UNITED for Intercultural Action

Last updated
UNITED for Intercultural Action
Formation1992; officially registered 1993
Type Non-governmental organization; European-wide network of NGOs; non-profit
PurposeAnti-nationalism; anti-racism; anti-fascism; support of migrants and refugees
Headquarters Amsterdam (secretariat)
Region served
All 47 member states of the Council of Europe + Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan
Director
Geert Ates [1]
Spokesperson
Ralph du Long [2]
Website unitedagainstracism.org

UNITED for Intercultural Action is a European network against nationalism, racism, fascism and in support of migrants and refugees, [3] in which over 560 organisations from 48 European countries cooperate. [4] UNITED was founded in 1992 (officially registered as charitable organisation under Dutch law in 1993) and provides a forum for active solidarity and cooperation between a wide variety of organisations in Europe and their activists across European borders.

Contents

UNITED defines itself as pan-European tool to strengthen and cross-link grassroots organisations and their actions to improve their socio-political impact. The idea of the UNITED network was born by participants of two anti-racist European youth seminars in Strasbourg in 1992. At these occasions, the need for a European-wide info- and networking system was expressed against the background of the most violent and massive xenophobic riots that took place in Germany after the Second World War: the riot of Rostock-Lichtenhagen August 22–24, 1992.

The work of UNITED mainly focuses on the coordination of European-wide awareness-raising campaigns, organisation of international conferences and the maintenance of an info-system and network structure. [5] [6] UNITED coordinates following annual campaigns:

UNITED has participatory status at the Council of Europe, is often an elected member of the Advisory Council on Youth of the Council of Europe and has since 1997 special consultative status with the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) of the United Nations. [10] [11]

Campaigns

Campaign logo of the "Action Week Against Racism Logo 21 March - Action Week Against Racism.jpg
Campaign logo of the "Action Week Against Racism

European Action Week Against Racism – 21 March

In 1966, the General Assembly of the United Nations declared March 21 the International Day for the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination as a reaction to the murder of 69 anti-apartheid demonstrators in Sharpeville, South Africa, in 1960. [12]

The first European-wide Action Week Against Racism on occasion of 21 March was organised by UNITED in 1993. [5] Since then, UNITED coordinates the European-wide Action Week Against Racism on an annual basis with the aim to create public attention by stimulating and integrating different activities under the umbrella of a common campaign. UNITED doesn't organise campaign activities, but produces and freely provides so-called “campaign tools” and documents the campaign activities. The campaign activities are organised by independent organisations and groups all over Europe. UNITED collect these activities in an online map available at www.weekagainstracism.eu.

In several countries, the idea of the annual Action Week Against Racism successfully developed into self-reinforcing tendencies, whereby local NGOs started to stimulate national action weeks. Since 2001, annual International Weeks Against Racism (German: Internationale Wochen gegen Rassismus) developed in Germany – the main organisers of this campaign are the German NGOs Interkultureller Rat in Deutschland and Gesicht Zeigen. [13] Semaine d'Actions Contre le Racisme, a Montreal-based NGO, organises a Canada-wide action week against racism since 2000. [14] Other major groups that followed the idea and promoted the action week against racism around 21 March are the European Network Against Racism (ENAR) or Football Against Racism in Europe (FARE). Despite the fact that different national action weeks developed throughout time, all focus around 21 March and are related in their message.

International Refugee Day – 20 June

Campaign logo of the "International Refugee Day" Logo 20 June - Int. Refugee Day.jpeg
Campaign logo of the "International Refugee Day"

In 2001, a special UN General Assembly Resolution was adopted to declare the former African Refugee Day as the International Refugee Day as an expression of solidarity with Africa, which hosts the most refugees. [15] The General Assembly noted that 2001 marked the fiftieth anniversary of the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, and that the Organization of African Unity (OAU) had agreed to have the International Refugee Day coincide with African Refugee Day on 20 June. [15] [16]

UNITED coordinates an annual campaign around this date. This campaign aims to highlight the issues of refugees from a non-governmental perspective. The message of the campaign is carried by the monitoring results of the ongoing monitoring project Fatal Realities of Fortress Europe. [17]

Campaign logo of the "International Day Against Fascism and Antisemitism Logo 9 November - Int. Day Against Fascism and Antisemitism.gif
Campaign logo of the "International Day Against Fascism and Antisemitism

