Our rights and freedoms are in our hands!
The regional meeting of representatives of Member Organisations and associates from the RUMB region (Russia, Ukraine, Moldova, Belarus), organized by CDN and hosted by the Republican Center Gutta-Club, was held in Chisinau (Moldova) on 20-24 July. The participants worked together on common problems and common solutions concerning the civil and political rights of youth in these countries.
Despite the fact that the group consisted of people from different fields of activity with different backgrounds, the desire to participate in Green activism and the desire for change are what united the participants of the meeting. The event helped young people expand their knowledge of civic and political rights and meet like-minded people from neighbouring countries who want to take the first step towards a better, fair reality for all.
The program of the first day included interactive lectures, where the participants learned about a brief history of civil and political rights in the region, discussed the work of institutions that should protect these rights, compared the situation in the region and worked in groups to identify regional organizations and institutions ensuring the observance of these rights in each country. Moreover, young activists had the opportunity to listen to a lecture by Doctor of Science, expert-analyst Alexander Makukhin “Ensuring civil and political rights in the RUMB countries: pre-election / post-election perspective” and have a discussion with the lecturer and each other. In addition, thanks to the activities of the organizers and the facilitators, the participants got to know each other better during the team building activities, city quest and group reflection sessions. The first day ended with the “Fair of Organizations”, where participants presented their organisations and exchanged experiences of volunteering in them.
During the second day, participants analyzed the tools and methods for claiming their rights, analyzing their effectiveness, accessibility and security in each of the countries using the example of specific cases. Further, having studied the institutional barriers to upholding civil and political rights in the RUMB countries in the form of an interactive game, the participants divided into teams, systematized the information received in the form of a poster, in which they reflected their thoughts and ways to effectively achieve goals and effectively resist violations of rights. After discussing the posters, the participants gathered for a group reflection and ended the day by watching and discussing documentaries about the major political events in Ukraine (d \ f “Euromaidan. Rough editing”) and in Belarus (d \ f “Sisters of protest”).
The third, final, day began with the session: “The role of international solidarity in the fight for our rights.” During the session, the young people discussed ways of expressing solidarity and concrete actions that can be used to solve the problem. As in the past days, in small groups, some cases were reviewed and posters were created on the topic. The conclusion of the whole discussion of the last day and the two previous ones was the identification of fundamental human rights, which, according to the group, are most often violated, and the creation of projects that contribute to changing this situation. Participants presented their ideas, suggesting creative ways: creating demonstrative role-playing board games, comics, and even envisioning new professions.
The meeting of young Greens of the region showed that by having an active civic position, one can always come to a consensus by discussing a problem and unite common efforts to solve it.
Ekaterina Chulkova
Volunteer of RC Gutta-club