DiVerSitY DAY  2009
18 November, Berlin, Werkstatt der Kulturen

-- Berlin celebrates DiVerSitY DAY --

On 18 November the FRA youth event Diversity Day had its premiere in Berlin.
This was the first in a series of three events last year, which aimed to educate
young people about fundamental rights and make them aware of
the benefits of diversity.

Diversity Day 2009 in Berlin was implemented in cooperation with the
Berlin State Authority for Equal Treatment – Against Discrimination (LADS) and the
Berlin Senate for Education, Science and Research.

Watch diversity in action! Click on the projector icon below and
see the videos of the Diversity Day events !

Under the theme “Respect unlimited - Diversity macht Schule”, the Agency and
its partners organised a competition among all 400 Berlin secondary schools leading up
to the Diversity Day event. School classes and project teams were asked to apply with
a project that promoted diversity, equal treatment, or anti-discrimination
at their school in 2009.
17 such project teams applied. The event combined the award ceremony with
a stage programme and with information on fundamental rights.
The FRA and a variety of NGOs in Berlin created an interactive “Market of Diversity”
with a total of 19 different information stands.

 The competition was won by a project combating homophobia at school.
Senator Carola Bluhm of the Berlin Senate for Integration, Employment and
Social Affairs was present throughout the event,
opened the stage programme and awarded the first prize. 

The winners are:

1. Oberstufenzentrum Lise Meitner
for their Working Group combating Homophobia at school;

2. Willy Brandt Gesamtschule (comprehensive school)
for a project on developinga students’s magazine on diversity issues and
anti-discrimination work“Ich nicht – Nicht mit uns!” (Not me – Not with us!);

3. Ernst Schering Gesamtschule (comprehensive school)
for the project “Die Welt stellt sich vor” (The world introduces itself)
– an empowerment project targeted atthe 17 different nationalities
represented in the school. 

The FRA thanks and congratulates all applicants for their intelligent,
creative and courageous project work, which can certainly be seen as best practices
at school to combat discrimination and promote equality and diversity.

EU News has published an article about the Diveristy Day in Berlin.