Champions of change: the organisations funding the future Champions of change: the organisations funding the future

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Disclaimer: The Reuters news staff had no role in the production of this content. It was created by Reuters Plus, the brand marketing studio of Reuters. To work with Reuters Plus, contact us here.

Champions of change: the organisations funding the future

XAJI: Active Youth Network for Equality

Supported by the EU’s Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values (CERV) programme, these projects have been operating in local communities in the EU and beyond, working on a range of issues from ending violence against women to adopting policies on greater diversity in schools.

Teenagers march through the city of Cornellà de Llobregat (Barcelona), holding up cardboard signs scribbled with slogans like “You’re my boyfriend not my owner” and “I’m not yours, not anybody’s!”. It’s scenes like these, on 25 November 2023, International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, that motivate the founders of XAJI: Active Youth Network for Equality. XAJI wants to empower young people in Portugal and Spain to take an active role in the fight for gender equality.

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Active Youth Network for EqualitYPortugal

Space to be youDENMARK

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Space to be you

LGBTQ+ Denmark has a track record for landmark youth inclusivity projects. This veteran political organisation, which supports lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and gender non-conforming people in Denmark, is known for offering counselling sessions for young people within its community and providing primary schools with materials to help them support LGBTQ+ students.

Local EU CharterSPAIN

LocalEUCharter

4IncludE

24.9 million: that’s how many people the UN Refugee Agency estimates are displaced in Europe. Thankfully, work is being done across Europe to support them in as many ways as possible. Take the Green Light initiative in Poland, where locals put coloured bulbs in their windows to tell newly arrived migrants that they’re happy to provide emergency support, or Let’s Move Together, a Latvian scheme, to unite children from different cultures using fun workouts.

4IncludEITALY

TRACeDGREECE

TRACeD

Another organisation on the journey to end violence against women is TRACeD, a project led by a consortium of organisations based in Greece, Cyprus, Italy, and Slovenia. With the Centre for European Constitutional Law, the Cyber Security International Institute and Action Aid as supporting partners, the TRACeD project focuses on cybercrime, such as deep-fake porn and cyber-stalking.

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XAJI: Active Youth Network for Equality

Space to be you

LocalEUCharter

4IncludE

TRACeD

Latvia

Sweden

Denmark

Spain

Portugal

Malta

Italy

Slovenia

Greece

cyprus

Poland

Romania

The Netherlands

Montenegro

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"YOU're MY BOYFRIEND NOT MY OWNER"

The Network hosts monthly vigils in Barcelona to raise awareness of femicide in Spain and runs the annual agenda-setting Forum Against Gender Violence.

LGBTQ+ Denmark has a track record for landmark youth inclusivity projects. This veteran political organization, which supports lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and gender non-conforming people in Denmark, is known for offering counselling sessions for young people within its community and providing primary schools with materials to help them support LGBTQ+ students. It’s with the aid of the EU’s CERV programme, though, that it has managed to expand this work. In March 2024, CERV provided funding for Sabaah, an organization supporting queer people of colour, the minority campaigning group Mino Denmark, Autism Ungdom and SUMH (Association of Young People with Handicap) to produce Space to be You. These free teaching materials, available until 2029, will help educators across Denmark broach topics like sexuality, ethnicity, physical disability and neurodiversity inclusively in their classrooms, getting their students to challenge norms and think in an intersectional way.

EVERY YEAR XAJI TRAINS MORE THAN...

200

SCHOOLS

students

from

...To become 'AGENTS OF EQUALITY'

It’s with the aid of the EU’s CERV programme, though, that Space To Be You has managed to expand this work. In March 2024, CERV provided funding for Sabaah, an organisation supporting queer people of colour, the minority campaigning group Mino Denmark, Autism Ungdom and SUMH (Association of Young People with Handicap) to produce Space To Be You.

"...getting their students to challenge norms and think in an intersectional way."

What are the most innovative ways to tackle populism? One of these is to empower future generations to engage in politics at every level, from local council elections to the European Parliament. And this is what the team believes at LocalEUCharter. The CERV-funded project, coordinated by the city of Valencia, brought together civil servants and young people from eight European cities for a series of discussions, held across European cities and ending in Rotterdam in February 2024. The participants explored how the foundational values of the EU Charter on Fundamental Rights, like equality for all, could be implemented in regional initiatives and looked at ways to demystify the European democracy system for young people. Although those meetups have come to an end, the project’s impact lives on in a sustainable information-sharing network between cities.

