"Human Rights Education as a Catalyst for Boosting Democratic Youth Participation of Young Refugees in Europe" is the title of the study session organised by Voice of Young Refugees in Europe (VYRE), in cooperation with the Council of Europe Youth Department.
This activity aims to empower young refugees in combating populism and countering dominant negative narratives, in order to play an active part in constructing firmer democratic and inclusive European societies. The programme reflects the following objectives:
- To reinforce the leadership and competences of young refugees to lead civic initiatives that combat populism, and promote democracy active citizenship;
- To understand the root causes and consequences of rising populism that mainstreams hate speech аgаinst refugees and minorities as a major threat to democracy and human rights
- To develop knowledge of concepts, principles and practices of youth-led grass-root civic activism for countering populism
- To practise building effective counter narratives that promote young refugees as valuable contributors to their hosting societies
- To share lessons-learned and best practices among the participants and initiatives across Europe that address xenophobia and populism, and to create space for networking and future collaboration.
The programme and methods are grounded on educational resources on human rights education such as Compass, and the manual WE CAN! on Counter and Alternative Narratives to hate speech. The activity contributes to the implementation of the Council of Europe Recommendation on Protecting Refugees in Transition to Adulthood and of the Action Plan on Protecting Vulnerable Persons in the Context of Migration and Asylum in Europe.
For more information visit the dedicated webpage.
