The NSC of the CoE promotes dialogue and cooperation between Europe, the Southern Mediterranean and Africa and aims to build a global citizenship based on human rights and citizens' responsibilities
NORTH-SOUTH PRIZE
Submit your nominations for the 2016 award
We invite you to propose nominees for the North-South Prize 2016 in the following areas: defence and promotion of human rights and pluralist democracy, development of intercultural dialogue and reinforcement of the North-South partnership and solidarity.
Awarded every year since 1995, the North-South Prize distinguishes two candidates, preferably one from the North and the other from the South, who have stood out for their exceptional commitment to promoting “North-South” solidarity and global interdependence. More
Laura Pappa and Joaquim Chissano are the laureates in 2015
The North-South Prize Jury decided to award the 2015 Prize to Lora Pappa (North) in recognition of her active role in the management of the refugees flows reaching Greece and to Joaquim Chissano (South) for his long life commitment to peace building and democratic consolidation in Africa.
Through METAdrasi, Action for Migration and Development, the ONG she founded in 2010, Lora Pappa is actively engaged in several actions to address the needs of vulnerable groups, such as migrants and refugees and particularly unaccompanied children.
Chairperson of the Joaquim Chissano Foundation, an organisation that promotes peace, social and economic development and culture in Mozambique, Joaquim Chissano has campaigned for peace in the African continent through his work as an envoy and peace negotiator for the United Nations. More…
LISBON FORUM 2015
Promoting trust in democratic institutions and building inclusive societies can be an antidote against fear
Expert panellists from parliaments, governments, local authorities and civil society from across the world met in Lisbon last December for the annual Lisbon Forum dedicated to the theme of radicalisation and terrorism prevention.
In the course of exchanges, taking place in the Ismaili Centre in Lisbon, participants agreed that preventing and combatting radicalisation and recruitment to terrorism requires a balanced approach. The Lisbon Forum conclusions enhance the roles of education in developing and maintaining intercultural values in democracy, local and regional authorities in the promotion of exit programs, and the importance of empowering young people and women for the promotion of peace and conflict management. More…
Calling all participants in the Lisbon Forum 2015 to fill our evaluation form. The Forum is your platform, please help us improve it by giving your feedback.
YOUTH CO-OPERATION ACTIVITIES
Network of Universities on Youth and Global Citizenship: New cycle of the Network of Universities on Youth and Global Citizenship under the topic “Connecting identities
The Network of Universities on Youth and Global Citizenship is a platform facilitated by the North South Centre of the Council of Europe that gathers youth partners from all over the world in an effort to develop a coordinated system of capacity-building activities that contribute to strengthen interregional and global youth co-operation. Every year the partners of the Network agree on a common thread to link their activities and the different universities. In 2016 partners agreed that the theme would be: “Connecting identities”
For 16 years now, inspired by the principles of Ubuntu, the different universities have offered a space where young people and youth workers from all over the world come together as part of a global youth movement that works against exclusion and discrimination and for inclusion and diversity. This year’s theme would allow us to reflect on how youth organisations and youth work can accompany young people in such sensitive and meaningful processes of identity construction that ultimately define them as citizens and global citizens. More
4th Mediterranean University on Youth and Global Citizenship: Opportunities for enlarged partnership
The 4th edition of the MedUni will take place between 1-8 May, 2016 at the Centre de vacances et de loisirs pour enfants in Hammamet (Tunisia) and it will gather around 150 youth activists and workers from Europe and the Southern Mediterranean in at least six different activities. This 4th edition of the MedUni will be organised under the joint theme of the Network of Universities on Youth and Global Citizenship: “Connecting identities”. If you are an youth-led or youth-serving organisation who might be interested in bringing a small activity to be organised in the framework of this University, please contact us by 24th March to learn more about the possibilities for this or other editions.
