Annual Human Rights Campaign

SAMIRA SAFAROVA

Vice President in charge of Academic Activities

Every year, ELSA organises a Europe-wide Human Rights Campaign to demonstrate our commitment to human rights and their protection. Considering the importance of the Annual Human Rights Campaign for our Association to stay aligned with its objectives and Vision and the level of engagement, one of my priorities this term was to support the Network in organising events on the topic of Privacy in the Digital Age. We started to prepare the Campaign by sharing the official Outline with the Network at the beginning of our term in August where we distributed information about the topic for the term, the event ideas, and the timeline that should be followed on all levels in order to bring impactful changes to the whole society. From the launch of the Outline, our approach to the Annual Human Rights Campaign was orientated in two directions: i) expansion and structure; ii) academic quality.

As the National Coordinators of the Annual Human Rights Campaign in the previous year, we were aware of the struggles that National and Local Groups faced during the implementation stage. One of the crucial difficulties was the confusion developed through years between the Annual Human Rights Campaign and the International Focus Programme, which led us to aim our work at finding the most effective solution to stress the difference between these projects. The initial step taken was to separate the branding for these two events, which also helped to communicate the unique nature of each to external stakeholders and our members via a social media campaign on the same topic. Following this success, we changed our focus to expand the reach of the Campaign with the support of National Groups and their National Coordinators; alongside Francisco and Valentin, we created a new strategy for the Annual Human Rights Campaign which included the unified structure and the division of tasks on all levels, and upon the presentation of this strategy, we organised several open calls with the National Coordinators. Stressing the impact that the Campaign had on the topic of Privacy in the Digital Age, it is my utmost pleasure to mention that the ELSA Groups contributed with 110 events in various formats during the year. I would like to use this opportunity to express my sincere gratitude to the Council of Europe for their support given to the 40 most impactful events in the Network by providing the projects with the visibility materials. This tradition has been in cultivation from the very beginning with the establishment of ELSA Day, and we are delighted to see annual growth in the Network.

There is another tradition established with the help of the Council of Europe which inspires ELSA Groups to build the greatest events with the aim of contributing to the continuous discussion on different human rights-related issues every year: the Annual Human Rights Competition. Although we fully support and appreciate every single event organised under the uniting vision of the Campaign, “All different, all together,” there is only one winner in all competitions, and for the 10th edition, ELSA Greece claimed the trophy as the Winner of the Annual Human Rights Campaign Competition. As their coach, I was very proud to see that their hard work received the recognition they deserve, and I genuinely hope that their devotion will serve as a guiding light to inspire future generations.

Finally, our focus on the academic quality of the Campaign was completed by incorporating into it the input from the society by promoting and analysing surveys examining diverse age groups’ opinions.

Contribution from Myrsini Karagianni, the Vice President in charge of Academic Activities of ELSA Greece and the National Coordinator of ELSA Greece for the Annual Human Rights Campaign for the term of 2021/2022

As ELSA Greece, we had the great pleasure and honour of being awarded the second time the Winner of the Annual Human Rights Campaign by ELSA International and the Council of Europe. ELSA Day and the whole Campaign for defending human rights are now inextricably linked to the National and Local ELSA Groups in Greece. Our members and partners embrace the events within the Campaign with even more dedication and enthusiasm, which are now organised throughout the academic year. How we operate in relation to the Campaign and these events, has proved to be exceptionally functional for the national and local associations. All key areas are engaged with events within the Annual Human Rights Campaign framework, making it even more

exciting and enjoyable to organise. The themes and the format of each action are discussed when the new Boards of Directors take office, initially between the national and each local association. Then group calls are made so we can all agree on the timing, individual themes and organisation. This year, for the first time, we decided to use the teleconferencing tool on ELSA Day to organise a joint online event between the 3 Local Groups and the national association, promoting cooperation, collegiality and solidarity between the associations of Greece. This event consisted of two “sub-activities “, a Lawyers at Work webinar on the Hellenic Data Protection Authority and a Webinar on Privacy in the Digital Age, which were jointly organised by the 4 Boards and had a significant impact on all members and non-members of the Local Groups. At the same time, before and after ELSA Day, several activities were organised by ELSA Athens, ELSA Thessaloniki and ELSA Komotini, including Legal Debate, ELSA4Schools, Roundtable Discussion, Workshops, informative videos and others.

Each Local Group has managed to create the actions for the Annual Human Rights Campaign as a “custom” throughout history, which is very important for all of us. In my view, as the Coordinator for the Annual Human Rights Campaign of ELSA Greece, the most crucial element for a successful Campaign planning is to communicate with the Local Groups as early as possible, deviate from unoriginal events and topics, and cultivate proper communication among the people involved. And, of course, zest and plenty of imagination!

I would like to take this opportunity to thank ELSA International and the Council of Europe for their constant support during the implementation of the Campaign and, especially, for rewarding our efforts. I hope ELSA Greece will inspire the rest of the Network to join this impactful Campaign in future editions.