EMPOWERING PEOPLE OF AFRICAN DESCENT: HATE SPEECH, VIOLENCE AND RACISM- TRAINING ON DIGITAL SKILLS AND CIVIC PARTICIPATION

ongoing

The AFROEQUALITY project aims at strengthening members of the African communities in Greece, Italy and Spain through research, empowerment and dissemination activities. The project is investigating for the first time the culture and integration of African communities in the selected countries. Adopting an intersectional approach, it addresses Afrophobia and discrimination faced by people of African descent. It is geared towards building trust between the local and the African communities in the partner countries, and thus contribute towards promoting gender mainstreaming promoting gender mainstreaming and battling structural racism in respective national contexts. Targeting primarily people of African descent between 18-45 years old but also the general public, AFROEQUALITY has designed activities of civic participation and digital citizenship including: A) Development of a Plan combating racism through active civic participation of people of African origin at local level ((WP2)- including desk and primary research (qualitative and quantitative), in the media and with people of African descent and the general public. B) Capacity Building including training activities in Greece, Italy and Spain for 180 people (60 people in each country on cultural representation as well as resilience-building on issues of discrimination, racism, hate speech and other hate-related crimes and instances of violence, such as misogynoir C) Communication initiatives to fight Afrophobia, xenophobia and hate speech (WP4) – including policy recommendations in all partner countries for culture and hate speech (taking counsel from the African community); participation activities in the social media (Insta-stories), and an empowerment App. The project has an added value at both EU and national levels since it creates replicable methodologies, builds POC capacity, fosters the exchange of practices among stakeholders and creates a strong dynamic in favor of POC.