Europe

Call for participants: Struggle for equality continues: mapping the road to gender equality in youth organisations (13-18 Oct, Berlin)

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Description of the activity
With this activity IUSY is planning to expand and strengthen the reach of gender mainstreaming policies, to provide space for young people and youth organisations to set up goals that go further than gender parity and develop tools that will allow their organisations and the youth sector to assure true gender equality. This strategy does not end by electing young women in leadership (while this in itself represents an important step forward) – the further challenge is the empowerment of all young people to assume even more active roles in working towards achieving a truly inclusive culture in our organisations and parties and reinforcing our efforts in combating exclusion, discrimination and violence.

IUSY will in this way return to focus on gender equality as one of the core requirements foran inclusive organisational culture and a fundamental basis for open and democratic youth organisations. This represents our next step in reaching beyond the policies and mechanisms for ensuring gender parity, to work on establishing an environment in which young people of all genders work together in a respectful and sensitive atmosphere, enabling each of them to give their best contribution to the shared goals and aspirations.

The participants in this activity will have the chance to give their contribution to this struggle. They will outline an advanced strategy for gender mainstreaming in youth organisations to bring about equal participation and visibility at all levels of the organisational structure, including leadership, representation and decision-making and unite young people and youth organisations in joint efforts for equality and against gender-based stereotypes, disrespect, harassment and violence. The participants will have the chance to explore the gender issues in their own organisations and our movement, getting an open view of the actual situation concerning gender equality and the impact of gender mainstreaming policies so far. They will investigate the understanding of the terms of gender identity and the extent to which gender diversity is respected in youth organisations. They will explore the reach of gender equality, while on the other side recognizing the challenges, including any type of gender-related discrimination and researching the mechanisms that the organisations are putting into action to face these threats and combat all types of inequality. Finally, they will set advanced goals for gender equality in youth organisations and design tools (guidelines and methods for concrete cases and situations) to carry them out – the IUSY toolkit for gender equality in youth organisations, which will be shared in our global movement and with our partner youth organisations, as well as a series of regional workshops to be realized by the IUSY Feminist Working Group in order to get additional input and approaches and rise the reach of the activity to global level in our movement.

Aim

The main aim of this activity is to design an advanced strategy for gender mainstreaming in youth organisations in order to assure equal representation and visibility of all actors and a joint struggle against all types of gender-based discrimination, including gender-based bias and stereotypes, disrespect and harassment and gender-based violence. The activity will contribute to reinforcing our ongoing struggle for inclusion and against discrimination and violence, starting from youth organisations active in our global movement and expanding further among the youth sector.

Objectives

• To strengthen the understanding of gender identity and recognize the importance of gender equality in youth organisations and our movement

• To comprehend the current situation in youth organisations regarding gender equality and the main challenges and issues to address in order to improve further

• To set short- and long-term goals for improvement of gender equality in youth organisations and design an advanced strategy to reach the defined goals

Participants profile

• 18-30 years old

• Grass root youth activists from IUSY partner/member organizations

• Interested in the topic of gender equality, feminism, youth activism, political participation, youth empowerment

• Interested in and strong motivation in being part of the follow up of the activity

Daily programme

How to apply

To make sure that everyone has equal chance in participating, participants must apply via online application form by clicking here or copy pasting the following link

https://forms.gle/FQFfvUqPqarH8has6

DEADLINE for registration is 8th of August, 2019.

DEADLINE for receiving application result is 12th of August, 2019.

Selection of the participation will be based on several criteria, such motivation for taking part in this activity, readiness to continue working towards expanding youth participation and their commitment and readiness to take part in the follow-up activities as well as age and gender.

Eligible member/partner organisations per country

According to the rules of the project, participants coming from Council of Europe member countries are eligible to apply.

Costs

There is a 30-euro participant contribution. All other costs such as travel, accommodation, meal will be fully covered by the project.

Travel information

Arrivals and Departures

Day of arrival for the activity is the 13th of October and day of departure is the 18th of October.