The Mediterranean University on Youth and Global Citizenship (MedUni) is one of the flagship events of the Euro-Arab and Mediterranean Youth co-operation activities of the North-South Centre (NSC) of the Council of Europe. It is also the youngest university of the Network of Universities on Youth and Global Citizenship facilitated by the NSC in partnership with other relevant stakeholders from Europe and the Southern Mediterranean. More
17th University on Youth and Development: Call for partners
Once more, we invite youth-led organisations and youth serving organisations to join us in the 17th University on Youth and Development (UYD) that will be held at the Centre for Euro-Latin American Youth (CEULAJ) in Mollina, Spain from 18th to 25th September 2016. Should you be interested in proposing an activity for this edition, please do not hesitate to return the Application Form to the North-South Centre by email.
The UYD is an activity organised by the North-South Centre of the Council of Europe (NSC) in partnership with the Spanish Government (INJUVE), the European Youth Forum (YFJ), the Spanish Youth Council (CJE), the Latin American and Caribbean Youth Forum (FLACJ) and other international youth organisations and youth serving organisations.
Training Course on Structured Participation in Democratic Processes: Call for participants
The 3rd Training course on Structured Participation in Democratic Processes will offer 20 young activists of the Southern and Eastern Mediterranean the opportunity to become acquainted with principles, tools and opportunities to further develop and encourage the participation of young people in decision and policy making. The North-South Centre launched an open call for participants directed to youth workers/activists involved in civil society organisations in Europe and Southern and Eastern Mediterranean.
The activity will be organised in the framework of the 4rd Mediterranean University on Youth and Global Citizenship, from 1 until 8 May 2016 in Hammamet-Tunisia. The deadline is March 28th 2016.
GLOBAL EDUCATION
3rd Global Education Congress: Perspectives ahead
The 3rd Global Education Congress held in Zagreb in November 2015 was the epilogue of a process initiated back in 2002, with the first GE Congress which established a European framework strategy for improving and increasing Global Education in Europe to the year 2015. This framework, agreed by practitioners and decision-makers in Maastricht, guided the NSC work implemented through its GE programme in the areas of awareness-raising and advocacy; capacity-building and pedagogical support; and in the area of policy development. 3rd European Congress on Global Education Strategic recommendations
10 years after, when practitioners and decision-makers gathered for the 2nd GE Congress in Lisbon to tackle achievements made so far, progress was evident in networking strategies, capacity-building and in policy development, in particular through the adoption of the GE Recommendation by the Council of Europe Committee of Ministers, in 2011. The Lisbon Congress also confirmed NSC growing cooperation with other European and international organisations working in the field, keeping this orientation for the following years. For the 3rd GE Congress, the focus was put on the post-2015 Agenda, bringing the reflexion on GE position in relation to recent advancements, in particular in relation to UNESCO Global Citizenship Education programme launched in 2013 and UN SDGs and Education 2030 framework. More
Global Education Guidelines: latest edition in Macedonian - Now available in 13 languages
The Global Education Guidelines have just been translated into Macedonian. This important pedagogical tool is now available in 13 languages, providing practitioners – from both the formal and non-formal education sectors – with general elements and competences, which they can develop and adapt to their local context.
The Guidelines are now available in French, English, Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, Greek, Arabic, Bulgarian, Polish, Slovenian, Montenegrin, German and Macedonian. More
EMPOWERMENT OF WOMEN
Gender Working Group of EuroMed Rights Meeting: Training on Istanbul Convention for Mediterranean civil society
The North-South Centre will organise a one–day training on the use of the Istanbul Convention by Women’s organisations in Europe and Southern Mediterranean regions, for the Gender Working Group of EuroMed Rights (GWG) members and nine representatives of Moroccan civil society. The training will take place in Rabat, April 1st 2016 in the context of the GWG meeting of EuroMed Rights organised in collaboration with ADFM (Democratic Association of Moroccan Women).
