At first glance, this sounds very logical and easy to implement - but often, absorbed in the implementation of projects and daily tasks we do not find time to talk, to exchange ideas, argue and discuss. There are so many contradictory or hot topics around us (often they are associated with our organization more than we imagine) and these issues should not remain without discussion.

It should be taken into account that when we talk about anti-racism and social inclusion in the youth field - especially if we know that extreme positions may appear – it is absolutely necessary for the discussion to be led by an experienced facilitator. It is good to discuss the purposes of a discussion with him/her, to make a preliminary study of attitudes and to establish clear rules for its conduct. Otherwise you risk the discussion to worsen the situation rather than improve it. In the presence of a good facilitator conflict can be very constructive part of the development of an organization.

Training Special training in human rights should be envisaged as a key priority in the training of members and volunteers of organizations.

From “Handbook of best practices”, developed by the organizations involved in the project “Youth against racism” in Spain

C.E.G.A. Foundation will continue to organize training and other initiatives to support the process of capacity building and sensitization in relation to diversity, equality and social inclusion.

C.E.G.A. Foundation will encourage the participation of network members in trainings, seminars and initiatives, organized by other organizations and institutions that will contribute to this process.

From „Code of conduct on diversity“ of the youth network „Volunteers Against All Odds“, Bulgaria, developed in the framework of the project „Youth against racism“

Experience from Denmark Crossing Borders used role models from the Danish Ministry of Integration to raise awareness on the plight of LGBs among ethnic minorities in Denmark. For this purpose crossing Borders organized a facilitated dialogue workshop where representatives from the role models shared their experience from tackling the discrimination against people with different sexual orientations. The role models are young people chosen among

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The CHARM Factor: ethnic minorities and trained by the Ministry of Integration to promote human rights. 25 role models were trained and these role models have already reached over 1000 youth across Denmark. The role model project is such a success that it is going to be expanded. The dialogue workshop was held on 10 March in a multicultural high school and attended by several journalists. One of the largest national daily published two articles on the meeting and regional TV station and national radio featured the event. http://www.b.dk/nationalt/dialog-skal-stoppe-koensdiskrimination http://www.b.dk/nationalt/rollemodeller-bekaemper-aereskonflikter

The need for more education on the topic of anti-racism was recognized in all countries involved in the project. Some of them found it to be so important that they managed to organize training for their teams immediately after their involvement in the project. For example, ”Living Libraries” - Greece, invites a trainer, who facilitates training in human rights for the organization’s team just a month after a representative of the team participated in the national training organized within “Youth Against Racism”.

It should be noted that the goal is not to provide just any training, but to organize them with quality by trained trainers and using appropriate methods. This is one of the pillars on which the whole project “Youth against Racism” is built - we call it a charming education.

But actually it’s just a name adapted for human rights education.

Human rights education is recognized and strongly promoted by the Directorate of Youth and Sport of the Council of Europe. COMPASS - manual on human rights education with young people has a central place in its promotion. In “Compass” human rights education is described as “educational programs with long-term goal of creating a culture that understands, protects and respects human rights.” Human rights education uses an approach oriented to the learner, taking into account the social context in which he or she is. One of the most important benefits of human rights education is that it doesn’t only aim to provide knowledge but also to build skills and form attitudes and values.

We understand that not every organization can devote time and resources to provide such training to its team, although we think that it is definitely worth it. Therefore, organizations involved in the project foresaw the alternatives:

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• Contact a partner organization that has experience in human rights education or is specialized in one of the issues of human rights (e.g. work with people with disabilities, equality of sexual minorities or social integration of immigrants). Offer them “an exchange of training” - a process in which they offer training according to their expertise and in return you offer them training according to yours. Such ideas and plans emerged between the Bulgarian organizations involved in the project.

• Look for opportunities through which representative/s of your organization could participate in training related to anti-racism. Then you can organize internal knowledge sharing. Such a mechanism is embedded in some of the policies developed.

Education is a major factor for changing attitudes and social change – this is one of the main conclusions, which we brought from the project “Youth Against Racism”. Read more in the part “Highlights and perspectives for development”.

Handbook for YOUR youth organization

Who are your target groups, beneficiaries and volunteers?

