Ресурсы

Commitment 8 of the Ten-Point Plan of Action of the European Coalition of Cities against Racism requires the measures “Challenging Racism and Discrimination through Education”. This point aims to improve the access to and enjoyment of all forms of education, as well as the promotion of education in mutual tolerance and understanding. To reach this goal, the members of the coalition have been called to undertake activities, elaborate strategies and establish relevant institutions to influence society and train attitudes, behaviour and skills within the population. They are called to find out causes for racist tendencies among their population and to involve all stakeholders, particularly parents and school officials. As an external expert, the European Training and Research Centre for Human Rights and Democracy in Graz, Austria, (ETC Graz) was commissioned by UNESCO to carry out a study on the measures against racism already in place at a local level and serve as good illustration of “Commitment 8”. A major source of information was the written material provided by the selected cities. Additional or missing information could be obtained through direct exchanges and/or interviews with officers responsible for the municipalities and some NGOs. The material should not to be considered as complete. On the basis of the contributions sent in by the participating cities, the ETC assessed whether these actions/activities meet the objectives of Commitment 8. The authors used the following criteria to make this assessment: Does the action undertaken contribute to a) the improvement of access to education and promote equal opportunities; b) the impact of educational measures on individuals (potential victims and offenders) and on the atmosphere at school and in society. The following recommendations are derived from the eight selected measures documented in Chapter II, and the analysis on their “replicability” in Chapter III. The 12 recommendations explicitly or implicitly refer to the replicable documented measures. Where “replicability” requires specific conditions, or it is recommended to fulfil these conditions firstly, i.e. structural and institutional conditions, these are stated. The 12 recommendations are addressed to municipalities in Europe irrespective of their current membership in the European Coalition of Cities against Racism. As already mentioned the recommendations focus on meeting the requirements of Commitment 8, challenging racism through education.