Το έργο “Empower YOUth” υλοποιείται στο πλαίσιο του προγράμματος Active citizens fund Greece με φορέα υλοποίησης το SolidarityNow και εταίρο τη νορβηγική οργάνωση Norsensus Mediaforum.

Το πρόγραμμα Active citizens fund, ύψους € 13,5 εκ., χρηματοδοτείται από την Ισλανδία, το Λιχτενστάιν και τη Νορβηγία και είναι μέρος του χρηματοδοτικού μηχανισμού του Ευρωπαϊκού Οικονομικού Χώρου (ΕΟΧ) περιόδου 2014 – 2021, γνωστού ως EEA Grants. Το πρόγραμμα στοχεύει στην ενδυνάμωση και την ενίσχυση της βιωσιμότητας της κοινωνίας των πολιτών και στην ανάδειξη του ρόλου της στην προαγωγή των δημοκρατικών διαδικασιών, στην ενίσχυση της συμμετοχής των πολιτών στα κοινά και στην προάσπιση των ανθρωπίνων δικαιωμάτων. Τη διαχείριση της επιχορήγησης του προγράμματος Active citizens fund Greece έχουν αναλάβει από κοινού το  Ίδρυμα Μποδοσάκη και το SolidarityNow.

Can you introduce yourself and tell us why you participated in the Empower YOUth project?

I study Political Science & Sociology in France. I got my Erasmus in Greece two years ago and wanted to return, so now I’m doing my master’s degree at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens on migration. When I heard about this project of SolidarityNow, I wanted to participate because I thought it was a very good opportunity for me to find some answers.  It is very difficult to see the problems in your community and feel powerless to do something due to lack of the appropriate tools on how to run a project and do something that will have a positive impact on other people’s daily life. So that’s why I took part!

What will you keep with you from the Empower YOUth experience?

At the end of the day when you have the right tools, and you learn how to build your project it can be very easy to turn your ideas into concrete actions.

Furthermore, when I meet other young people from completely different backgrounds who might live in very difficult conditions, they may live in camps for example, but still have the courage to give something back to the society, then I keep the hope; we are not alone in this world.

What was the highlight for you during the project?

I’m impressed by the story of my classmate, Marinos, who is deaf and wants to create an organization to support other deaf people. His motivation to communicate was amazing! Even if we were struggling to understand each other we all tried very patiently to share our thoughts and fully communicate our ideas.

Would you like to share anything else with us?

Yes, I think it is very important if young people could participate in more programs like this where they could meet others with the same needs and ask for support and encouragement. Sometimes, it can be very depressing to realize the inequalities and injustice in the world, but there’s always the opposite side of people who want to offer for the common good. And if we are all united, we can do good and take courage from one another.

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The project “Empower YOUth” is implemented within the framework of the Active citizens fund by SolidarityNow in partnership with Norwegian NGO NorSensus Mediaforum.

The Active citizens fund in Greece is supported through a € 13.5 m grant from Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway as part of the EEA Grants 2014 – 2021. The programme aims to develop the sustainability and capacity of the civil society sector in Greece, and to strengthen its role in promoting and safeguarding democratic procedures, active citizenship and human rights. The Fund Operator for the Active citizens fund in Greece is Bodossaki Foundation in consortium with SolidarityNow. 

Can you introduce yourself and tell us why you participated in the Empower YOUth project?

I signed up for Empower YOUth to learn! I am a curious person in general and have a constant need to evolve. I go to the night school in Chalkida and learn something new every day. Because I read so much, I feel that something has changed in me. This program is a great opportunity because I want to learn how I could change something in my community, how to help people and especially children. For example, in the Ritsona accommodation site where I live, the children don’t even feel like going to school in the morning, because every day they are dealing with other more serious problems such as their residence permit in the country.

What will you keep with you from the Empower YOUth experience?