Representativeness A high-level meeting is planned between representatives of the youth field and representatives of European institutions that deal with planning and implementation of European youth policy. Host and organizer of the meeting is the national agency managing the “Youth in Action” program at national level in the country where the meeting takes place. The group of participants in the meeting is formed from members of representative organizations that must meet strict criteria (such as number of members). However, the possibility for individual invitation of other participants is provided. Yet, in that meeting there is no representative of the Roma community and other minority ethnic group. One of the workshops at the meeting was devoted to “Fight Against Discrimination”.

The case represents one of the most controversial, but most important issues we face when talking about charming youth organizations – do we need to put extra efforts to include representatives of socially excluded groups in its activities or we just need to be open to their participation if they come to us.

In a broader scale this discussion is known as the “pros” and “cons” of positive discrimination - measures which were established temporarily to ensure “artificially” equality of different social groups.

The question becomes more interesting when we talk about youth representative organizations – i.e. about forums and councils, who speak on behalf of young people and defend their position before the institutions. In general, their representativeness is “measured” with the size of their members, rather than its diversity. This raises many questions: if the entire membership is of working young people, how will they protect the interests of the unemployed and students, for example? If the majority of the members are girls, will boys be duly admitted? Or if there are no members with disabilities – will their need be properly articulated?

For some of the socially excluded groups there are special organizations established, which are expected to protect their public interests - organizations and unions of people with disabilities, Roma, LGBT organizations, etc. But they often do not have the same weight because they stand behind significantly fewer people (after all, all these are minorities). Without wanting in any way to deny the important public role of these closely profiled organizations, we believe that mainstreaming in this case brings many benefits. We must not forget that if we imagine society as a puzzle in which young people are one piece, the Roma, immigrants, people with disabilities and sexual minorities cannot be separate pieces of the puzzle. Because some of them are also young people who need their voice heard.

People with disabilities

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Young people Young people with disabilities

The CHARM Factor: It is worth noting that we do not aim to defend the point that every representative youth organization should be obliged to provide „quotas“ to people of different socially excluded groups. In spite of that we think that there is a place for these groups. Because if we get back to the case above there is probably no Roma organization which would meet the membership criteria in such a structure. There is minimum chance for a young person of Roma origin to chair some of the mainstream representative structures because of a variety of reasons with which we will not deal here. At the same time, young Roma people in the European Union are about 4 million (more than the population of Latvia and Estonia put together) and a big part of them face the same problems. It sounds somehow logical that their position should be heard. Whether and how it would happen, it should be decided by each organization after a serious debate.

Even when we are not talking about representative organizations, the situation is actually not that different. There is a big difference between us being „open“ to everyone, and us also trying to attract different groups – as team members, as volunteers or as beneficiaries of our services and activities. If we decide to do it, we can justify it with at least three reasons.

First, that way we would refute the notion that the place of the different socially excluded groups is in their profiled organizations. As if this notion excludes the option that a person with disability would be excited about environment preservation, or an immigrant – about personal development or career orientation.

This is what we call segregation of new generation, and it is in the “open” civic sector. (Again, we must emphasize that we do not deny the importance of the profiled organizations of the socially excluded groups.

We just do not think that they are the only form of civil activity which is due to the representatives of these groups.)

Second, many scholars maintain that the diverse teams are more creative and they work better – they use a lot of perspectives and skills.1 So even for purely selfish motives – the attraction of different young people will be a plus to you.

Last but not least, it will make you more CHARM-ming. And what could be better?

Our organization strives to attract people of different social, religious and cultural groups. Our purpose is for them to have an opportunity to fully participate in the activities of the organization.

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From policy of Catholic Association of Szeged, Hungary, developed in the framework of the project „Youth against Racism“

Everyone can become a member of our organization, regardless of their age, sex, nationality, ethnic origin, religious creed, sexual orientation or beliefs, as long as the latter do not counter the principles of democracy, human rights or those shown in this declaration.

From Declaration of anti-racist measures of 12 youth organizations from Greece, developed in the framework of the project “Youth against Racism”

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D. Kravitz, Psychological Science in the Public Interest October 2005 6 (2)

Handbook for YOUR youth organization

How do we organize our work with regards to inclusion? (place, time, communication channels) The trip You organize a 2-day journey for the members of your organization. You have managed to research the prices, to collect several offers and you have already chosen both a company to conduct the trip, and a place to sleep and eat. The camp is free for the entire month of October, and you think it would be best if the trip takes place during the first weekend. You want to do your best so that your members are united, and everyone understands and helps each other. You think it is a great chance to achieve this.

