On this page you will find information about preparation to the participation in the training course.
So, to start with you can download the Info-Pack
If you have any questions, you can ask here!
So, to start with you can download the Info-Pack
If you have any questions, you can ask here!
Task 1:
A single flower does not make a garden, nor does a single bird bring spring. (The Arab Human Development Report, 2003)
Trying to integrate while seeking to preserve their own identity, minorities are often faced with acts of intolerance and discrimination from the societies they are part of. This has sometimes led to armed conflicts. In order to prevent conflicts and further violations of human rights, the protection and promotion of the right of minorities
have become essential for the sustainability of nations.
At the same time, minorities are the true human bridges. Many of them are the result of historical migrations and conflicts; others are simply the expression of modern social diversity and therefore are not defined by national
borders. These are minorities such as people with disabilities, homosexuals and vegetarians.
At the beginning of the 21st century, the world has witnessed increased integration of markets, the emergence of new regional political alliances, and advances in telecommunication, biotechnology and transportation. As a result of these, populations have shifted, and people are moving from one region to another either voluntarily or involuntarily. Cultural diversity is a reality in the modern world and the richness that it brings is generally underestimated. The phenomenon should be addressed, not only to preserve people’s rights and needs but also to underline the values that are attached to it.
1.Which minorities exist in your society?
2. Do all minorities in your country have the same possibilities for social and cultural participation and expression?
3. How are minorities treated in your society?
4. Which issues related to the minorities in your society?
5. Which institutions protect rights of minorities in your country?
6. Which instruments exist in your country for protection of minorities' rights?
7. Give examples of successful initiatives aimed at protecting minorities' rights in your country (main actors, description of initiative, results).
You can fulfil this task replying to this post. The deadline for the task implementation is October 1, 2011.
have become essential for the sustainability of nations.
At the same time, minorities are the true human bridges. Many of them are the result of historical migrations and conflicts; others are simply the expression of modern social diversity and therefore are not defined by national
borders. These are minorities such as people with disabilities, homosexuals and vegetarians.
At the beginning of the 21st century, the world has witnessed increased integration of markets, the emergence of new regional political alliances, and advances in telecommunication, biotechnology and transportation. As a result of these, populations have shifted, and people are moving from one region to another either voluntarily or involuntarily. Cultural diversity is a reality in the modern world and the richness that it brings is generally underestimated. The phenomenon should be addressed, not only to preserve people’s rights and needs but also to underline the values that are attached to it.
(T-Kit 11 Mosaic. The training kit for Euro-Mediterranean youth work. CoE)
In this section we would like to ask you to answer the following questions which will help you to prepare for the programme of the training course:
2. Do all minorities in your country have the same possibilities for social and cultural participation and expression?
3. How are minorities treated in your society?
4. Which issues related to the minorities in your society?
5. Which institutions protect rights of minorities in your country?
6. Which instruments exist in your country for protection of minorities' rights?
7. Give examples of successful initiatives aimed at protecting minorities' rights in your country (main actors, description of initiative, results).
You can fulfil this task replying to this post. The deadline for the task implementation is October 1, 2011.
Task 2:
Danger of a single story!
Our lives, our cultures, are composed of many overlapping stories. Novelist Chimamanda Adichie tells the story of how she found her authentic cultural voice - and warns that if we hear only a single story about another person or country, we risk a critical misunderstanding. Please, watch the video with the novelist Chimamanda Adichie.We would like to encourage you to think of a story that exists in your society about representatives of national minorities which creates misunderstanding and stereotypes. Share these stories with others here. The deadline for sharing stories is October, 6.
Task 2: A Danger of a Single Story
ReplyDeleteby Cosmin Ionita
Danger of a single story
My story starts years ago when I had my first contact with one of “them”. There’s no way you can get along with these individuals I was told numerous times. Having a friend, quite loud, born with a high Anti-Semitic approach, fueled by a sad experience during the childhood, I’ve heard so many ways to express the denigration. They were instinct based individuals that cannot be treated as equals. Plus, they held our territory, a far more important reason to hate them. The massive ethnic assault that was triggered by some people next to me faced my will not to take opinions for granted. Still, who were these people?