This training, organised with the support of the Gender Equality Unit of the CoE, will allow participants to coordinate their actions on combatting violence against women, in particular, on the specific topics of rape and domestic violence. Experts and trainers of the NSC will equip the participants with tools as set out in the Istanbul Convention and within the themes of prevention of violence against women, protection of victims and data collection and research. More
4th University on Mediterranean on Youth and Global Citizenship- 1-8 May 2016, Hammamet, Tunisia
Training Course on Challenging Stereotypes and Identities to promote Gender Equality
Contributing to the achievement of the first specific objective of the CoE’s Gender Equality Strategy, Combating Gender Stereotypes and Sexism, the Empowerment of Women programme will organise a training course on stereotypes, identities and gender roles to strengthen capacities of youth and combat gender bias for the empowerment of women, from 1 to 8 May in Hammamet.
Organised in the framework of the 4th University on Mediterranean on Youth and Global Citizenship, this one-week long training course will be offered to 20 young women and men from Europe and Southern Mediterranean regions, women and/or youth activists involved in the field of education and media and will focus on the development of competencies to prepare them to implement projects on gender equality and women right’s. More…
Euro-Med Women Network
Database of good practice: Share yours
Euro-Med Women Network is a cooperative platform that provides an online space to share good practice on the empowerment of women in the European and Southern Mediterranean regions. In this regard, the NSC is collecting best practice from the members of the network to serve as a database for all. Videos highlighting good practice of youth representatives and civil society actors from European and Mediterranean countries are regularly shared through the platform. You are invited to share your own examples to help promote the empowerment of women.
On the occasion of the International Women’s Day, the North-South Centre joined the European Action Day Countering Sexist Hate Speech by sharing the call for action across the Network and its partner’s organisations from Southern Mediterranean. In link with the campaign combating sexist hate speech, the NSC invited its members and civil society organisations to share until the end of March, testimonies, stories, videos and photos within the platform on our Facebook Page.
We encourage you to follow the news of the EMWN and the Empowerment of Women activities of the NSC on our website and help us also disseminate the news in your networks too. To date, the Network counts more than 950 members and more than 1800 followers on social media.
TRAINEESHIP PROGRAMME
Applications for second semester are now open
The North-South Centre of the Council of Europe offers traineeships twice a year for a period of three to five months. Interested candidates from all member states of the Council of Europe or/and the North South Centre, can apply until April 30 2016.
Our internship programme offers young people the unique opportunity to work in an international and intercultural environment, while taking advantage of the unique foundation principle of the NSC, that enables young people to participate in the promotion of global interdependence, through North-South dialogue and cooperation. Please refer to our website for more information and conditions of the traineeships. More
AT THE COUNCIL OF EUROPE
NO HATE SPEECH Movement - European Action Day: Campaign of Young People for Human Rights Online
The NO HATE SPEECH Campaign is part of the project Young People Combating Hate Speech Online running between 2012 and 2014. The project stands for equality, dignity, human rights and diversity. It is a project against hate speech, racism and discrimination in their online expression.
Hate speech, as defined by the Council of Europe, covers all forms of expression which spread, incite, promote or justify racial hatred, xenophobia, anti-Semitism or other forms of hatred based on intolerance, including: intolerance expressed by aggressive nationalism and ethnocentrism, discrimination and hostility against minorities, migrants and people of immigrant origin. More
International Women’s Day
Secretary General urged Europe to stop violence against women and sexist hate speech
Secretary General Thorbjørn Jagland welcomed the European Commission’s initiative to join the Istanbul Convention reinforcing that “this will be a major step in our efforts to end violence against women and domestic violence. It will help create a coherent European system to combat this outrageous crime which is still widespread in Europe today."
Furthermore the Secretary General condemned sexist hate speech as closely linked to violence against women: “Sexist hate speech has devastating consequences for girls and women, but is not taken seriously enough and is often considered less severe than other forms of hate speech.”
Migration and Refugees
Human rights of refugee and migrant women and girls need to be better protected
For the first time since the beginning of the refugee and migrant crisis in Europe, women and children on the move outnumber adult men. While in 2015 about 70 % of the population on the move were men, women and children now make up nearly 60% of refugees and other migrants crossing into Europe.
This also means that more women and children risk and lose their lives in the Mediterranean Sea and on the land routes to Europe. Of more than 360 persons who died in the Mediterranean in January 2016, one third were women and children.
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