Please make your travel arrangements accordingly and do not forget that IUSY will not be able to cover accommodation or any other additional expenses for participants who need to stay additional nights. You should contact the project coordinator to confirm your flight ticket before purchasing it.

Travel reimbursement

As soon as your participation is confirmed, we strongly advise you to communicate with the project coordinator in order to organise your travel and buy your tickets as early as possible to avoid high costs. All travel reimbursements will be made in euro via bank transfer after the activity.

Cost of travels must be proven by original documents. Therefore, please do not forget to keep and hand in ALL of the following documents at the activity:

Flights:

1. Booking confirmation, itinerary and ticket (if the amount is not mentioned, you should provide an invoice or a bank statement)

2. Original boarding passes for all flight segments for both ways

3. Local travel tickets, where relevant

4. Your bank account details

Train/coach:

1. Booking confirmation, itinerary and ticket

2. Original, stamped tickets for all journey segments

3. Local travel tickets, where relevant

4. Your bank account details

Car:

1. Petrol receipts and a calculation of the kilometric allowance (itinerary showing the number of kilometers and kilometric rate used)

2. Origin address and route map

3. Your bank account details

Car sharing:

1. A statement signed by both by the driver and the traveler including the name of the traveler, the name of the driver, the dates of the journey, the itinerary and the number of kilometers and the amount paid.

2. Your bank account details

Visas

The IUSY Secretariat will support visa applications for the activity. If you require a visa for Germany, please send a copy of your passport to iusy@iusy.org as soon as possible, so the secretariat can draft a visa invitation letter for you. You need to make an appointment at the embassy/consulate and prepare required documents by yourself.

Accommodation and meeting venue

The accommodation and project venue will be sent to all participants nearer the time, at least one month in advance of the activity.

IUSY_EYF_invitation_october2019

Contact

Gohar Ghandilyan | IUSY Project Manager

Email: iusy@iusy.org or gohar.ghandilyan@iusy.org

Phone: +43 699 135 32 960

We are looking forward to receiving your application!

Statement of IUSY Feminist Working Group’19: Gender Mainstreaming in Youth Organisations

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Young activists of IUSY member organisations have met 27-30 June 2019, at Salvador Allende Haus in Germany to reflect on the theme Gender mainstreaming in youth organisations.

The IUSY Feminist Working Group has further discussed on women empowerment, intersectionality, representation and prevention of sexualized violence with a unique left perspective. We believe the fight against patriarchy must be the fight against all privileges and exploitations. Therefore, we have highlighted the difference from right and liberal feminism and have stressed for the need to:

  1. change the structure of society in order to achieve real equality. It’s not enough to cancel limitations;
  2. consider other struggles requiring attention and association with the needs in pursuing for gender equality;
  3. emphasise that the only feminism is intersectional feminism;
  4. analyse the reality through the lens of socialist intersectional feminism and to bring the left perspective to the centre of the table;
  5. have internal tools and common understanding of topics related to feminism in order to implement gender equality in the MO’s & in IUSY;

The Feminist Working Group has resolved to develop and publish a toolkit in December in order to inform, form and transform the knowledge.

No feminism without socialism, no socialism without feminism

Salvador Allende Haus, Germany, 29thJune 2019

 

 

Call for Registrations: Global Seminar 2019 3-6 October 2019

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Overview

What:             IUSY Global Seminar

When:            3-6 October 2019

Where:           Stockholm, Sweden

 

Overview of the event

The Olof Palme International Centre’s Global Project finances the IUSY Global Seminar. The IUSY Global Seminar 2019 will gather together IUSY member organisations and representatives from the districts of the Swedish Social Democratic Youth League (SSU). New to this year is that the second day will be spent having a joint programme together with IFLRY, The International Federation of Liberal Youth. The aim of the seminar will be to provide to the Member Organisations and to the SSU representatives a platform to discuss and come up with ideas on how we can battle shrinking civil society space and support civil society organisations and activists across the globe. A secondary aim is also to strengthen collaboration with IFLRY on topics that we agree on. The seminar will be an opportunity for us to learn and reflect upon new ideas and partnerships in our work for a fairer and more equal world.

