Learning to counter online hate speech through UP!
Over the past week, we were busy with the “Unleashing the Power of Youth Work to Counter Online Hate Speech – UP!” seminar in Ommen, The Netherlands. 40 youth workers, educators, and youth trainers from 14 countries have gathered in Ommen to demonstrate the work they have done after the training in Dilijan, Armenia. The project equipped young people with the necessary skills, knowledge and tools to support their fight against online oppressive narratives, propaganda and hate speech.
Eko Doedel is one of our participants from The Netherlands. He actively participated in the first phase of the project in Dilijan, Armenia. Now, after the project ended in Ommen, he shares his impressions of the project: “We have been tackling different organizational skills, reflecting on what we have done before the project. I have done multiple activities which included 400 people but I believe even a single conversation with someone could have changed their perspectives. And I always say that one step is better than no step”.
Antonis Kakoullis is from Cyrus. He mentions that the project was a perfect point for development for him: “I have learned how to build a campaign through activism, living library as an action to anticipate hate speech from the book’s and reader’s sight. As a Cyprus team, we organized and presented a living library action”.
Our participant from Italy, Leonardo Delfanti, also shared his experience: “Overall the project has been a great opportunity to enter in contact with Armenian civil society, which I discovered is full of vibrant, young and talented people. As a media worker, it helped me to better understand the needs of Europeans and to better shape my understanding of young people’s needs”.
The project is implemented by the Armenian Progressive Youth NGO in collaboration with Jongeren voor Uitwisseling en Begrip (JUB). The project is funded under the Erasmus+ programme of the European Union.
