CIRCOM Regional has donated a 6.000 € grant to support the Youth programme of the Council of Europe. The decision was made after CIRCOM Regional has won the Compostella prize last May. The Compostela Group of Universities then awarded CIRCOM Regional for its support to European cultural diversity.

This allocation will be used in part for the “No Hate Speech Movement” campaign, a continent-wide series of actions for human rights online aimed at reducing the levels of acceptance of hate speech on the Internet. Another goal of the campaign is to develop online youth participation and citizenship, including in Internet governance processes.

Youth Peace Camp

As part of the actions supported by CIRCOM Regional, the European Youth Center in Strasbourg has lately welcomed another edition of the Youth Peace Camp that brought together young people from conflict-affected regions in and around Europe. The Youth Peace Camp is an ongoing project that started in 2003 and welcomes 18–25 years old to meet and share their experiences, as well as to follow an experiential learning process and acquire competences in the fields of intercultural learning, dialogue and conflict transformation within a human rights framework.

During the last Youth Peace Camp, the emphasis was made on the migration crisis, bringing the Deputy Secretary General of Council of Europe to declare before the participants that “Here in Strasbourg we are clear that we cannot, as a continent, be indifferent to the plight of hundreds of thousands of people fleeing war and persecution. We have a responsibility to them, as human beings. And we have been encouraged and inspired by the millions of European citizens who have given their time and support to these efforts. Their generosity of spirit should be a lesson to all governments.”

One of the seminars held during Youth Peace Camp in Strasbourg was Social inclusion of refugee students and their role in intercultural dialogue, organised by the Youth Department of the Council of Europe within its Youth for Democracy programme in order to discuss challenges, identify needs and possibilities for the inclusion of refugee students in Europe and support their role as agents in intercultural dialogue. Programme of the seminar and Conclusions by the participants can be found here.

More information about the Youth Programme of the Council of Europe can be found on their website.