youth Archives - aditus foundation

Youth, Not Status II Training Weekend

On 11th-12th of November aditus held the second Training Course of Youth, Not Status, the Erasmus+ project that aims to bring together young Europeans and young refugee/migrants (range of age 18-30 years old), to provide them with human rights information and skills necessary to structure ideas and strategies for them to inform national policy-making on youth themes.

The training took place at Aġenzija Żgħażagħ Youth Village Complex in St. Joseph High Road, Santa Venera, and gathered together 20 young learners of all ages between 17 and 28 and from different backgrounds and helped them explore and change the discourse on migration and to understand the challenges and potentials of cultural diversity, inclusion, social integration.

The first session on Saturday 11^th fostered social cohesion and promote intercultural dialogue. Dr. Anne Bathily and Dr. Virginie Gailing canvassed concepts and addressed subjects through interactive working group exercises to promote social inclusion and challenge racism and stereotypes.

They combined them with body-storming games as a powerful learning tool to improve critical thinking and education to achieve sustainable development, intercultural understanding and awareness campaigning.

It has been amazing watching the trainers with their interactive tools and proposals. The different protocols helped enormously in encouraging debate, to raise issues and work together to find solutions on daily based situations.

The Training gave us practice and examples of how to be aware and acknowledge that growing inequality has become a pressing issue.

The participants kept telling me, yesterday, that they felt very privileged to have participated in the workshop.

Antonella Sgobbo, aditus Programmes Officer and Youth, Not Status Project Coordinator.

During the last stage of the day, the identification of three project ideas took place in a very engaging working groups set up, three tables for three different projects:

National Youth Council/equivalent of youth platform to be given a vote + consultation power in policy making process of Parliament
Youth Media Platform
Social integration campaigns

The workshop concluded with pitches of these proposals in front of a proper jury composed of a journalist, a video maker and a project manager who provided the participants with valuable advice on the potential impact of the projects.

The next session on Sunday 12^th sought to identify how young people can make use of the policy to advocate for their needs. Dr Gabi Calleja facilitated the session about “the National Youth Policy Towards 2020: A shared vision for the future of young people”, as part of the Government’s policy for greater participation, equitable economic and social progress for all and inclusive change.

The panel examined topics such as human rights and justice; political participation and decision-making; gender and health inequalities; and employment, education, and migration opportunities, in the context of youth development, empowerment, and equality within society.

The participants provided input on the strategies of the policy before its implementation and they advocated for increased inclusivity in the aims and the objectives of the policy.

The workshop provided an invaluable platform for migrant and Maltese youths to interact and learn under the guidance of national and international coaches on integration, youth policy and journalism.

The interactive nature of the workshop made the weekend thoroughly enjoyable!

Helena A. Youth, Not Status participant.

Jurgen Balzan led the last talk ‘Young people’s representation in media across the Mediterranean’. A vast majority of citizens in Europe and the southern Mediterranean now recognise youth-led initiatives and education reform as the best way to tackle discrimination and extremist narratives.

Jurgen gave an example of how social media played a significant role during the Arab Spring as it facilitated communication and interaction among participants of political protests, and he shared his experiences in reporting on cases involving migrants. The group of participants debated on how displaced and vulnerable people can be empowered through the use of social media and other platforms.

My participation in Youth, Not Status made me feel more comfortable and free to speak about migration. I met new people, we shared our experiences. Everything is more realistic now! Being judged as migrant, refugee in this Country needs to be refreshed up.

We shared our voices, we were very engaged, despite of the pressure and the animated debate.

Our voices can change the whole world.

It was a pleasure meeting also Jurgen Balzan, the journalist who spoke about the situation that happened in North Africa and in the Middle East. Thanks.

Omar, Youth, Not Status participant.

If you want to know more about Youth, Not Status project click here:

http://aditus.org.mt/our-work/projects/youth-not-status/

If you want be involved in the next activities of Youth, Not Status, get in touch with us:
antonellasgobbo@aditus.org.mt

Photo credits: Antonella Sgobbo

Youth, Not Status gathered 30 youth for its I training course weekend

On Saturday 30 September and Sunday 1 October 2017, we held the first training course weekend of our project Youth, Not Status. 30 young people living in Malta, coming from different backgrounds and nationalities. Students, youth leaders, social workers and various trainers, gathered for 2 days at the Archbishop’s Seminary in Rabat.

The training course weekend was an opportunity for our participants to create a platform to exchange experiences, practices and methods for young people and youth organizations on how to address migration, integration and human rights issues at the grassroots. It also included discussions focusing on national youth actions and how to strengthen the awareness and mobilization of young people in relation to these issues.

The project, funded by Erasmus+, will bring together Maltese youth and young refugees and migrants in an open social dialogue with local authorities focused on key themes of migration and integration relevant to Malta, highlighting stories and experiences from a youth perspective.

The training is also an opportunity for brainstorming about ways in which young people can be mobilised into find solutions in common critical areas: such as political participation, prevention of violent extremism, cultural heritage, freedom of expression and media and information literacy.

The training course weekend was designed to encourage discussions between Maltese and migrant youth in order to increase knowledge and awareness on migration, to reflect about the effects of migration on the rights of young refugees, and to understand the challenges and potentials of cultural diversity, inclusion, social integration, youth work and youth political participation.