International Day against Fascism and Antisemitism – 9 November

On 9 November 1938, Nazi Germany started a pogrom against Jewish people. Jewish homes were ransacked, as were shops, towns and villages, as SA stormtroopers and civilians destroyed buildings with sledgehammers, leaving the streets covered in pieces of smashed windows—the origin of the name "Kristallnacht", which freely translated means the Night of Broken Glass. [18] 91 Jews were killed, and 30,000 Jewish men – a quarter of all Jewish men in Germany – were taken to concentration camps, where they were tortured for months, with over 1,000 of them dying. [18] Around 1,668 synagogues were ransacked, and 267 set on fire. In Vienna alone 95 synagogues or houses of prayer were destroyed. [18]

The "Kristallnacht" pogrom is seen as the symbolic beginning of the systematic eradication of Jewish people which had started with the discrimination and exclusion of the German Jews since 1933 and which eventually led to the murder of millions Jewish people and so-called "enemies of the German state": [19] homosexuals, criminals and "asocial" people, members of diverse religious communities, people with mental disabilities, political ‘offenders’ such as communists and socialists, Spanish republican refugees, and minorities like Roma and Sinti and others.

Since 1995, UNITED coordinates an annual pan-European campaign on occasion of the 9 November, called International Day against Fascism and Antisemitism. Hereby, the approach is two-fold: while one part of the campaign aims to commemorate victims of the "Kristallnacht" pogrom and, more broadly, victims of the Holocaust and of fascism throughout history; another part focuses mostly on contemporary issues of racism, antisemitism, right-wing extremism and neo-fascism. The campaign is joined by many different groups with independent actions which are collected by UNITED in an online map available at www.dayagainstfascism.eu. [20]

Fatal Realities of Fortress Europe

Since 1993 UNITED has been monitoring the deadly results of the building of 'Fortress Europe' by making a list of the refugees and migrants, who have died in their attempt of entering the 'Fortress' or as a result of Europe's immigration policies. [21] [22] [23] UNITED receives this information from newspapers, journalists, organisations working in the field of refugee and migrant issues, private researchers and governmental organisations. The figures given can only be taken as an indication of the true number of deaths. Each case published by UNITED is documented in the UNITED archives and the scientific part of the documentation can be requested by researchers and journalists to use it for their studies.

By 2011, more than 15,181 deaths have been documented. [21] The so-called "List of Deaths" plays an important role in UNITED's annual Refugee Day campaign and is also used as lobby tool. To measure the magnitude of the "war on migrants", OWNI – an online information and news platform – built an interactive map as an electronic memorial for these tragedies. [24] The "List of Deaths" was also used in several art projects. [25]

Publications

The European Address Book Against Racism is an annual publication that holds contact details and working-field information of organisations active within the scope of UNITED. The printed edition 2011 contained addresses of more than 2,480 organisations and magazines and 155 funding institutions. [26] The searchable online version contains over 4,500 entries.

The Calendar of Internationalism is published several times a year and holds information on events and trainings related to UNITED's working filed. There is also a weekly updated online version of the Calendar.

On a regular basis, UNITED publishes Information Leaflets written by experts and activist within the UNITED working field.

I CARE – Internet Centre Anti Racism Europe

I CARE - Internet Centre Anti Racism Europe is a web-portal featuring discussions and live reports on antiracism activities, mainly within Europe. ICARE is an information disseminator for the European NGO-community working in the fields of anti-discrimination, human rights, antisemitism, diversity and immigration, with a focus on anti-racism. ICARE is a NGO community networking system, an environment where large and small organizations can work on local, national, regional and international issues. The purpose of ICARE is the empowerment of democratic, non-violent Human Rights and antiracism work by offering information and reporting on events taking place, by facilitating communication, advocacy, campaigns and actions and by stimulating intersectional and international co-operation of NGOs.

I CARE started on 1 October 1999 as a cooperation project of UNITED for Intercultural Action and the Magenta Foundation. [27] The aim was to create a portal for anti-racism on Internet. Although the Internet opened-up the possibilities for collaboration with organisations worldwide, the decision was to focus on Europe, as both founding organisations basically work within a European context and because specific aspects of racism are still very much related to In "Real Life" culture, policies and practices. In September 2005 ICARE became a Magenta Foundation-only project.

