Youth Right Experience in Holland

Interest and awareness of human rights have grown in recent decades. In 1948, the United Nations released the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which has become the most important document of what should be considered the standard for basic equality and human dignity. However, nowadays it is obvious that young people lack the knowledge and understanding of fundamental human rights, their importance, and the practical ways to protect them.

The main aim of the project “You(th)Rright! Human Rights Consciousness for youth Workers” was to enhance knowledge and understanding of human rights to foster tolerance, respect, solidarity, and responsibility of the participating youth workers.

The project emphasized the benefits of multicultural societies, the importance of European Citizenship, and active participation in the promotion of human rights.

Objectives of the Training Course

•    Deepen youth workers’ awareness about human rights issues, especially about the ones affecting young people (e.g. violence, and exclusion).

•    Equip youth workers with knowledge, skills, and attitudes that support their positive contributions to society, based on respect, equality, justice, and solidarity.

•    Engage participants in a dialogue about how human rights laws and principles can be translated into their own social, economic, cultural, and political reality, using participatory learning methods that aim to sharpen critical analysis.

•    Train youth workers’ mentoring skills and capacity in acting as multipliers in their daily work with youth.

•    Establish & strengthen cross-border partnerships & future common projects and enhance their multiplier effect and impact

As the program involved a very big concept; Human Rights, the project is subdivided in 4 thematic sections: 

1.  Teambuilding – aiming at making participants feel comfortable with each other and creating a safe working and learning environment.

2.  Group discussions, debates, interactive presentations, solidifying youth workers’ and other participants’ knowledge of specific thematics referring to human rights.

3.  Workshops and innovative non-formal education activities -enlighten youth workers both on issues related to a project’s optimal presentation and recognition and on non-formal learning resources and tools that allow youth workers to enhance their creativity and negotiation skills.

4.  Developing a novel Human Rights Education Toolkit – train participants on how to reflect on and utilize their own learning experience to externalize and multiply their gained knowledge.

How did the Youth Workers become involved in human rights?

To provide more insight into our daily activities we will describe the days of our project!

During the training course, through various innovative non-formal education methods such as social theatre, video-making, comics creation, simulation games, and moving debates, participants had the chance to explore and discover human rights applicability and violations concerning socially vulnerable and marginalized groups. The main topics that were covered during the training course were:

•    Marginalization, Intolerance, Institutionalized privilege

•    Μigrants, refugees, ethnic and religious minorities

•    The challenge of disability

•    Poverty, socioeconomic background, and (in)equality of opportunity

•    Gender norms

•    LGBTQI+

•    Environmental protection as a human right

•    Inclusive societies

•    Human rights Activism.

As the final result of the project, participants worked together to create innovative, interactive, and engaging tools to educate young people about human rights and their importance. As the final result, more than twenty different non-formal education activities, which aim to promote dialogue, foster activism, and general human rights understanding and knowledge were created!

Special THANKS to the 2 experienced trainers of You(th)Rright! Training Course: Rasa Tučinskaitė and Stefano Esposito – for your wondrous work and efforts, which ensured a professional and safe learning environment for the participants!

Here you have an interesting toolkit prepared by the organizers with the help of the international participants.

Have a look at the toolkit down here: