The EU project ‘Abused no More’[i] is pleased to announce the organisation of the conference ‘Shaping the European Educational Agenda from the Bottom Up’[ii], which will take place on Thursday, 22nd of September 2016, 08:30: – 17:15, at the Journalists House in Nicosia[iii]. The conference, which is hosted by KISA – Action for Equality, Support Antiracism, as a project partner, aims to discuss how increasing migrant youth’s legal capability[iv], especially in the area of gender-based discrimination and exclusion, will aid in their employability and social inclusion, thereby enhancing their self-empowerment.
Young minority ethnic groups are particularly marginalised in European societies. With this reality in mind, the conference aims to address the positive impact of a youth-led approach in increasing young people’s legal capability as a core social skill in Europe. More precisely, research supports that when people are given the basic legal knowledge to deal with everyday situations not only do they stand a better chance in society, but also they avoid consuming public services unnecessarily. The topics of the conference will be discussed in the framework of how increasing young people’s legal capability is of paramount importance and a gap that is yet to be addressed in the field of youth training, education and youth.
The conference will be addressed by Mr George Markopouliotis, Head of the European Commission Representation in Cyprus, Ms Leda Koursoumba, the Cypriot Commissioner for Children’s Rights, and Ms Anthoula Papadopoulou, the chairperson of KISA. In the keynote speech, Dr Theo Gavrielides, founder and Director of The IARS International Institute (Lead Partner) will introduce the Abused no More Project & its Research Publication: ‘’My Voice – My Rights: Young, Marginalised and Empowered by the law’’[v]
The first session will mainly focus on the realities that marginalised ethnic youth in Europe are facing and on the role of educational policies and systems and legal capability in empowering/disempowering them. In the second session, the project partners will provide to the participants their ‘’national perspectives’’ by presenting the national reports of the research while the third and last session of the conference will attempt to discuss potential suggestions and perspectives for the future. The conference speakers also include academics, legal experts as well as young people with migrant origins or backgrounds. You may access the agenda of the conference here[vi].
The 3-year Abused No More project, funded by the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Commission, is being implemented by a partnership[vii] that is coordinated by The IARS International Institute (UK) in cooperation with Anziani e Non Solo (Italy), KISA (Cyprus), Romanian U.S. Alumni Association (Romania) and Stowarzyszenie Interwencji Prawnej – SIP (Poland).
The project aims to create, support, develop and serve strategic partnerships in the area of youth-led training, educational and awareness raising activities that will enable better integration of marginalised migrant and other vulnerable youth, with an emphasis on gender-based abuse and exclusion’. The project also aims to improve services provided to young people making them legally literate in order to empower them in claiming their rights’.
For more information about the conference and registration please contact KISA by email or telephone at info@kisa.org.cy and 22878181.
[i] http://www.abusednomore.org/
[iv] Abilities that a person needs to deal effectively with law-related issues.
[v] http://www.abusednomore.org/2016/06/27/download-the-report/
[vii] http://www.abusednomore.org/partners/