Now we get back to the story. I am a passionate of bows and archery crafting. This is the reason why there was a moment when I’ve decided that I would like to learn how to make my own bow and the arrows needed. I started to look up for a person who could teach me this art. It was indeed one of the hardest things to do. It took me several weeks to get to know one old brilliant artisan from a remote village far my province. The place is known for the massive percentage of Hungarians living there. So these were the sub-humans that were blamed all the time. They could be artisans? I felt strange. It was totally different from I’ve been told.
I went to his place. The village, once quite important, as being placed on a trade route, has now only 216 inhabitants. The age average is around 56. The Romanians stopped the educational and social programs and the youngsters felt the pressure. He frankly told me that his feeling, regarding this issue, is that the village, as an entity, is getting old faster than he does.
The old handicraftsman added that the mass emigration of the youth created this life frame. Also, he told me that he got the skills from his father and this was a family tradition. His son, as a Hungarian in Romania, felt insecure and decided to move to “his country”. In fact, the old man added “I’m just one, there are so many like me out there”. The sad thing about the youth minority migration, in hope of a better job and a safe place, is that it disrupts the entire community, as our villages, once full of life, become lifeless.
There were many things that the Hungarian bow maker told me, but one was vital thought, the core of these villages was the mutual respect and connection between Romanians and Hungarians living there. The politics, the massive changes that we encounter and the future that we cannot grasp create the fundaments for community disruption and the feeling of “the other”. I’ve learned a lot from my day spent with the turquoise-not-Romanian eyed old man. I felt comfortable, I felt safe.
Task 1:
ReplyDeleteMoldavian Perspective
by Olga Grachila
1. Minorities in RM: 75.8%-moldavians, 8,4% - ucrains, 5,8% - russians, 4,4% - gagauzians, 1,9% - bulgarians.
2. I think, yes, at least I did't noticed it.
3. between people there are good relations, but sometimes it happend that some people can offense other people becouse they don't know moldavian language.
4. The main problem is that everybody should know maldavian language, because if you don't know it's hard to find a well paid job.
5.Embassies of these minorities.
6. Law of protection human rights, Specific rights of persons belonging to national minorities, International Standards
7. we have municipalities of different minorities, who try to do different activities, for example last week we had russian week, they invited everybody who wants ta assist at concerts, presentations. They agreed with local cinemas and everybody could come and see russian movies for free during that week. And people liked it.
Task 1
ReplyDeleteNational Minorities from Republic of Moldova
by Cebotar Mihai
The ethnic structure of population of any country with significant minority groups, the quantitative and qualitative relationship between population and ethnic minorities was a difficult and delicate problem for society, In Republic of Moldova was the same situations.
Moldova has 4.32 million inhabitants. In the 1989 census, 64.5 percent of the population was Moldovan, 13.8 percent Ukrainian, 13 percent Russian, 3.5 percent Gagauz (a Christian Orthodox Turkic people), 2 percent Bulgarian, 1.5 percent Jewish, and 1.7 percent other nationalities, mainly Belarussians, Poles, Greeks, Germans, and Rom (Gypsies).
Although the official number of Rom is only 11,600, the real number probably is 100,000. There are few concentrated Rom settlements in Moldova, and the degree of linguistic assimilation (Russian or Moldovan) is high. The Ukrainian population traditionally settled in the north and east. Gagauz and Bulgarians have concentrated settlements in the southern Budjak region.
The Russian population, for the most part workers and professionals brought to Moldova after World War II, is concentrated in Chişinău, Bălţi, and the industrial zones of Transdniestria. Jews have lived in Moldovan cities in great numbers since the early nineteenth century, but many have left.
Between 1990 and 1996, Moldova experienced a total migration loss of 105,000 persons. Jews, Ukrainians, and Russians were the most likely to leave. Consequently, the Moldovan portion of the population was believed to have increased to 67 percent by 1998. The population density is the highest in the territory of the former Soviet Union.
Ethnic Relations. Bessarabia has always been a multiethnic region, and ethnic relations generally are considered good. Especially in the north, Moldovans and Ukrainians have lived together peacefully for centuries and share cultural features. In recent history, Moldova has rarely experienced ethnic violence.