ICARE reported from the 2001 UN World Conference against Racism (WCAR) in Durban, offering critical appraisal of the conference – which included the judgment "that racism was allowed to run rampant" and that "[w]hat happened in Durban [in 2000] should never happen again."; [28] the website continued to track developments regarding the Durban Review Conference 2009. [29]

In 2010, ICARE set out to establish a new service, the ICARE Hate Crime News. This service contains articles (English only) about hate-motivated incidents and crimes in the 56 Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) participating States and is updated almost every day with items from 'regular' news sources. Next to individual research, ICARE Hate Crime News makes use of crowdsourcing to collect incident reports. I CARE's secretariat states to monitor all contributions in order to be in line with universally recognised human rights standards. Incident reports need to be written in English language and include source and, if available, web location. For the definition of "hate crime", ICARE points to the working definition that was developed by the OSCE – Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR). [30] [31] ICARE Hate Crime News contains articles from 1 January 2010. [32]

UNITED Archives at IISH

UNITED cooperates with the International Institute of Social History (IISH), which is a research institute located in Amsterdam. The UNITED secretariat, also located in Amsterdam, has collectssince 1992 documentation of a wide range of European anti-racist and anti-fascist groups and of organisations in support of migrants and refugees since 1992. The archive was transferred to the IISH in 1998. It consists of correspondence with the connected organizations; questionnaires concerning the start of the network and documents concerning campaigns; documentation on ca. 300 anti-racist and anti-fascist groups and organizations; and documents relating to conferences organised by UNITED, with correspondence, documents concerning preparation, subventions, participants and accommodation. [33]

See also

Related Research Articles

The World Conference Against Racism (WCAR) is a series of international events organized by UNESCO to promote struggle against racism ideologies and behaviours. Five conferences have been held so far, in 1978, 1983, 2001, 2009 and 2021. Founded after World War II and the Holocaust as a dependent body of the United Nations, UNESCO started as soon as it was created to promote scientific studies concerning ethnic groups and their diffusion in public opinion to dispel pseudo-scientific rationalizations of racism. One of its first published works was The Race Question in 1950, signed by various internationally renowned scholars.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">No Border network</span> Associations of free movement

The No Border Network refers to loose associations of autonomous organisations, groups, and individuals in Western Europe, Central Europe, Eastern Europe and beyond. They support freedom of movement and resist human migration control by coordinating international border camps, demonstrations, direct actions, and anti-deportation campaigns.

Searchlight is a British magazine, founded in 1975 by Gerry Gable, which publishes exposés about racism, antisemitism and fascism in the United Kingdom and elsewhere.

The European Social Forum (ESF) was a recurring conference held by members of the alter-globalization movement. In the first few years after it started in 2002 the conference was held every year, but later it became biannual due to difficulties with finding host countries. The conference was last held in 2010. It aims to allow social movements, trade unions, NGOs, refugees, peace and anti-imperial groups, anti-racist movements, environmental movements, networks of the excluded and community campaigns from Europe and the world to come together and discuss themes linked to major European and global issues, in order to coordinate campaigns, share ideas and refine organizing strategies. It emerged from the World Social Forum and follows its Charter of Principles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">La Strada International Association</span> Organisation combatting the trafficking of persons in Europe.

La Strada International (LSI) is an international NGO network addressing the trafficking of persons in Europe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">European Union of Jewish Students</span>

The European Union of Jewish Students (EUJS) is a pluralistic, inclusive and non-partisan umbrella organisation. EUJS supports Jewish student unions throughout Europe and represents its members to European institutions, the OSCE, the UNHRC, as well as to other major Jewish and non-Jewish organisations. Founded in 1978, EUJS currently has 36 member organisations, spanning from Russia to Scandinavia to the United Kingdom. EUJS is led by a president, an executive director, and eight board members who are elected by EUJS member organizations at the EUJS General Assembly. The EUJS headquarters are located in Brussels, Belgium.

The 2001 World Conference against Racism (WCAR), also known as Durban I, was held at the Durban International Convention Centre in Durban, South Africa, under UN auspices, from 31 August to 8 September 2001.