24.9 million: that’s how many people the UN Refugee Agency estimates are displaced in Europe. Thankfully, work is being done tirelessly across Europe to support them in as many ways as possible. Take the Green Light initiative in Poland, where locals put coloured bulbs in their windows to tell newly arrived migrants that they’re happy to provide emergency support, or Let’s Move Together, a Latvian scheme, to unite children from different cultures using fun workouts. Tying them all together? 4IncludE, ran from October 2022 until 2023; a groundbreaking information-gathering project, where the lessons of many of these schemes were shared across territories. The series of eight events, held across Italy, Cyprus, Malta, Greece, Sweden, Spain, Greece and Latvia, gathered experts for public round table forums to discuss issues like the challenges migrants face in judicial systems, the impact of the often-toxic media rhetoric around immigration and refugees’ access to housing and mental health services. Their culmination: the 4Include Map, a much-needed resource designed to showcase the most inspiring migrant-support projects from across Europe, giving citizens, local authorities, associations and students a guide to best practice.

Tying them all together? 4IncludE, ran from October 2022 until 2023; a groundbreaking information-gathering project, where the lessons of many of these schemes were shared across territories. The series of eight events, held across Italy, Cyprus, Malta, Greece, Sweden, Spain and Latvia, gathered experts for public round table forums to discuss issues like the challenges migrants face in judicial systems, the impact of the often-toxic media rhetoric around immigration and refugees’ access to housing and mental health services.

"YOU're MY BOYFRIEND NOT MY OWNER"

24.9m

PEOPLE are displaced in Europe

Another organization on the journey to end violence against women is TRACeD, a project led by a consortium of organizations based in Greece, Cyprus, Italy, and Slovenia. With the Centre for European Constitutional Law, the Cyber Security International Institute and Action Aid as supporting partners, the TRACeD project focuses on cybercrime, which can range from deep fake porn to cyberstalking. The project is working to increase public awareness of cyberattacks and support survivors, who can end up as victims blamed by peers, parents and even the judicial system. The project’s partners are running educational projects in schools and universities, and have created a panel of “Cyber Guardians”, made up of psychologists, lawyers and sociologists, trained by the consortium. These Cyber Guardians are there to help victims who often need urgent technical and psychological support after the trauma of an attack.

“victims who often need urgent technical and psychological support after the trauma of an attack.”

The project is working to increase public awareness of cyberattacks and support survivors, who can end up as victims blamed by peers, parents and even the judicial system. The project’s partners are running educational projects in schools and universities.

“free teaching materials help educators inclusively broach topics like sexuality, ethnicity, physical disability and neurodiversity”

"Empowering future generations to engage in politics can help tackle populism"

The CERV-funded project, coordinated by the city of Valencia, brought together civil servants and young people from eight European cities for a series of discussions, held across European cities and ending in Rotterdam in February 2024. And this is what the team at LocalEUCharter is advocating.

CYBER GUARDIANS

PSYCHOLOGISTS

SOCiologists

LAWYERS

One of TRACeD’s recent successes is the creation of a panel of “Cyber Guardians”, made up of psychologists, lawyers and sociologists, who have been provided with training by the consortium. These Cyber Guardians are there to help victims who often need urgent technical and psychological support after the trauma of an attack. Find out more

Their culmination: the 4Include Map, a much-needed resource designed to showcase the most inspiring migrant-support projects from across Europe, giving citizens, local authorities, associations and students a guide to best practice.

The participants explored how the foundational values of the EU Charter on Fundamental Rights, like equality for all, could be implemented in regional initiatives and looked at ways to demystify the European democracy system for young people. And this is what the team at LocalEUCharter is advocating.

These free teaching materials, available until 2029, will help educators across Denmark broach topics like sexuality, ethnicity, physical disability and neurodiversity inclusively in their classrooms, getting their students to challenge norms and think in an intersectional way.

It’s the project’s training scheme, however, that’s setting a new benchmark for how young people learn about gender issues. Every year XAJI trains more than 200 students from 12 schools to become “Agents for Equality”, teaching them how to educate peers on gender issues and detect and prevent misogyny in their classrooms and playgrounds – and it's not just girls taking part. In fact, a key aim is to empower the next generation of men to shake off toxic stereotypes about masculinity and become better allies.

Watch the video to learn more

BUILDING equality and justice with EU funding

The Reuters news staff had no role in the production of this content. It was created by Reuters Plus, the brand marketing studio of Reuters.

Produced by Reuters Plus for

The Reuters news staff had no role in the production of this content. It was created by Reuters Plus, the brand marketing studio of Reuters.

Produced by Reuters Plus for

Disclaimer: The Reuters news staff had no role in the production of this content. It was created by Reuters Plus, the brand marketing studio of Reuters. To work with Reuters Plus, contact us here.

The Reuters news staff had no role in the production of this content. It was created by Reuters Plus, the brand marketing studio of Reuters.

Produced by Reuters Plus for

Learn more about the CERV programme and these impactful projects