The 2 days of training were structured into 4 different sessions facilitated by our Assistant Director Carla Camilleri, Maria Pisani from Integra Foundation, Binda Consulting International and PRISMS Malta. The sessions focused on the following topics:

Civil Society and Democracy;
Youth Narratives and Youth experiences with Racism, Marginalisation, xenophobia.
Youth as Political Citizens,
Youth Sharing Experiences, Multiculturalism.

Due to the lack of information on the existing issues, preconceived ideas, the continuous criminalization of the irregular migrants and their presumed threat and youth civil society, Maltese and the refugee and migrant community are not empowered to act as a cohesive group.

The sessions held during the weekend aimed at strengthening the protection of the rights of migrants and to change the societal attitudes towards them by integrating human rights discourse and the dignity dimension into the public debate on migration.

The discussion among the participants concluded with two main objectives:

to change the discourse on migration by mainstreaming the topics of human rights, dignity and protection into public discussions;
to develop and implement advocacy goals aiming to ensure the implementation of opportunities for youth to engage in governance and participate in political and decision-making processes.

Youth, Not Status next training course will be held on the 11 and 12 November.

The topics will be:

Cohabitation and co-work between young Nationals and young Refugees in Malta;
Young people’s representation in media, dialogue and collaboration between youth and key media actors;
National legislation on youth revision participation to advocate for the development of national youth strategies and policies and to lobby for the sound implementation of these.

REGISTRATION IS STILL OPEN!! Click here to apply:

http://aditus.org.mt/our-work/projects/youth-not-status/registration-form/

If you need more info, don’t hesitate to get in touch with us:

antonellasgobbo@aditus.org.mt

YOUTH, NOT STATUS: Erasmus+ project

TO DISCOVER DIFFERENT WAYS OF ACTING AND BEING INVOLVED IN THE

PROMOTION OF A MULTICULTURAL SOCIETY

JULY 2017– MAY 2018

Call for applications

Funded by Erasmus +, Youth, Not Status is the new project of aditus foundation.

Youth Not Status aims to bring together young Europeans and young refugee/migrants to include them in conversations about human rights. Youth, Not Status is comprised of a series of workshops focusing on the social inclusion of refugee and migrant youth in Malta.

Our idea is to stimulate and facilitate communication between young people of different backgrounds, and to encourage them to engage with decision-makers so as to arrive at practical solutions and ideas. The programme is a unique opportunity to acquire practical tools to support youth in developing common perspectives for sustainable strategies.

They will be guided on how to formulate political demands, comment and provide input on how Malta’s youth policy can be used as a tool to promote and encourage integration. Throughout the project, we will be focusing on human rights, advocacy skills, intercultural learning and active participation. The project will include:

social events to act as ice-breakers and relationship-building;
a Youth Camp weekend; and
a series of workshops, leading to a policy encounter with the Minister for Education and Employment. Some workshops will be held before the Youth Camp weekend, others will follow.

Applications will go live on June 1st 2017.

Further details can be seen on the project page:

http://aditus.org.mt/our-work/projects/youth-not-status/

Complete the online application form:

http://aditus.org.mt/our-work/projects/youth-not-status/registration-form/

For more information get in touch with us:

antonellasgobbo@aditus.org.mt

Transnational Conference “Education, Participation, Integration – Erasmus+ and Refugees”

From 19 till 20 April 2016 I took part in the Transnational Conference “Education, Participation, Integration-Erasmus+ and Refugees”, hosted by the German Erasmus + National Agency NA-BIBB “Nationale Agentur Bildung für Europa beim Bundesinstitut für Berufsbildungin”, in Essen, Germany.

The Conference hosted 280 people coming from 25 different European countries, including representatives of educational institutions (higher education, vocational and adult education and schools), the youth sector, local authorities, employment agencies, chambers, enterprises and stakeholders involved in the employment and education integration of refugees into.

The Conference offered an innovative networking opportunity to support institutions and organizations with facilitating the integration of refugees, focusing on the validation of new appropriate methods (like non-formal and informal learning methods), unconventional training activities for refugees and to integrate them in the Europe’s education systems, and innovative approaches for vocational and educational staff.

The conference included two sessions with practical actions in small thematic groups, conversations with artists and keynote contributors, and presentation of good practises emphasizing cross-cultural experiences.

Also, there was a market-place for projects and a cultural dinner for social networking. The final panel discussion gave an overview of the Erasmus₊ programme and the challenges of Member States to remove multiple barriers faced by refugees in terms of access to education and employment.

aditus foundation invited to address Sixth Form students

On Friday 4 March 23 students following the International Baccalaureate at St. Edward’s College and 17 Spanish students from Virgen del Remedio (Madrid) met in Valletta to watch a play about the life and death of Martin Luther King. Following the performance all students participated in workshops to discuss various topics such as: persecution of minorities, poverty, migration and climate change and its social impact.

The leaders of each group presented their conclusions to the plenary where our Director, an Old Edwardian, chaired the session’s closure. Neil concluded the experience by explaining the role every citizen can play to protect the human rights of every individual, and focused on the importance of equality and human dignity in relations with society.

This event provided us the opportunity to engage with young leaders and to promote the values we hold so dearly: the universality of all fundamental human rights, and a social responsibility requiring us to be active thinkers and advocates.

stedwards