You inform the people about the excursion and you announce a deadline within which the members of the organization should tell you who would be able to join until the end of the week. On Thursday you receive confirmation that almost everyone would come. You hire the transport company and the camp for the first weekend of October. On Friday you also receive confirmation from the rest. It turns out that Nihat is the only one who would not come.

You ask if it is convenient for him to tell you the reason. Then Nihat tells you that in the first weekend of October his family celebrates Bayram, and he should be at home.

Overcoming the issue with the attitudes in our organization does not necessarily mean that from now on everything will go smoothly and everyone will feel valuable in a certain organization. It is necessary to review the way in which an organization works and to see if the mechanisms used are suitable for everyone.

The first case shows a very interesting situation – many of us are used to taking into consideration Easter and Christmas, for example, while making the program for activities, but not the holidays of other religions. When the people we work with come from different cultural groups, this should change. The key here, again, is communication – open and timely. It would cost almost nothing to prepare a calendar, in which the significant dates of the cultures represented in the organization will be marked. That way they can be considered in the course of the work. And why not celebrate those, even in a token way. It can be a great chance for a deeper intercultural acquaintance.

The organization by itself is not a guarantee for presence of real contacts – it is important that we take into consideration the specificities of everyone’s individual rhythm, and everyone – with the deliberate belonging.

From Ethical Code of Youth Parliament – Varna, Bulgaria, developed in the framework of the project „Youth against racism“

Besides timing, the organization should also consider well the places where its activity takes place. The main emphasis here is the accessibility for people with different types of disabilities – in the office of a certain organization, or at other places where various activities take place. Concerning the office, things are often more complicated because they also require serious financial investments, which are sometimes just not available. Nevertheless, accessibility is an element which should be considered, at least in the long term development of the organization.

A shared and responsible use of the property of the organization should be ensured.

The usage of the resource should be optimized, in order to consider the environmental preservation and the accessibility…

From „Good Practices of Shared Responsibility when defending human rights“, developed by Italian organizations, involved in the project „Youth against racism“

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The CHARM Factor: Last but not least in importance is the issue: how is the daily work of the organization organized, and how does it communicate with its members, volunteers and beneficiaries? For example, more and more organizations use information technologies in order to communicate with their members. Many of the socially excluded groups though (and not just them) do not have a computer at home or they do not have the skills necessary for online communication at all. It should be considered that our presumption that everyone checks their e-mail five times a day is not always valid. The smartest way for solving of such a problem is through open dialogue and individual approach in every separate case.

Assistance will be provided (equipment, translation, transport) to the members who need support for participation in the process.

Accessible materials and facilitations for the people with disabilities, as well as support for those who lack the necessary e-skills.

From Declaration of anti-racist measures of 12 Youth organizations from Greece, developed in the framework of the project „Youth against racism“

Connected to the above is the issue which is the working language – in our contemporary multicultural societies, it will become more and more important. For example, as a result of its participation in the project „Youth against racism“, the Greek student organization AIESEC began the translation of some of its materials in English language, in order to provide ease access of international students. Nevertheless, we should not forget that the respect and the preservation of the different languages is a principle in united Europe, and there is no reason for the youth organizations not to support it. It sometimes sounds more complicated than it really is – there are volunteers who would like to apply their language skills in translation.

With joint work of members of the network, Bulgarian is the priority language. When using another (Roma, Turkish, Western), translation is provided for the non-fluent.

From „Code of conduct on diversity“ of the youth network „Volunteers Against All Odds“, Bulgaria, developed in the framework of the project „Youth against racism“

What does our organization support, and how is this decided? (support of declarations, campaigns and initiatives) To support or not to support

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A youth parliament in an average city is invited to a meeting of a nationalist movement. The meeting is dedicated to the immigration policy of the given country. A representative of the parliament attends the meeting and he signs the declaration prepared there under the title „For a cleaner country“. In this declaration the idea is passed that the country should terminate the acceptance of foreigners from Eastern countries, especially from the Middle East. It further states: „The immigrants from the Middle East, who are already in the country, should be deported back, unless they have not lived here for at least 5 years, they do not pass a test and they do not have a permanent, well paid job.“ Those who meet the criteria though should not have the right to marry locals, nor have children. According to the declaration, this is the only way the country could be saved from „pollution“. After the meeting the entire text is published on the web page of the youth parliament with a note that supporters and partners for the idea are needed. A viewing of the site of the parliament shows that it has realized various initiatives and projects promoting tolerance and intercultural dialogue.