First, the positive atmosphere with my classmates and teachers. They taught us so many new things, both theoretical and practical. We became very close with my classmates and got to know each other very well. We will continue to hang out after the end of the program!

What was the highlight for you during the project?

What I liked most was the action in which we had to create the script ourselves and make a stop-motion video from scratch. I had to play the angry one while my friend Cyrielle read a poem. It was a lot of fun!

Would you like to share anything else with us?

Yes! When I go back to Ritsona I want to show everybody what I have achieved, for example now I can go to school and speak Greek with my classmates. I would like my example to help others understand that with we should never give up, but to insist and try to change ourselves, and then everything else will follow.

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The project “Empower YOUth” is implemented within the framework of the Active citizens fund by SolidarityNow in partnership with Norwegian NGO NorSensus Mediaforum.

The Active citizens fund in Greece is supported through a € 13.5 m grant from Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway as part of the EEA Grants 2014 – 2021. The programme aims to develop the sustainability and capacity of the civil society sector in Greece, and to strengthen its role in promoting and safeguarding democratic procedures, active citizenship and human rights. The Fund Operator for the Active citizens fund in Greece is Bodossaki Foundation in consortium with SolidarityNow. 

Can you introduce yourself and tell us why you participated in the Empower YOUth project?

I am a sociologist, and currently I am a postgraduate student at the University of the Aegean, in social research, critical criminology and inclusion of vulnerable social groups. When I found out that Empower YOUth aimed youth from diverse social groups, I thought that it is an opportunity to meet other young people, but also to listen to their requests and experiences. In addition, I considered it to be an opportunity for our voice, requests and concerns to be heard. In general, I thought that we would be given the opportunity to present our different points of view, because in addition to only expressing demands and concerns about what is happening around us, the perspective from which we see things is also important.

What will you keep with you from the Empower YOUth experience?

The enablement activities were implemented through play to increase our energy levels before we got into the main activities. This was the best occasion to get together as a team and get to know each other. Because no matter how old we are, an intimate atmosphere was created through the game, that brought us closer, thus we could more correctly carry out the following activities, which either had to do with mediation, or with making suggestions, or with the concerns we all “carry” from our communities. In addition, I consider it particularly important that within the framework of the project we were offered the possibility for all participants to stay in the same hotel and to have free time to go out for food and fun!

What was the highlight for you during the project?

I was very happy as there were children from different groups, such as Roma, Pomaks from Xanthi, with whom we became friends, exchanged opinions and experiences. Through each person’s life experiences, it was easier to understand issues that we may have heard on a theoretical level because we are social scientists but are quite different in practice.

Would you like to share anything else with us?

My dream is to travel around the world, not just for leisure, but to be able to see how people live in different countries and understand their cultural background, their habits and way of communication. I hope one day to become a good and efficient researcher, who will help through research any social group that needs it so as to raise their voice and be able to express themselves freely.

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The project “Empower YOUth” is implemented within the framework of the Active citizens fund by SolidarityNow in partnership with Norwegian NGO NorSensus Mediaforum.

The Active citizens fund in Greece is supported through a € 13.5 m grant from Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway as part of the EEA Grants 2014 – 2021. The programme aims to develop the sustainability and capacity of the civil society sector in Greece, and to strengthen its role in promoting and safeguarding democratic procedures, active citizenship and human rights. The Fund Operator for the Active citizens fund in Greece is Bodossaki Foundation in consortium with SolidarityNow. 

Can you introduce yourself and tell us why you participated in the Empower YOUth project?

I am 24 years old; I study occupational therapy and I am in my 3rd year of studies. I signed up because I am concerned about some issues that the youth are experiencing. I want to find solutions; I want to try for something better and I believe a lot in the power of the team. All of us who have been here can change many things!

What will you keep with you from the Empower YOUth experience?

New ideas, new acquaintances, – which is very important to me -, a lot of energy, optimism and faith!

What was the highlight for you during the project?