The Swedish Committee Against Antisemitism (SCAA) (Swedish: Svenska kommittén mot antisemitism, SKMA) is a politically and religiously independent organization that works to spread knowledge about, and counteract, antisemitism and other forms of racism. The SCAA continuously monitors public debate and the media in order to report on and challenge antisemitic and racist commentary. Its blog, Facebook page, Twitter account and newsletter are sources of information on contemporary antisemitism.

The Fighting Discrimination Program of Human Rights First focuses on the violence known as hate crimes or bias crimes. Because equality is a cornerstone of human rights protection, discrimination in all its forms is a violation of human rights. Discrimination can take the form of violence generated by prejudice and hatred founded upon a person's race, ethnicity, religious belief, sexual orientation, gender, disability, age or other such factors. Through the Fighting Discrimination Program, Human Rights First seeks to combat discrimination by reversing the tide of antisemitic, anti-immigrant, and anti-Muslim violence and reducing other bias crime in North America, Europe, and the Russian Federation.

The Durban Review Conference is the official name of the 2009 United Nations World Conference Against Racism (WCAR), also known as Durban II. The conference ran from Monday 20 April to Friday 24 April 2009, and took place at the United Nations Office in Geneva, Switzerland. The conference was called under the mandate of United Nations General Assembly resolution 61/149 with a mandate to review the implementation of The Durban Declaration and Programme of Action from the 2001 World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance which took place in Durban, South Africa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kick It Out (organisation)</span>

Kick It Out was established as a campaign with the brand name 'Let's Kick Racism Out of Football' in 1993 and as an organisation in 1997. The organisation works within the football, educational and community sectors to challenge discrimination, encourage inclusive practices and work for positive change.

Durban III is an informal name for a high-level United Nations General Assembly meeting marking the 10th anniversary of the adoption of The Durban Declaration and Programme of Action that was held in New York City on 22 September 2011. It was mandated by United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) resolution 64/148 of 18 December 2009 to commemorate the World Conference against Racism 2001, and given additional form and visibility by a UNGA Third Committee draft resolution adopted on 24 November 2010. It followed the Durban Review Conference, the official name of the 2009 United Nations World Conference Against Racism (WCAR), also known as Durban II.

The Norwegian Centre Against Racism or Anti-Racism Centre is a non-governmental organization based in Oslo, Norway established in 1983. The organization’s main objective is to achieve a socially just society through the fight against racism and discrimination. The Centre works toward its objective through the documentation and prevention of racism, racism awareness, and the mobilization of the minority population in Norway.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Student-Youth Council</span>

The Student-Youth Council (SYC) is a Georgian non-governmental youth organisation based in Ozurgeti, Guria, Georgia.

The Movement for Equality, Support, Anti-Racism, is a Cypriot Non-Governmental Organisation. The organisation has two main remits: campaigning against discrimination in all forms on the island, including racism and sex trafficking, including running the annual Action Week against Racism within the framework of the European Network Against Racism, and operating Support Centres which provide free legal and social services, guidance and advice to migrants, refugees and asylum seekers in Cyprus.

Sport Against Racism Ireland (SARI) is an anti-racism not for profit organisation founded in Dublin in July 1997 ‘as a direct response to the growth of racist attacks from a small but vocal section of people in Ireland.’

The Anti-Nazi League (ANL) was an organisation set up in 1977 on the initiative of the Socialist Workers Party with sponsorship from some trade unions and the endorsement of a list of prominent people to oppose the rise of far-right groups in the United Kingdom. It was wound down in 1981. It was relaunched in 1992, but merged into Unite Against Fascism in 2003.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">"Never Again" Association</span> Polish organization

"Never Again" Association is Poland's leading anti-racist organization, based in Warsaw. The organization has its roots in an informal anti-Nazi youth group that was active since 1992. It was formally founded in 1996 by Marcin Kornak, a social activist, public life commentator as well as a poet and songwriter who collaborated with independent rock bands. From the age of fifteen, due to an accident, Marcin Kornak lived with a physical disability.

Below is an outline of articles on genocide studies and closely related subjects; it is not an outline of acts or events related to genocide. The Event outlines section contains links to outlines of acts of genocide.