Handbook for YOUR youth organization This case is an extreme one, but real. It is evident that the declaration calls for violation of human rights. This demonstrates serious problems within the youth parliament both in terms of the attitudes of the participants and the processes of decision making. If the support of such a declaration was put to vote by the parliament members, the result would most likely be different.

There are initiatives and campaigns though which are not so extreme, but their contribution to social inclusion and respect of human rights is doubtful. That is why our advice is that an organization should not support every initiative or declaration before finding out about the organizers, their aims and activities, and the funding source. For example, there are different campaigns which seemingly support human rights but if you read more closely, you can find out that tolerance is only meant in the framework of a certain religion or social group. We have also come across petitions in support of the rights of the people with disabilities, while part of the justification includes opposition to „only spending money on the gypsies“.

We have to be sure that when we want our organization to support a certain cause, we will do it in an informed way. We have to check if all aspects of the request we are doing are well-researched and whether we are convinced that its possible realization will not harm another group. Initiation of a big discussion in the organization might be necessary. We also recommend consultation with another organization which has expertise in the respective field. This is another proof of the importance of networks and partnerships between organizations with different fields of activity and expertise.

The members are responsible in front of the organization and all people involved. Every member can contribute to the development of the organization in a free and spontaneous way according to their abilities and responsibilities.

From „Good Practices of Shared Responsibility when Defending Human Rights“, developed by Italian organizations, involved in the project „Youth against racism“

Not to take part in events which do not respect the dignity of young people or they are harmful to their emotional development.

Not to take part in events which discriminate in any way the young people on the grounds of race, ethnic origin, religion, sex, nationality, language, etc.

From Ethical Code of Youth Volunteer Centre, Pleven, Bulgaria, developed in the framework of the project „Youth against racism“

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The CHARM Factor:

What terms do we use in the organization, and are they correct? (terminology) Lost in translation A representative of a youth organization takes part in training seminar to streamline their antiracist sensitivity. Impressed by the training, she comes back to her organization and initiates a series of discussions with the team to open the organization to different socially excluded groups. The team reached a consensus on a series of measures which should make the organization more CHARMing. The first of those takes place as early as the next day – a sign is posted at the entrance of the organization and at its website: „Invalids and gypsies are welcome“2. For a week the organization receives feedback from several organizations which denounce the sign as politically incorrect.

We have already mentioned that the communication is especially important and that it should be open and responsible. It also needs to be politically correct.

Any jokes and banters should remain in the framework of good manners and with full conviction that they would not offend anyone’s dignity. If it happens, the offended person should speak up, but calmly.

From „Code of conduct on diversity“ of the youth network „Volunteers Against All Odds“, Bulgaria, developed in the framework of the project „Youth against racism“

When determining how to call a certain group, the most important rule is to use the term by which they would like to be called. This rule could be easily followed when it comes to communication „face to face“– then (again in the interest of the open communication) we can just ask.

Things are not so simple though when it comes to texts with non-personified addressees – documents, website texts, publications, brochures, information materials, positions, presentations, etc. What makes it difficult is the fact that in many of the socially excluded groups there is no agreed consensus on how they should be called.

For example, there are certain Roma organizations in the different parts of Europe who prefer calling the Roma “gypsies“, as they do not approve the use of „Roma“3. On the other hand, the oldest and biggest organization of people with disabilities in Bulgaria is still called „Union of the Invalids“.

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The existence of different terms of socially excluded group is not accidental – the introduction of new terms is often necessary because of the stigma and the negative connotations which the „old“ designations arouse. We sometimes do not realize how much information a single term could contain. The other reason is that the first words used for designation of a certain group, were introduced by the majority.

Subsequently, with the gradual empowerment of the different communities, they come up with proposals how they would like to be called.

Research is constantly conducted; information about the target group is collected by and for the members of the organizations.

From Declaration of anti-racist measures of 12 Youth organizations from Greece, developed in the framework of the project „Youth against racism“

2

This is the only case which is not based on a real story (at least one that we know about). Nevertheless, terminology was a problem discussed in several of the countries during the project.