The best part of the program was the activity during which we had to create videos using the stop-motion technique. The purpose was to make our own video on a social issue that concerns us. So, we worked with the whole team and the result was excellent!

Would you like to share anything else with us?

Coming here, I was thinking, if all that is troubling us is just in theory or if something can be done in practice. Through this training and the overall experience gained, I feel that now I have the tools and knowledge to implement some of my ideas, and not just be left with thoughts and concerns. I would like to be an efficient occupational therapist and be able to help people have a good quality of life.

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The project “Empower YOUth” is implemented within the framework of the Active citizens fund by SolidarityNow in partnership with Norwegian NGO NorSensus Mediaforum.

The Active citizens fund in Greece is supported through a € 13.5 m grant from Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway as part of the EEA Grants 2014 – 2021. The programme aims to develop the sustainability and capacity of the civil society sector in Greece, and to strengthen its role in promoting and safeguarding democratic procedures, active citizenship and human rights. The Fund Operator for the Active citizens fund in Greece is Bodossaki Foundation in consortium with SolidarityNow. 

Can you introduce yourself and tell us why you participated in the Empower YOUth project?

I am a history teacher. I teach history and philosophy and my major concerns the history of human rights. I am also a graduate of the Department of Philosophy and Science of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens. I enrolled in the project due to my involvement in the field of human rights. I thought it would be very interesting to participate in the project’s activities and meet new people.

What will you keep with you from the Empower YOUth experience?

I really liked the fact that all the activities were in groups, thus we discussed everyone’s views, without any exclusion. We were able to exchange different ideas and discuss issues of our concern.

What was the highlight for you during the project?

When in an activity, my classmates chose me to get the leading role and represent the whole group. At the time, I felt particularly happy as I didn’t think I had the qualifications and skills for such a thing, but at the same time I was very excited about the role and tried to respond to it in the best possible way!

Would you like to share anything else with us?

Yes, I have a dream; to succeed in becoming a schoolteacher and teaching History. In addition, as an educator, I hope that at some point human rights course will become a school course. It is very important that when children finish school, they know what a human being’s fundamental rights are and the basic concepts related to them.

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The project “Empower YOUth” is implemented within the framework of the Active citizens fund by SolidarityNow in partnership with Norwegian NGO NorSensus Mediaforum.

The Active citizens fund in Greece is supported through a € 13.5 m grant from Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway as part of the EEA Grants 2014 – 2021. The programme aims to develop the sustainability and capacity of the civil society sector in Greece, and to strengthen its role in promoting and safeguarding democratic procedures, active citizenship and human rights. The Fund Operator for the Active citizens fund in Greece is Bodossaki Foundation in consortium with SolidarityNow. 

And more specifically to the young participants in the Empower YOUth project, whose first phase has already been completed and now the second is being planned at a fever pitch. Six (6) of the participants in Athens and Thessaloniki spoke to us about their experience so far, answering four (4) questions!

• What made them sign up for such a project and travel to Athens and Thessaloniki for it, even from quite remote areas?
• What have they gained from their participation so far?

The floor to the youth!

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“Empower YOUth” aims to empower youth, from different vulnerable groups, such as the Roma, the refugees/asylum seekers/migrants, disabled youngsters, persons from the LGBTQI+ community or from disadvantaged/remote areas that live under the poverty line, to become leaders and actively bring a positive change within their communities.

*The “Empower YOUth” project is implemented within the framework of the Active citizens fund by SolidarityNow in partnership with Norwegian NGO NorSensus Mediaforum.

**The Active citizens fund in Greece is supported through a € 13.5 m grant from Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway as part of the EEA Grants 2014 – 2021. The programme aims to develop the sustainability and capacity of the civil society sector in Greece, and to strengthen its role in promoting and safeguarding democratic procedures, active citizenship and human rights. The Fund Operator for the Active citizens fund in Greece is Bodossaki Foundation in consortium with SolidarityNow.