Project's Rationale and Objectives

Racism and intolerance – Intolerance all over...
‘Racism and intolerance bring with them a sense of isolation, rejection and exclusion. Taking positive action against racism and intolerance can be difficult, dangerous and frightening, but most of all it is liberating and joyful. The more widely the action is shared, the greater sense of liberation and joy’. (All different, all equal – A sum of experiences) In 2007, the Eurobarometer – Discrimination in Europe was revealing striking information for most of the European population. Thus, the Europeans are basically discriminating on six basic grounds: age, racial and ethnic origins, religion and beliefs, psychical disability, learning difficulties and sexual orientation. More than this, what this report also relief is that the Europeans hardly know how to claim their rights, as less than 50% would complain verbally of being discriminated, 37% would write their complain and less than 20% would address the courts, with these issues (Discrimination in Europe).
In today's world, contemporary forms of racism and racial discrimination are complex and disturbing. In Europe, these issues increasingly lie at the heart of political and social concerns. Without making an exhaustive inventory of the situation and listing all the problems observed, we can outline a few broad categories in which racism and racial discrimination occur: day to day life in major areas, such as employment, education, housing and access to social services; human rights violations against members of Roma communities; hostile attitudes to and stigmatization of migrants, refugees and asylum-seekers; increasingly widespread anti-Semitic incidents: intensification of expressions of Islamophobia; use of racist, anti-Semitic and xenophobic arguments in political discourse; and a negative climate in public opinion, which plays a crucial part in the emergence of expressions of racism and intolerance in society. These trends, of course, vary in scale from one country to another, but are significant enough to be of concern. (United Nations Reports 2008, 2009, 2010)
To cope with this situation, European countries have devised responses at both national and European levels. The salient feature of the Council of Europe Member States' action over the past few years is the fact that they address the issues surrounding the fight against racism and racial discrimination from the perspective of protecting and promoting human rights. In other words, the right to be protected from racism and racial discrimination is first and foremost a fundamental right of all human beings. In the immediate future, European Governments are faced with several challenges, two of which are very significant: enforcing action against racism and racial discrimination in an environment increasingly affected by the fight against terrorism; and addressing the issue of integration, which is widely debated in most European countries, principle of non-discrimination and policies on the pursuit of equality are the necessary basis for achieving integration.
In the final analysis, encouraging signs at the national and European levels demonstrate that Governments and civil society are genuinely involved in fighting racism and racial discrimination in Europe. But the fight is far from won and advances are needed now more than ever to guide our countries and give practical effect and full meaning to the universal principle: "All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights". (Reports Council of Europe, 2010)
Within this context, Dice 2 prejudice has the following objectives:
- Promoting youngsters’ active participation within the combat against discrimination and intolerance
- Promoting human rights through all the projects’ phases
- Promoting the youngsters’ creativity and innovation potential through offering them the space and resources to develop, implement and evaluate activities
- Developing a frame that would give youngsters the opportunity to develop their skills, attitudes and competencies
- Promoting 2010’s outcomes in terms of Social Inclusion and Combating Poverty
- Promoting volunteering and 2011’s priorities in terms of social innovation
- Promoting interculturality and mutual support as basis for a tolerant Europe
- Raising awareness on the gravity of prejudices and stereotyping
- Cooperating with the media and producing the newsletter valorizing positively the cultural differences in the media
- Targeting the local communities – hosting and sending – through the Dice 2 prejudice events and the videos promoted afterwards
- Producing a set of activities on tolerance and human rights to be replicated by the other associations as well
- Reinforcing cooperation and networking between the European youth association
- Creating a network of active youngsters promoting human rights and tolerance
- Creating an event that has as aim the promotion of the cultural differences from a positive perspective.
- Promoting Youth in Action and its opportunities – also through promoting the outcomes of the other implemented projects in Craiova.