ENAR network’s achievements – September-October 2018

ENAR Network’s achievements

EU action against Islamophobia. Following a joint open letter to request the European Commission to take concrete actions in the fight against islamophobia and ensure a meaningful mandate for the EU coordinator on combating Anti-Muslim hatred, signed by ENAR and a civil society coalition working against Islamophobia, the European Commission has scheduled a high-level meeting on anti-Muslim hatred with civil society in December. A video was also published to explain our position and viewed more than 1,000 times.

European Parliament progress on Afrophobia. The European Parliament tabled a Resolution on the fundamental rights of People of African Descent and Black Europeans in Europe, as a result of ENAR advocacy during the past year. It should be adopted by the end of the year.

Racist European Parliament advert taken down. The European Parliament has agreed to take down a racist advertisement for the EU elections as part of its ‘This time I’m voting’ campaign, following social media actions by ENAR and the issue being raised by Sajjad Karim MEP, a Vice-President of the ARDI Intergroup.

Intersectionality from an anti-racist perspective. ENAR organised a major European symposium on intersectionality on 3rd October in Brussels, in partnership with the Center for Intersectional Justice. The meeting was widely attended and enabled participants to increase understanding of the concept of intersectionality with a focus on race; and to explore ways to operationalize the concept in policy making. In addition, ENAR was the main speaker at a session on intersectionality during the EU High-level group on non-discrimination attended by Member States representatives. As a follow-up of this exchange, a good practice exchange seminar will be organised in Greece in December.

Members’ achievements

A broad coalition of Belgian anti-racism NGOs, including several ENAR members, has been established to call for the adoption of a national action plan against racism. Following advocacy and media work, the coalition met with three different Ministries, including the cabinet of the Federal Secretary of State in charge of designing the national action plan.

The Collective Against Islamophobia in Belgium organised an action week against Islamophobia including an event in the Brussels Regional Parliament and the launch of their 2017 report on Islamophobia in Belgium, which was widely covered in the media.

Generation 2.0 for Rights Equality & Diversity in Greece has launched the programme “Facilitating access to work for Vulnerable Populations in Athens” in partnership with the International Rescue Committee, which aims to support refugees and asylum seekers in improving their living conditions by finding a fulfilling job.