Youth Voices Against Racism Serres Greece: Νοεμβρίου 2008

Κυριακή 9 Νοεμβρίου 2008

UN initiative features young people’s ideas on tackling racism through sports

[Young Europeans present strategies to combat racism in sports to European Parliament]

Young Europeans present strategies to combat racism in sports to European Parliament

7 November 2008

–Using sportswear to transmit anti-racist messages and imposing penalties for teams whose players are involved in racist incidents are just some of the ideas proposed by young people as part of a United Nations project to counter prejudice in and through sports.

A total of 10 ideas were presented to the European Parliament in Brussels yesterday by representatives of “Youth Voices against Racism,” an initiative of the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), FC Barcelona and the European Coalition of Cities against Racism (ECCAR), in partnership with the European Parliament.

The list was the result of meetings held with young people between the ages of 15 and 18 in schools, sports clubs and youth councils in various European cities, as well as via local media and online forums, to elicit their ideas for ways to promote tolerance, mutual respect and solidarity through sport.

“It really is young people that carry the torch of this message and we wanted to invite them to become deciding agents in this question so that they can speak out to all levels of society,” said UNESCO Deputy Director-General Marcio Barbosa.

Some of the other ideas include printing anti-racist slogans on containers of drinks sold in stadiums, including anti-racism and anti-discrimination clauses in professional sporting contracts; and using commercial items related to sport, such as sportswear, flags and rubber wristbands, to transmit anti-racist messages.

The young people also suggested establishing penalties for any teams whose players are responsible for racist incidents either before or after a match, as well as rewards for teams, clubs or cities with fans or players who demonstrate anti-racist attitudes.

“Youth Voices against Racism” is part of a wider partnership launched in November 2007 between FC Barcelona and UNESCO to promote the values of sport through education and awareness-raising.

News Tracker: past stories on this issue

UN-backed conference in Bologna tackles racism in European cities

http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=28856&Cr=unesco&Cr1=sport

Από την πόλη μας θα συμμετέχουν 2 νέοι.
Η επιλογή εγινε μετά από πρόσκληση στα σχολεία της πολής να στείλουν τους αριστούχους μαθητές τους.

Η επιλογή εγινε παρουσία των μαθητών με κλήρωση.

Συντονίστρια της προώθησης του προγράμματος για τον Όμιλο και το δίκτυο των Ομίλων UNESCO θα έχει το μέλος μας κ Εμμανουηλίδου Μαρία Msc, Leadership & Coaching

Young Europeans present strategies to combat racism in sports to European Parliament

7 November 2008

Πραγματοποιήθηκε στις Βρυξέλλες η προγραμματισμένη στο Ευρωκοινοβούλιο η πρόταση των νέων όπως διαμορφώθηκε στην Μπολόνια

Representatives of the project “Youth Voices against Racism”, an initiative of UNESCO, FC Barcelona and the European Coalition of Cities against Racism (ECCAR), in partnership with the European Parliament, visited the Parliament in Brussels on 6 November and presented a document containing 10 recommendations to counteract racism in and through sports.

These recommendations emerged from a consultation organized with young people between the ages of 15 and 18, implemented by ECCAR, whose network comprises 82 cities in 17 countries. Between June and August 2008, coalition cities set up meetings with young people in schools, sports clubs and youth councils, as well as via local media and on line forums, to elicit their ideas for ways to promote tolerance, mutual respect and solidarity through sport. “It really is young people that carry the torch of this message and we wanted to invite them to become deciding agents in this question so that they can speak out to all levels of society,” explains Marcio Barbosa, Deputy Director-General of UNESCO.

The ten ideas presented to the European Parliament by the “Youth Voices against Racism” delegation are as follows:

1. Include antiracism and antidiscrimination clauses in professional sporting contracts.

2. Establish rewards for teams, clubs or cities with fans or players who demonstrate antiracist attitudes.

3. Broadcast antiracist ads and messages in stadiums during both amateur and professional sporting events. Use the advertising spaces in these areas for this purpose and promote songs and slogans that can be adopted by fans.

4. Create antiracist slogans to print on containers of drinks sold in stadiums.

5. Use commercial items related to sport, such as sportswear, flags and rubber wristbands, to transmit antiracist messages.

6. Organize events before, during and after matches that encourage fans from opposing teams to celebrate together in public places.

7. Establish penalties for any teams whose players are responsible for racist incidents either before or after a match.

8. Develop awareness-raising campaigns such as:

a) Messages in the media –TV, radio, the press and internet- especially just before sporting events.

b) Awareness-raising in schools, especially in physical education.

c) Activities that involve famous sportspeople from different sporting disciplines.

9. Organize public multicultural sporting events both in open spaces- parks, squares, in the street- and in indoor sports facilities in which different ethnic groups can participate in order to achieve mutual respect and to dismantle racist stereotypes.

10. Encourage people of different ethnic groups, religions or other minorities to do whatever sport they are interested in. This would include improving access to public sports facilities and granting scholarships and special days of practice.

Attending the presentation of the recommendations were Jan Figel, European Commissioner for Education, Training, Culture and Youth; Marcio Barbosa, UNESCO Deputy Director-General; Joan Laporta, President of FC Barcelona (Barcelona Football Club); Emine Bozkurt, Dutch European Parliament member; French former soccer star Lilian Thuram; and Hans Hesselmann, President of ECCAR.

http://portal.unesco.org/en/ev.php-URL_ID=43925&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html