Subject; #6 Democracy work in DK

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Willa Atkins
5 years ago
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1 POTENTIAL Paper Subject; #6 Democracy work in DK The vision for this potential area is to build on the experiences from the past two years where MS has worked to build up local programme work focusing on local democracy, active citizenship and anti-discrimination. The long-term goal is for MS to: Establish programmes based on similar modalities in other parts of Denmark Develop and establish a Human Rights Based Program in Denmark Create sustainable financing through fundraising, petitions and solid partnerships Strategic potentials and scenarios WHY & Background Ethno-nationalism is on the rise in Europe and the US - and it is not simply a threat to minority groups, but to the values of our liberal democracy. It s widely stated that how we treat minorities or vulnerable groups is a test for the kind of people or society that we truly are. If we cannot extend values of freedom, equality and solidarity to migrant groups and their descendants, then what hope is there for those values? We may object to the nationalism of Putin, Erdogan and others, but unless we confront own homegrown nationalism, the danger is that we too will slowly go down the same path. We already see how inequality is rising, free speech is being limited and migrant rights are being undermined. This leaves many people in vulnerable positions, facing discrimination and exclusion. As a rightsbased organization, we feel obligated to challenge these issues by having a strong national programme and practice in Denmark, which will make people come together and can function as a platform for new campaigns and agendas. This is why we see a great potential to focus the national programme work around active citizenship, anti-discrimination and strengthening local democracy. The overall vision for the programme work in Denmark is: A free and inclusive Denmark where young people from all backgrounds work together and act as local and global critically engaged citizens, addressing issues of marginalization, racism and inequality in a range of democratic ways. 1

2 Existing National Program Areas In the past two years we have developed four work areas: 2

3 Target groups: Refugees and youth with minority ethnic backgrounds We suggest focusing the work in Denmark on youth with minority ethnic backgrounds and on refugees - and less on social inequality on a broader scale. These groups are some of the most marginalized in Denmark, both politically, economically and socially. Also, these two groups are already the target groups in our current program areas and keeping this focus will build our credibility and enhance our experience. Potentials: The Danish public is worried about the increasingly racist rhetoric and marginalization, which means that there is a big potential for mobilization. For example, when we have organized events on anti-discrimination we have experienced a large turn-out. Most recently we saw this with the event We Won t Be Victims (Unge stemmer fra blokken) where more than 150 new people turned up. Scenario: If we help organize and mobilize youth with ethnic minority background, they will be able stand up for their rights together and be strong voices in the public debate. Right now there are some strong voices in the public debate, but there is no solid organizing going on. If we support the refugee movement in Denmark, then they will be able to more actively oppose unjust actions and create a strong opposition to the current political agendas. Alliances with ethnic Danes: The focus on strengthening the position of refugees and minority ethnic youth does not in any way exclude working with ethnic Danes. On the contrary, ethnic Danes hold the key to achieving change and it is important to mobilize ethnic Danes in order to put pressure on politicians to change conditions for refugees and other socially marginalized groups. Methods: Training, organizing, direct action and campaigning The national work in Denmark is built on a strong training component and the most frequent action format has been workshops and longer action-oriented training courses. Often the trainings and capacity development have been combined with real organizing, public debates and sometimes campaigning. However, in order to fulfill our Theory of change we cannot rely mainly on trainings. We need to embrace organizing, strategic direct actions and long-term campaigning. Volunteers: The peer-to-peer (Volunteer) method is very important part of the programme work in Denmark and there is a huge potential in mobilizing youth around issues of racial discrimination. Both ethnic Danes and minority youth are aware of the racist rhetoric in the media and so they are more than willing to engage in these issues. The following volunteer groups have a significant potential for expansion: Local democracy project, Anti-racism Group and Volunteer trainers. Volunteer support and training needs to be a high priority in order to support this. Potential: If our training efforts are combined with organizing and campaigning we have the potential to make substantial change and become more rooted in DK. We have the knowledge and skills to expand our toolbox, but it requires time, resources and planning. 3

