Young Voices on Discrimination - Understanding Children's Experiences of Discrimination based on Ethnicity and/or Religion in Sweden

ended

Sweden witnesses a harsher society climate with increasing nationalism. Despite a number of laws and equality bodies in place to safeguard equal opportunities, children experience discrimination. Yet, few incident reporting exist. The prevalence and understanding of these experiences needs to be collected and analyzed. Based on the fundamental rights of non-discrimination in the UNCRC and the EU Charter, the overall objective is: To decrease children’s exposure to discrimination on the grounds of religion, belief and/or ethnicity, and/or multiple discrimination, and to increase the proportion of children aware of their rights to be protected from discrimination and who feel confident acting in accordance to these rights. We will: 1)Conduct an independent study based on children’s participation, with the aim to collect data on the prevalence of discrimination based on religion, belief and/or ethnicity and/or multiple discrimination, towards children in grade 5, and how these experiences are understood and internalised. 2)Raise awareness and advocate for policy changes among policy-makers and other actors, on a national and European level, through a six-week long campaign. 3)With the help of youth ambassadors, raise awareness among children about their rights to be protected from discrimination and where to turn if these rights are violated in 20 elementary schools Expected reach: 20 EU policy makers, 15 national authorities, 15 national policy makers, 200 local authorities, 34 NGOs, 10 academia, 300 000 general public, and 30 800 children. Expected outputs: 1 study, 1 booklet and workshop on rights for children, 1 campaign (1 seminar, 1 breakfast meeting, 21 roundtables, media coverage, 2 films, social media, child-led activities). Expected impact: Policy makers and authorities are aware of the reality for children and implement more effective preventive and promotional measures. Children have increased their awareness and ffeel confident reporting incidents.