Theme

A cornerstone of a democratic society is an empowered and independent civil society. Civil society organiations (CSOs) are the voice of the people and ensure that decision-makers make policies that respond to the needs of its citizens. In the last couple of years civil society has been under attack. CIVICUS has documented that civil society space is attacked in 111 countries and that only four per cent of the world’s population live in countries where our fundamental civil society freedoms such as freedom of association, peaceful assembly and expression are respected. The shrinking space has presented itself as restrictive legislation, restricted access to funding for CSOs, and attacks such as threats, violence and murders have been committed to human rights defenders and civil society representatives and organisations. The Global Seminar will tackle the topic of shrinking civil society space and the role of political youth organisations. Together we will learn more about the attacks on civil society but also discuss what our roles are as political youth organisations in a more democratic world by ensuring that we have a free and independent civil society.

For more information about the state of civil society during 2018 read CIVICUS 2019 report.

For any questions or remarks please don’t hesitate to contact the IUSY Secretariat at iusy@iusy.org, put Global Seminar 2019 in the subject line.

With best regards,

Johanna Ortega                                                Ana Pirtskhalava

IUSY President                                            IUSY Secretary General

Participation Profile & Selection Process

Each member organisation may register up to one participant for the meeting.
The selection criteria will be based on
1. The questions listed in the application form

  1. Gender Balance (both IUSY statutes and the global project require gender balance)
  2. Regional Balance

Participants must be able to attend the entire programme of the seminar.

It’s preferable that participants have an interest in working with civil society and has knowledge about the threats against civil society today as well as previous experience working with liberal youth.

All participants must be aged 18-35 years old, with no exceptions.

How to apply

Participants must apply by filling in the registration form that you can find here. Or copy paste it to your browser: https://forms.gle/tLWevqnbTkXqbsA26

Please note that a thought out answer to the questions are required as it is part of the selection process.

The deadline for application is 05 of August.

Participation fee

The participation fee for the event is 50€ per person and must be paid with bank transfer by Wednesday 15th September 2019.

Please note that you will have to be selected before you pay the participation fee.
The participation fee will cover accommodation, meals, refreshments and programme for the duration of the event. Any additional nights’ accommodation must be arranged and paid for by participants.

Payment should be via bank transfer to IUSYs account.

Once you have made the bank transfer, please send a payment receipt to iusy@iusy.org. Please be aware that IUSY cannot take responsibility for any bank fees.

Visas

The IUSY Secretariat will support visa applications for the event. Please note that the Secretariat will support you with a visa invitation letter. Participants themselves must apply for the visa and book appointments with the embassies/consulates.

Travel Reimbursement

Travel reimbursement is available up to a fixed reference price. Only economy tickets will be reimbursed. Please note that as this event is open to all IUSY’s regions the amount of Travel Reimbursement available to the different organisations will become available after the selection process has finished.

Cancellations

Each organisation whose participant withdraws after the 25th of September without a valid reason will be charged the participation fee.

Contacts

Amanda Lilliefeldt

Amanda.lilliefeldt@iusy.org or

iusy@iusy.org / +4369913532970

IUSY is ready to do its active part to facilitate the work of ngos and youth for the inclusion of refugees

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Study session for an inclusive society for Refugees - Budapest - at the European Youth Center - 23/27 April 2018

The International Union of Socialist Youth is ready to welcome 22 participants from 18 countries to the European Youth Centre of the Council of Europe in Budapest for a 5-day Study session to empower youth in the hard work to create more open and fairer societies for refugees, from the 23rd to the 27th of April, 2018.

The Study session, organised by IUSY in cooperation with the Council of Europe, aims to facilitate the participants in exploring the roots of discrimination, empower them in their efforts to work with and for young refugees to help with the development of their full personality and their social inclusion.

Participants will explore the concepts of identity, discrimination, with a particular focus on refugees and Internally Displaced People.