3 In 2011 in Romania a political decision was made that the Roma should be called „gypsies“ again, so that they would not be confused by the foreigners with the ethnic Romanians

Handbook for YOUR youth organization We offer you a short table of the terms confirmed by now. Nevertheless, we strongly recommend that you do your own research on which are the most suitable terms in your country.

Overcome terms

Suitable for use

Notes

Invalids, crippled, disabled

People with disabilities, children with special educational needs (for education)

It is clear why using “invalid” is to be avoided – meaning in translation ‘not valid’.

Gypsies

Roma

The decision for the use of „Roma“ is made at the First World Roma Congress in 1971. „Roma“ means human in Roma language.

Nigger

Black

In America, the most commonly used term is „African-American“, but it is not applicable for the rest of the world.

Gay, lesbian

Homosexual is avoided, because it was introduced by the Victorian scientists with the idea is to describe mental problems and moral decline.4

Homosexual

Even if you do not use the most politically correct words, you should also be careful about the context. You should not use expressions like „people with disabilities and normal people worked together…“ or „gay and normal young people discussed the subject…“, because they exclude certain group from the notion „normal“.

How to start?

In the following lines we will try to give you some guidelines about what should you do if you want your organization to acquire an anti-racist policy, like the charming youth organizations involved in the project.

This part of the guidelines is based on an online laboratory, which was organized by the C.E.G.A. Foundation in the framework of the project „Youth against racism“ with representatives of various youth organizations. The purpose of the online laboratory was to facilitate the creation of anti-racist organizational policies of the organizations involved. The entire documentation of the laboratory is accessible in the section CharmLoad on the website www.charmingyouth.eu.

How not to do anti-racist policy A youth centre of the city of N. registered as an association for public decides to apply to call for applications announced by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Science. The eligible applicants must organize extracurricular activities and youth clubs of interests. One of the priorities of the call for applications is to involve young people from different social situation.

Besides the other documents, the applicants are required to present a „strategy“, „ethical code of conduct“, „internal rules“ or another internal policy document, which should show the policy of the applicant towards young people with fewer opportunities – of different ethnic or religious origin, immigrants, people with disabilities, with different sexual orientation, etc. Because the Youth Centre has not developed such a document, the Managing Board gives the task to one of the members to prepare such a document overnight. This person has to present the document the next day for voting in the Managing board.

4 http://www.avert.org/homosexual.htm

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The CHARM Factor: The person responsible for the Youth Centre – used to doing his job well, decides to do a short research among the volunteers and the users of the services of the Centre – about the way in which they perceive the „different“. Because the time is not enough, he calls an urgent meeting. Five volunteers manage to attend it (of a total of 30). The only boy of Roma origin who volunteers at the Centre is present because of the insistence of the person responsible.

The person responsible starts the meeting with the question „How do you think that we can get more gypsies to come here? “. His question is followed by the answers: „But what do we need them for? That’s the last straw and we have nothing against gypsies, but they have no business here“. This leads to a fierce discussion that the person is not able to get under control.

Finally, people leave – the Roma boy also leaves, but forever.

The person responsible tries to forget about what happened and spends the night writing essays about the policy of the organization towards „different“ young people. He describes a policy which he wishes they had a long time ago...

Research and needs analysis of organizations Perhaps, there is no need to mention this, but it could help stress the importance of this aspect of organizational policy strategy. Like any other strategic policy paper, (declaration, ground rules, ethical code of conduct), the creation of the anti-racist organizational policy also needs to be based on serious analysis.

When talking about a strategic document on anti-racism and social inclusion, we should take into account that not only the analysis is important, but also the methodology used in the analysis because of the extreme sensitivity of the subject matter. It is often connected to selfperception.

The analysis in this case should be connected to two aspects: 1) attitudes and needs inside the organization/the institution/the group 2) attitudes and needs of the groups, which we would like to include It is risky to make both analyses simultaneously at a common meeting. For each of the two aspects the best way should be provided – depending on our experience, contacts, observations.

Otherwise, the ways of collecting information could be:

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Inquiry (it would probably be better if it is anonymous, but it nevertheless depends on other factors);

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Monitoring of relationships and processes between the members/volunteers of the organization;

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Meeting, focus group (well planned and facilitated by expert);

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Individual interviews (in this way the so-called „peer pressure” is avoided – psychological pressure by the surrounding people, a kind of conformism; the interview is suitable for people who do not like to express themselves in writing, or they need additional encouragement to share their views).

