2020 was to be the year of celebrations, the 55th anniversary of the International Convention on All Forms of Racial Discrimination, the 30th anniversary of the canton of Neuchâtel's integration policy and the 25th anniversary of the Neuchâtel Action Week against Racism. More than 80 events were to be proposed by nearly 80 partners, setting in motion all the actors of civil society. The pandemic decided otherwise and, as a government department, the Multicultural cohesion service had to think differently about awareness-raising activities and planning, taking into account health constraints.

Thus, to maintain the reflection and debate around the values that underpin the integration policy of the canton of Neuchâtel, the Multicultural Cohesion Service (COSM) has been proposing various actions for a year.

Its newsletter is open to contributions from civil society actors, creating a unique forum for exchange for a government department.

Awareness-raising actions are proposed in schools around the exhibition of the Musée de l'Homme in Paris "Nous et les autres. From prejudice to racism". This exhibition has been supplemented by the legal situation and the state of play of racism in Switzerland, by two professors from the University of Neuchâtel, Pascal Mahon and Denise Efionayi-Maeder.

The exhibition is available to schools free of charge and travels throughout the canton. Guided tours are offered, and teaching aids and bibliographies are made available. Alongside the exhibition, conferences are offered to invite questions, allow and/or reinforce the beginnings of a thought process and the construction of an opinion.

As the conditions are always uncertain, the ACSS 2021 is once again proposed in a small format and mainly aimed at young people. In order to reach out to the younger generation and to be more in tune with social networks, the poster design was entrusted to a young high school student from Neuchâtel, Blab. The choice of the message "Neuchâtel united against racism" is a reminder, in a period of great social fragility, of the importance of the unity of the Canton of Neuchâtel in its mobilisation against racism and discrimination.