In April 1903, for example, 49 Jews were killed and several hundred injured during the Chişinău pogrom, but mainly by Russians rather than Moldovans. In the late 1980s, when support for the national movement began to grow, ethnic tension between Moldovans and non-Moldovans increased, initially in Transdniestria and Gagauzia and later in Chişinău and Bălţi.
Whereas the conflict between Gagauz and Moldovans was kept below the level of large-scale violence, the Transdniestrian conflict escalated into a full-fledged civil war in spring 1992. More than a thousand people were said to have been killed, and over a hundred thousand had to leave their homes.
Although this conflict had a strong ethnic component, it was not ethnic by nature; it was fought mainly between the new independence-minded political elite in Chişinău and conservative pro-Soviet forces in Tiraspol. Moldovans and non-Moldovans could be found on both sides. On the right bank of the Dniestr, where the majority of the Russian-speaking community lives, no violent clashes took place.
Since the war, additional efforts have been made to include non-Moldovans in the nation-building process. The 1994 constitution and subsequent legislation safeguarded the rights of minorities, and in the same year broad autonomous powers were granted to the Gagauz.
Task 2:
ReplyDeleteEverybody has his own single story. Unfortunately it is inevitable in our reality. It comes up with the mass-media, with the education and with our friends. But what we have to do – is not to judge someone basing on a single story. We have to be patient enough to find out the other side of the coin. I was born and grew up in Saint Petersburg, a big city in Russia. In the time of my childhood we had a lot of immigrants from the Caucasus. And there was a famous stereotype about their aggressive and impolite behavior. This stereotype is also strengthened by the mass-media. When I started my Bachelor’s Degree I’ve met one guy from Makhachkala who later has become one of my best friends. He was not even close to impoliteness. Actually he is one of the most intelligent persons I’ve ever met. After that case I understood that I single stories can not be used as a single proof for some withdrawal. We have to think gingerly about it. Certainly I have faced a lot of stereotypes about myself as well. Especially abroad. For example, currently I live in Maastricht. I have a neighbor - a girl from Germany. And once we had this “house party” with her German friends. When they asked me about where I from – it is not hard to guess what is the first thing in their minds. They asked me, what is my favourite sort of vodka? And then they were really surprised when I told them that I do not drink alcohol at all. And it was very funny moment when we talked about it, especially because all of them were holding bottles of beer and I was drinking tea. Certainly they had this single story somewhere deep in mind as well. I tried to show the other side of the coin. And I also try to keep my head clear from the dangers of single stories. Because it is very dangerous to make conclusions about the whole if you only know some part of it. You have very high percentage that you will get the wrong ones. So if you really want to make right conclusions – get the whole picture before you make conclusions.
As for Crimea -
ReplyDelete1.Russians 65 – 70%, Ukrainians - 15%, Crimean - tatars 11,7%,armenians - 3,2%, Greeks - 2%, Krimchaki - 0,85%
2. They have their rigts, but unfortunatelly, some of them dont use it and some of them use it too much
3. We have a difficult territorian an historic relations with Crimean - tatars.Due to the politics the situation is tensive till that time.
4.the main issue till that time is the deporation of Crimean Tatrars at 1944.
5.We have a spessial comission at Soviet Ministers of Crimea, and a special Crimean Tatar ruling organ - Mendjilis.
6.Low about national minorities in Ukraine, Spesialconvention about the deportation(Crimean)
7.Our organisation several years had implement the project called "Building trust among multicultural youth in Crimea" Its aim is to prevent multicaultural cinflicts buy making a multinational team of youth activists of different nationalities. Now we have about 30 young people ready to act in ideas of human rights and tolerance.
Fighting stereotypes is not an easy task. it requires a long work on yourself and relationships with other people. In my experience I can remember one day event. We where on the training on intercultural communication. and one boy was highlighted racist views and had come to disrupt the event. Many of the participants paid attention to it and became visibly displeased. But the trainer, instead of asking him to leave, on the contrary, asked him to lead by example and a participant of a few situations that we played in the training. The young man not refused may be because not to show his weakness, and stayed to the end, and participated in what have been offered to him. His script of open opposition was broken , he was offered a different situation, and he joined her. We do not know if he refused his views, but this case made a big impact on others participants , they have talked about hem for a long time ad shared how they would do in this situation ..
ReplyDelete