The list is not exhaustive – it depends on the needs and the ways of work in every organization/institution.

The results of the analysis will show us whether and to what extent we should work with the people who are already in the organization, if we want to include others; or we have to direct our efforts mainly to attract others.

Handbook for YOUR youth organization

Measures for meeting the needs of the organization The second step of our methodology for formulation of an organizational policy against racism is directly connected to the first. After we have already done a research of the attitudes and needs toward the „other“ in our organizations and we have analyzed the results, we can see where an intervention is needed.

The final result of our work should be a document with principles and engagements which should be shared by the entire organization and everyone connected to it. If the results of the research show a highly negative attitude to people with disabilities, for example, it would be hypocritical and false to adopt a document, which states that everyone is welcome and they would receive equal treatment. Our policy would be pointless in this case.

This is the reason why it could be necessary to initiate appropriate measures and activities, which would at least start a process of sharpening the sensitivity in the organization on certain issues and changes of attitudes. The process usually takes much more time than we would like and it does not always go smoothly, but this is normal.

Ideas of activities and measures, which we can apply in our organization before or with the adoption of our anti-racist policy: • Dissemination of information about the organization/institution among certain excluded groups – brochures and information materials, open doors days, individual conversations, seminars and training. Besides the information about the organization itself, it would also be good to pay attention to the fact that we are open for work with these groups; • Partnerships with organizations with expertise in different fields related to exclusion, networking, exchange of experience, practices and trainings. Including acquaintance with and dissemination of good practices from abroad; • Internal trainings of the team, internal discussions, debates and individual conversations. Including sharing of knowledge when a team member has attended training; • Personal contact – to be encouraged, if appropriate – as a proven way to eradicate negative attitudes and stereotypes.

These ideas could be easily introduced in the policy itself.

Drawing up of shared principles of the organization and drafting of the document itself There is hardly someone who does not know what principles mean. In this case, those are the main ideas which our organization follows in connection with the acceptance of the „other“. They are also the basis that we will later build our document on – the assumption is that it would contain rules/recommendations, the observation of which will lead to practical implementation of the principles. If you wish, you could formulate the principles in the form of aims.

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The CHARM Factor: Principles in the „Manual of the good practices“, developed by the organizations in Spain, involved in the project „Youth against racism“: • Equality • Civil participation • Interculturality Principles in „Good practices of shared responsibility with protection of the human rights“ developed by the Italian organizations, involved in the project „Youth against racism“: • Participation • Equality and equal opportunities • Transparency • Common spaces Principles in Declaration of anti-racist measures of 12 Youth organizations from Greece, developed in the framework of the project „Youth against racism“: • All members have equal rights and equal responsibilities; • Among the members there must be respect, understanding and support; • The members should popularize equality, social inclusion, democracy, active citizenship, volunteering and combating racism.

The anti-racist organizational policy is in fact a short document with principles and ground rules. Something similar to internal rules of an employer, but in this case – specifically aimed at promoting respect for human rights in an organization and encouragement of diversity. Consider that most of the work is already done – analysis has been done, specific activities have been discussed, principles are drawn. The only remaining task is to arrange this in a text. What exactly would it be depends on the members of the organization, its activities and mechanisms of work, as well as of the concrete social context. We hope that with the texts so far we have given you enough ideas and inspiration.

Our experience – challenges, lessons and perspectives

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The main question the Youth Against Racism partners faced was how to reach those youth organizations which in general do not work in the field of combating racism and social exclusion and how to convince them that their participation in the project is important. The involvement of the planned 120 youth organizations in the six countries has turned out to be a challenge, which we hardly managed to overcome.

Almost all partners used traditional and non-traditional methods to involve youth organizations (including personal contacts, text messages on the cell phones in Greece, newspaper and web banner advertisements in Denmark). Regardless of the detailed explanations, many of the organizations to join judged that the subject matter of the training is just not in their field of work. The situation in Denmark turned out to be particularly specific. Most of the partner organizations have already developed policies similar to those envisaged in the framework of the project. Others were worried that their inclusion in anti-racist training would mean admitting that they had racist practices in their organization. All this leads us to the conclusion that more efforts need to be made to the increase sensitivity among layers in the civil sector about the importance of joining our efforts in the fight against social exclusion.

