Diversity-Human Rights-Participation

[inline:1=Diversity]A research seminar on Diversity-Human Rights-Participation was held at the European Youth Centre, Strasbourg from May 11 to May 13, 2006. 17 researchers from countries as far apart as Azerbaijan, India, Turkey, Cyprus, Romania and Denmark presented their work. 

Papers tackled subjects such as Ethnography with Romas in Cyprus, Diversity and Equality in the case of affirmative action legislation, government policy on poverty as it affects Gypsies in Spain, the participation of second generation migrants in Greece, a critical analysis of intercultural learning methodology, the discourse of human rights in relation to the Kosovo refugee camps and much more.

The seminar was addressed by Dr Gavan Titley of the National University of Ireland who spoke on Resituating Culture/Situating Diversity and by Professor Costas Douzinas of Birkbeck College, London who gave a thought provoking and challenging lecture on The Ends of Human Rights. The final conclusions of the seminar were presented by Dr Dina Kiwan.

What will be the follow-up to the seminar?

• Download Podcasts of the keynote papers
• Read the official report of the seminar here: http://www.youth-knowledge.net/INTEGRATION/EKC/Research/seminar.html
• Get the book: a publication, as part of the series of research publications of the Partnership programme, will be edited over the coming months

Antiracism

This chapter shall provide you with reports and articles on the issue of racism.

Human Rights

The idea of human rights lies at both the historical and the ideological foundation of the Council of Europe and is just one of those points of commonality running through the whole of Europe. It is not of course exclusive to Europe, but it is certainly one of the most uniting and unifying factors and with the increased membership of the Council of Europe, it will become ever more so.

Human rights affect every aspect of our lives. Indeed, violations of human rights lie at the root of almost every problem in the world today: violence, poverty, globalization, the environment, economic inequality, and lawlessness.

Although human rights, in their original conception were broadly confined to the civil and political spheres, it is now acknowledged that they must embrace social, cultural, and economic issues as well. Today, people even speak of a third generation of rights that takes into account collective rights and issues concerning future generations of mankind.

The international community now recognizes three different generations of rights which cover different dimensions of human activity.

First generation rights: liberty rights
These include the civil and political rights such as the right to freedom of expression, freedom of association, the right to life, to a fair trial, to participation in the political life of society, and so on. These issues are traditionally addressed in the formal education sector through citizenship education, civic education, political education for democracy or law related education.

Second generation rights: equality rights
These include the social, economic and cultural rights, such as the right to an adequate standard of living, to work, to join a trade union, to health and education. Within the formal education system at least, these are areas that are often neglected.

Third generation: solidarity rights
These rights are also known as emerging rights because they are still in the process of being acknowledged and recognized. They refer to the collective rights of society or people, such as the right to sustainable development, to peace, or to a healthy environment. There are increasing educational areas that look specifically at these rights, for example environmental education, peace education and development education.

Participation