References

  1. ↑ "Dutch police wrap up investigation into Russian activist's death". Russian Legal Information Agency. 29 March 2013.
  2. ↑ "Joint Press Release European Network Against Racism and UNITED for Intercultural Action, 22 March 2013". UNITED.
  3. ↑ "UNITED for Intercultural Action Archives at IISG". International Institute of Social History.
  4. ↑ "about UNITED". UNITED for Intercultural Action. Retrieved 13 May 2011.
  5. 1 2 Gorman, Margo (1996). All Different – All Equal: A Sum of Experience. Strasbourg: Council of Europe Pub. p. 110. ISBN   978-92-871-3142-3.
  6. ↑ "Annual Report 2008" (PDF). UNITED.
  7. ↑ "European-wide Action Week Against Racism – Partnership between the European Commission and the Council of Europe in the field of Youth". Council of Europe. Retrieved 22 March 2011.
  8. ↑ "Enjoy Diversity – Campaign Report 2010" (PDF). UNITED. Retrieved 22 March 2011.
  9. ↑ "Wipe Out Hate – Campaign Report 2010" (PDF). UNITED. Retrieved 22 March 2011.
  10. ↑ "Advisory Council on Youth – Composition for the period 2009–2011". Council of Europe. Retrieved 13 May 2011.
  11. ↑ "List of non-governmental organizations in consultative status with the Economic and Social Council as of 1 September 2010" (PDF). United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs. Retrieved 13 May 2011.
  12. ↑ see UN Resolution 2142 (XXI) of 26 October; "International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination". United Nations. Retrieved 13 May 2011.
  13. ↑ "Internationale Woche gegen Rassismus - Hintergrund".
  14. ↑ "Semaine d'Actions Contre le Racisme".
  15. 1 2 United Nations General Assembly Session 55 Resolution76. A/RES/55/76 4 December 2000. Retrieved 2008-09-04.
  16. ↑ "World Refugee Day". United Nations. Retrieved 13 May 2011.
  17. ↑ "International Refugee Day – campaign poster" (PDF). UNITED for Intercultural Action. Retrieved 14 May 2011.
  18. 1 2 3 Gilbert, Martin (2007). Kristallnacht : prelude to destruction (1st Harper Perennial ed.). New York: Harper Perennial. ISBN   978-0-06-112135-7.
  19. ↑ "The Holocaust". Yad Vashem. Retrieved 14 May 2011.
  20. ↑ Wipe Out Hate. Campaign report 2010 (PDF). Amsterdam: UNITED for Intercultural Action. p. 16.
  21. 1 2 List of Deaths (PDF). Amsterdam: UNITED for Intercultural Action. 2011. p. 35.
  22. ↑ Milborn, Corinna (2006). Gestürmte Festung Europa Einwanderung zwischen Stacheldraht und Ghetto. Das Schwarzbuch. Wien: Styria. p. 248. ISBN   978-3-222-13205-6.
  23. ↑ Clochard, Olivier (2009). Atlas des migrants en Europe : géographie critique des politiques migratoires européennes. Paris: Armand Colin. p. 142. ISBN   978-2-200-35404-6.
  24. ↑ "Fortress Europe: A Deadly Exodus". OWNI.eu. Retrieved 22 March 2011.
  25. ↑ "The List". Inkijk (SKOR). Archived from the original on 24 September 2010. Retrieved 22 March 2011. "Asylum Defense Agency". UBERMORGEN.COM. Retrieved 13 May 2011.
  26. ↑ European Address Book Against Racism 2011 – 16th Edition. Amsterdam, Netherlands: UNITED for Intercultural Action. 2011. p. 72.
  27. ↑ "about ICARE". Internet Centre Anti Racism Europe. Retrieved 14 May 2011.
  28. ↑ "UN World Conference on Racism in Durban". Internet Centre Anti Racism Europe. Retrieved 14 May 2011.
  29. ↑ "Intersessional Working Group for the Durban Review Conference". Internet Centre Anti Racism Europe. Retrieved 14 May 2011.
  30. ↑ Hate crimes in the OSCE region : incidents and responses – annual report for 2009. Warsaw: OSCE-ODIHR. 2010. p. 162.
  31. ↑ "TANDIS – Hate Crime info system". OSCE – Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights. Retrieved 14 May 2011.
  32. ↑ "ICARE Hate Crime News". Internet Centre Anti Racism Europe. Retrieved 14 May 2011.
  33. ↑ "United for Intercultural Action Archives". International Institute of Social History.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.