The experience of our partners in Spain turned out to be extremely interesting. A big part of their work involved the protection of human rights, but in different highly profiled fields. Their participation in the project gave them the chance to open up to other aspects of human rights. This is very interesting and useful mutual interaction among the different fields.

Handbook for YOUR youth organization The international partnership relied on the training as a main instrument for change of attitudes and increasing of the sensitivity among the involved organizations. That is why the 12 national training seminars were extremely important component of the project. The participants themselves see the role of the training seminars as vital. This was brought forward during the international conference for exchange of experience, and it also reflected on the policies papers that have been developed. This is the reason why one of the prospects for future development of our idea is undoubtedly the provision of more opportunities for training in anti-racist subject matter.

Another aspect, which somehow naturally has shown its extreme importance in all countries, was the networking among organizations differing by their profile and field of activities. In principle every organization has its own network of contacts and partners and those are most often organizations working in the same or at least close field. Because various organizations were included in the project, it allowed them to establish contacts out of their usual networks. The feedback of the participants assessed this as extremely useful. Part of the ideas for cooperation in the newly created networks include exchange of experience, expertise and training, as well as joint work on multi-sector projects. This is a very important added value of the project to us. Furthermore – the combination of organizations with different fields of activity in one working network for fighting against racism in the youth sphere can turn out to be a powerful tool for follow-up development of the project idea.

The project „Youth against racism“ proved once again the important role the new media and technologies do play. The facilitation of the process of creating organizational anti-racist policies after the national trainings was almost exclusively done through new media and has allowed active cooperation and exchange of ideas among the participating organizations. In Bulgaria this process was facilitated through an online laboratory by e-mail, in Denmark – through a Facebook group, in Greece – through a mailing list, in Spain – through a blog, and in Hungary – through a feedback/survey platform.

As for the development of the anti-racist organizational policies, the project has shown some interesting peculiarities. First, in most of the countries (Italy, Spain, Greece and partly Hungary) the organizations preferred to support a common document, jointly developed by them. This is extremely interesting because it allows both for the introduction of a wide ranging expertise and exchange of ideas. It also allows for „competition“ between the organizations and it encourages feedback on the performance. The implementation of the common document is then „translated“ in each organization according to the specificities of the field of activity, the mechanisms of work and the individual context. Second, while developing the policies, we have noticed an involuntary need in the organizations to regulate a broader circle of relationships and practices in their work (especially in Italy, Bulgaria, and Hungary). Many of the organizations used the opportunity with the development of their anti-racist policy to also regulate relationships in the organization, which are not necessarily connected to the fight against racism and social exclusion.

Although outside the field of this project, it provides us with an interesting view on the prospects for organizational development in the youth sphere.

In Denmark, the project partner is working with representatives of youth organizations and universities to develop a strategic policy paper entitled “Racism! Not in My Backyard”. This paper will be disseminated among all members of the national Danish Youth Council plus other youth organizations and relevant educational institutions and schools. As mentioned above, work of the Youth against Racism activities have appeared in a major (conservative) national newspaper, TV and radio and popular websites.

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The CHARM Factor: One of the most pleasant surprises was the initiation of concrete policies that have been developed in the framework of the project. Among these initiatives are: „Living Libraries “ – Greece, invites a trainer who would carry out training in human rights with the team; at „GIDA“ – Hungary, structural changes in the organization were undertaken. Campaign actions using go-cards, posters, stickers, T-shirts and leaflets were used in Denmark to promote the project and raise awareness about the problem of social exclusion. Journalists and representatives of the only Muslim Gay Right organization were invited to share his experiences and strategies with the participants in the last workshop. Moreover a teacher’s guide is being developed by one of the working groups of the project targeting young teachers and students at teachers training colleges in Denmark. Finally, using the role model programme to facilitate discussion about sexual orientations among students from different religious and ethnic background was seen to be extremely useful and innovative.

One of our favorite examples is radio Jaleo from Spain, which produces an one-hour radio broadcast dedicated to diversity – the subject is presented through a story about fruits and representatives of different socially excluded groups are involved in its creation.

And finally – one of our most important conclusions is that the development and the adoption of a concrete organizational document is not enough as a guarantee that our organization is open to the different, and it supports the fight against racism and social inclusion. But it is a good start and an obligatory basis.

