ENAR’s achievements in October

Check out ENAR’s main achievements and impact during the month of October.

– The European Commission’s conclusions on the Colloquium on Fundamental Rights held on 1st and 2nd October mention several recommendations put forward by ENAR and partners. The upgraded European Union High-level group on racism, xenophobia and other forms of intolerance will be open to civil society and explore the added value and feasibility of setting up dedicated national strategies on forms of racism. The European Commission will produce good practice guidance for member States on hate crime and coordinate efforts to provide support to States on equality data collection. Finally, public and private sectors are encouraged to provide reasonable accommodation of cultural and religious diversity at work.

– Some of ENAR’s proposed amendments were adopted in the version of the report on the prevention of radicalisation adopted in LIBE Committee on 19th October. Mention of specific forms of racism, Islamophobia and Antisemitism, of different forms of radicalisation, of the need for schools to live up to principle of non-discrimination, the separation between NGOs funding and countering terrorism programmes and long-term social investment are particularly relevant.

– ENAR blog/webzine on UN bodies’ reports on Afrophobia was shared 90 times on Facebook and 66 times on Twitter

Members’ achievements:

– During an event organised by the Pan African Movement for Justice in October on the voices of Afro-Swedes, Swedish Minister for Culture Alice Bah Kuhnke pledged her commitment to adopt specific objectives on different communities in the upcoming National Action Plan Against Racism.

– In the Netherlands, following calls by some ENAR members against Blackface, the government has announced that it will implement the UN Decade for People of African Descent in consultation with NGOs, after the Minister for Social Affairs and Employment Lodewijk Asscher acknowledged that Black Pete has become a symbol of racism in the Netherlands and needs to change.

– In the Czech Republic, ENAR member SIMI (Association for Integration and Migration) has established long term cooperation with the Economic Chamber of the Czech Republic. Through this cooperation, the greatest representative of Czech entrepreneurs strives to offer help to recognised refugees’ integration in the education system and accessing employment.