4 Partnerships and social movements The experience from the programme work so far, is that strong partnerships with local institutions/organizations are key to ensure a strategic and comprehensive programme, that reaches the target group, are embedded in local structures (public policies and strategies), builds strong and active local communities and ensure sustainability. Furthermore, partnerships give us an opportunity to create a sustainable financing for the work we do. Municipalities - Youth clubs, schools, social housing programs (sociale helhedsplaner) etc. Organizations and social movements - Venligboerne - Ethnic minority organizations and Muslim religious groups e.g. Somali Women s Association, Mino Denmark. - Danish Institute for Human Rights. - Universities - Cultural institutions Thematic Focus Areas: Anti-discrimination and active citizenship Thematically, there is a great potential in focusing on anti-racism and youth with minority background and an increased focus on the following: Active citizenship, especially the ability of youth to advocate on their own behalf Refugee and migrant rights Racial discrimination, particularly in the educational system and workplaces This means less focus on AA themes such as taxation, safe cities or women s rights. However, such issues will often still play a role, since issues are inter-connected, for example the rights of women with ethnic minority background or the discriminatory stop n search by police of young men with ethnic minority backgrounds. Geographic focus and expansion So far we have concentrated our efforts in Copenhagen, more specifically on Nørrebro, Tingbjerg and Brønshøj/Husum. We will continue focusing on these areas, but we see a big potential in expanding geographically to become a much more rooted organization in other parts of Denmark. It is crucial to engage with local partners, organizations, members and volunteers to start up these programs with us. This approach is inspired by the LRP structure in the AA Federation and is based on the understanding that we can support and add to existing engagements rather than compete with existing programs and volunteer environments. It should also ensure that our programs are rooted in local communities. Based on MS experience from working in south, we are aware that it takes more than a couple of years to become rooted in a community. This means that there is a need to choose the new areas carefully and based on thorough analysis, and then work patiently with organizing methods for a longer period of time. Depending on the areas we chose we will work closely together with local people and partners to define methods, target groups etc, which means that programmes in different parts of the country probably will look different. 4

5 Copenhagen Municipality - and surrounding areas Aarhus Municipality - Develop and contextualize a democracy program in Aarhus, building on the experiences from Copenhagen. We aspire to have Aarhus function as a hub for Western Denmark equal or similar to Copenhagen for Eastern Denmark. Slagelse or Sønderborg: In two-three years we wish to begin local programme work in a town located in either Southern Jutland or Western Zealand. Slagelse or Sønderborg are two promising locations, since we have a base of almost 100 members in each town. These locations should be investigated further and a more in depth analysis is needed. 5

Financing Best lessons: In the past two years we have secured large grants from both private foundations, public grants and MS fundraising calls.

6 Financing Best lessons: In the past two years we have secured large grants from both private foundations, public grants and MS fundraising calls. In total we have been able to fundraise nearly 10 million for the work in Denmark the last 2 years: Trygfonden mio for local democracy Trygfonden mio for asylum and refugees The Ministry of Culture and the Social Ministry and DKK for Opinion Makers Against Discrimination Partnership with Municipality of Copenhagen (together with Ungdomsbyen): 3.1 mill. MS petitions: o DKK for refugee work where parts were spent on work with asylum seekers in Denmark. o DKK for an anti-trump/antiracism bus-banner Challenges: Our experience is that many private foundations and public grants focus on the most vulnerable and socially marginalized groups (e.g. homeless people) and some donors are hesitant to engage in work that directly targets racism. On the other hand, there is a lot of focus in government (Sats-puljen) and municipalities on anti-radicalization, which gives us an opportunity to frame our work under that theme with an agenda of democracy and active citizenship. 6

7 Potential: The results so far shows, that there is a lot of potential in funding programme work in Denmark through fundraising, partnerships and petitions. MS petitions: We believe that there is a big potential for fundraising for national antidiscrimination work. Municipal partnerships: There is a lot of interest from the municipality and other NGO s to collaborate on issues concerning ethnic minority youth and active citizenship and to some extend financing this work. Linkages to other potentials The potential which has been outlined here links to other of the potentials which will be developed as part of the strategy process: Global Contact potential (Globale medborgere): The potential of spreading our local democracy work geographically to other parts of Denmark fits very well with the potential of engaging the more than 1000 young Danish volunteers which is sent abroad with global Contact every year. These volunteers are from all over the country and could present interesting entry points to local communities as a way to broaden the programme work. Democratic Governance Team (Deepening Democracy): There is potential for very constructive synergies, especially in terms of knowledge-sharing on organizing and campaign tools and participatory methodology. The Network Toolbox and Beautiful Rising are the most obvious knowledge projects where we might benefit from this potential 7

RESEARCH AND ANALYSES STRATEGY

RESEARCH AND ANALYSES STRATEGY 2018-2020 RESEARCH AND ANALYSES STRATEGY 2018-2020 June 2018 Danish Institute for Human Rights Denmark s National Human Rights Institution Wilders Plads 8K 1403 København