In order to work it needs people with the necessary attitude and with desire for change. We believe that there are such people in every youth organization. The important thing is to remember that we must have a position towards the CHARM factor. Europe needs it.

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This was a small part of everything that we’ve learnt and explored within the project “Youth against Racism”. We know we have a lot more to learn and that is why we once again invite you to give us your feedback. In the meantime, you could support our idea with a very simple action – put up the poster attached to this publication in your office or space where your organization/group meets up. Then take a picture and send it to cega@cega.bg. We will then be able to include it in our CHARMing gallery. And try to spread CHARM around the youth sphere in Europe one more time.

The partners in the project

Contacts: Address: 96 Rakovski Str., floor 2, 1000 Sofia, Bulgaria E-mail: cega@cega.bg Tel.: +359 2988 36 39 Fax: +359 2988 96 96 Website: www.cega.bg

“C.E.G.A. – Creating Effective Grassroots Alternatives” Foundation works for sustainable democratic development of communities in an unequal situation, grounded on civil participation in the solving of problems of local significance.

C.E.G.A. works in two main directions: 1) Capacity building of groups on an unequal situation, and 2) International cooperation for development.

Handbook for YOUR youth organization

Contacts: Address: Krogerupvej 9, Humlebaek, DK 3050, Denmark E-mail: cb@crossingborder.org Tel.: +45-49213371 Website: www.crossingborder.org

Contacts: Address: Via S. Egidio 12(on the 2nd floor), 50122, Firenze – ITALIA E-mail: info@aefonline.eu Tel.: +39 055 244200 Fax: +39 055 2345698 Website: www.aefonline.eu

Contacts: Address: Corvin tér 8, 1011 Budapest, Hungary E-mail: kofe@kkapcsolat.hu Tel.: +36 1 201 5728 Fax: +36 1 225 6013 Website: www.kka.hu

Crossing Borders is a non-governmental organization established in Denmark. Its main goal is to provide space for dialogue and development of skills through trainings for young people and trainers, with a special focus on the fields of conflicts, for their full participation in the process of development of their communities.

Accademia Europea in Florence is a cultural organization, established in 1992, which popularizes the European dimensions, and it is an accredited educational agency in the field of qualification courses and trainings. The main activities of the organizations are: language courses for Italians and foreigners, informal trainings for young people in the field of intercultural learning and human rights, and many others.

The Hungarian Association for Community Development (HACD) is a non-governmental organization, which works in a network with about 250 members representing various social and professional capacities (culture, teachers, social workers, mayors, representatives of the municipal authorities, etc.). The organization works for increasing of the civil society aimed to encourage people to act at a local level in any field concerning their life.

Contacts: Address: C/Peracamps 2 08001 Barcelona, Spain E-mail: ura.central@hotmail.com Tel.: +34 95 4285532 Fax: +34 95 4278282 Website: www.unionromani.org

UNION ROMANI is a non-governmental organization, which supports and protects the Roma community in Spain and works jointly with the International Roma Union. The activities which they carry out are directed to acknowledgement of the Roma culture, as a part of the global culture. The Spanish Roma Union is established by a federation of Roma associations from all over the country.

Contacts: Address: Alamanas 9, Agios Pavlos, 55 438 Thessaloniki, Greece E-mail: unitesocietiesofbalkan@yahoo.gr Tel.: +30 6936 743200 Fax: +30 2310 215629 Website: www.usbngo.gr

United Societies of Balkans is a non-governmental organization, established in 2008 in Thessaloniki by a group of active young people experienced in volunteering programs. The vision of the organization is to mobilize the youth to be active in volunteering, to sharpen the sensitivity of the young people towards social problems and to provide them with access to knowledge.

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With financial support from the EU’s Fundamental rights and Citizenship Programme.

Co-funded by the European Youth Foundation of the Council of Europe.

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Publisher: C.E.G.A. – Creating Effective Grassroots Alternatives Foundation Bulgaria, Sofia 1000 96, G. S. Rakovski Street, Floor 2 Telephone.: 02/ 987 70 82, 981 09 13, 981 79 90 Fax: 02/ 988 96 96 E-mail: cega@cega.bg www.cega.bg

Compiled by: Vladislav Petkov

Printed by: S 360 © 2011 C.E.G.A. Foundation. All rights reserved. No part of this publication could be copied without the permission of the publisher or scanned and/or published on the Internet without the authorization of the publisher.