Participants will be asked to share both their best and worst experiences from their home countries, in an effort to come up with an online platform that aims to help youth organisations to get in touch with NGOs and vice-versa. The aim of the platform is to improve the coordination in organising events at the local and national levels with the hopes to sensitise and engage their local communities in the active inclusion of refugees.

ZITA GURMAI – newly elected member of the Hungarian parliament and PES women President will open the Study Session on Monday – the 23rd of April, at 9:30 am.

Participants will be helped in their work by high-level speakers who will participate in a special Panel debate on Wednesday the 25th of April, at 11 am, focusing on the role of the different stakeholders in the field:

  • Marja Bijl – Vice-president of PES women (Party of European Socialists’ women network). Ms. Bijil is a managing director of an NGO working to combat human trafficking (a situation many refugees, both women and men face when they arrive in Europe). She is well known in her home country (The Netherlands) for the organisation of local-network to combat human trafficking;
  • Michaela Pobudova – Director of Mareena. Ms. Pobudova has a long history of working with refugees and migrants and is currently the director of Mareena. Mareena is a Slovakian NGO working for inclusion of newly arrived refugees and migrants through courses and workshops that facilitates the promotion of the full personality of people, helping them to not be “just refugees”;
  • Neil Arun – Journalist and Editorial consultant. Mr. Arun has been shortlisted twice for the European Press Prize. He has worked with local journalists in the Balkans and Iraq, specialising in investigative journalism. Mr. Arun has also been a mentor in the Refugee Journalism Project. Neil Arun has his work published on The Guardian, the New Statesman, The Atlantic, and The Independent among others.

The speakers will give participants an insight into the relationships between politics, civil society and journalism when it comes to working with and portraying the so-called “Refugee crisis”.

Contacts:
Amanda Lilliefeldt | IUSY Project Manager – amanda.lilliefeldt@iusy.org
Matteo Cervi | IUSY External consultant on communication – matteo.cervi@iusy.org

IUSY statement on the elections in Hungary

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Hungary - elections 2018: We are with the people who wants a progressive change

On the elections of Sunday, the 8th of April, Viktor Orbán, current Hungary’s Prime Minister and leader of the political party Fidesz, has won a two-thirds majority in the Hungarian Parliament. Although the elections were far from being democratic, the current government has secured the majority of the votes, which cannot be ignored.

We, socialist youth all over the world, are deeply saddened by the results of the elections in Hungary, as it shows again that the century-old political-toolkit of the populist far-right is still working. Moreover, it seems to be unstoppable in spreading hatred and tearing apart people, societies, regions and international communities.

In moments like this, it might seem impossible to stop the spread of far-right populism. However, this unfortunate turnout of the Hungarian elections must encourage us even more not to give up, but to unite our forces in Hungary, Europe and all over the world.

We know that the fast changes that are happening around us frighten many people. This is the fear that was used against people of Hungary and this is the fear that other far-right parties try to exploit as well. We must listen to the fears of people and together turn it into hope and essentially into a system that is based on trust and inclusion instead of fear and hate.

The International Union of Socialist Youth stands next to the people of Hungary and especially the youth who desperately want a progressive change in their country. We will work closely with them and help to realize the change our community needs.

IUSY calls to a productive and constructive work for the future of Catalonia and the whole Spain

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In light of the political situation in Catalonia, IUSY wants to express the following:

  • IUSY affirms that, in all cases, its political positions are always coordinated with its Member Organizations; in regards to the political situation in Catalonia, IUSY expresses its agreement with the opinions and initiatives undertaken so far by the Joventut Socialista de Catalunya (JSC-Spain), the Juventudes Socialistas de España (JSE-Spain), and the views expressed by the Partit dels Socialistes de Catalunya (PSC), the Partido Socialista Obrero Español (PSOE), the Party of the European Socialists (PES) and the S&D Group.
  • IUSY believes that freedom of expression, democracy and the rule of law must always be ensured in any actions, measures or initiatives pursued by any government.
  • IUSY believes that any form of verbal or physical violence and bullying has no space in today’s political life, and shows its support to all the comrades and local representatives that have been harassed in the past days in regards to their views on this matter.
  • IUSY believes that a political problem such as that of the relation between Catalonia and the rest of Spain must be addressed from the political perspective and by ensuring that the voices of all actors are heard and taken into consideration.
  • IUSY believes that the respect of the rule of law and the political institutions is an indispensable condition for any political initiative.
  • IUSY believes that the approach taken by the government of Rajoy is wrong and counterproductive, since his extreme delegation into the judiciary is only contributing with more and growing tension to the political life in Catalonia.
  • IUSY believes that the unilateral path to the independence that the political forces in power in Catalonia have taken, with disrespect to the rights of the opposition and violating the current legal framework and the Spanish Constitution is not going to lead to any solution for the problems that the Catalans have.
  • IUSY believes that only a true, honest and sincere effort of dialogue, re-building bridges between Catalonia and the rest of Spain, reducing tensions and eventually reaching an agreement for a constitutional reform that respects all the political sensibilities and that is voted by all the citizens is the wisest procedure to provide a solution to this matter.

#YouthInAction – Day 1

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#YouthInAction – videolog day 1

Videolog from our 1st day of our training course on how to promote active citizenship and democracy.International activity organised with Young European Socialists and hosted by Sozialistische Jugend Deutschlands – Die Falken.Supported by Council of Europe – European Youth Foundation.#YOUTHINACTION

Posted by IUSY on Thursday, June 1, 2017

Videolog from our 1st day of our training course on how to promote active citizenship and democracy.
International activity organised with Young European Socialists and hosted by Sozialistische Jugend Deutschlands – Die Falken.
Supported by Council of Europe – European Youth Foundation.
#YOUTHINACTION

On the Turkish referendum

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Turkish referendum

Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the country’s prime minister from the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) have declared victory in the Sunday referendum, won by a narrow margin and designed to hand Erdogan full power.

The new constitution grants autocratic Erdogan vast powers, including the ability to appoint judges without input from parliament, issue decrees with the force of law, and dissolve parliament. The president would also have the sole prerogative over all senior appointments in the bureaucracy and exercise exclusive control of the armed forces.
The amendments obviate the need for the post of prime minister, which would be abolished. With massive imbalances and virtually no checks on the head of state, all hopes for a democratic Turkey are over.

The entire referendum campaign took place amid political crackdown in the aftermath of a deadly military coup last July, the details of which are still unclear. After the coup attempt, Erdogan has deliberately polarized his country, spreading terror through large-scale purges, with authorities jailing 40.000 and dismissing tens of thousands of civil servants, soldiers, police officers, teachers, justice officials and others from their jobs. In a parallel set of court cases, hundreds of members of the opposition the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) have been imprisoned on terrorism charges, among them Members of Parliament.

The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), which monitored the vote and the campaign that preceded it, concluded in its preliminary assessment that the referendum took place in an environment of unfairness that failed to fully measure up to international standards.

As independent media outlets and their dozens of journalists were arrested or exiled, the AKP’s campaign for Yes dominated Turkey’s media and public spaces.
During the campaign, the AKP rallied nationalist voters by equating the No camp with terrorism. According to the OSCE, the state did not ensure that voters were provided with impartial or balanced information on the amendments and their potential impact, thus limiting their ability to make an informed choice.

Whilst IUSY neither condone nor support Islamaphobia that is inherent within the right-wing populist narrative, we must point out that Erdogan’s use of religious polarisation and instrumentalising Islam to fan ethnoreligious nationalistic sentiment is something that must be fought and condemned.

IUSY stands in full solidarity with our comrades from HDP and CHP in their fight for democracy and freedom.

The international community must stop to ignore all kind of human rights violations in the country and put necessary pressure to release the members of the opposition, journalists, and all political prisoners.

IUSY will continue to fight for democracy, justice, and freedom, in Turkey, and all over the world!