While the streets are washed with rain and the spring has reached it final days, the European Intercultural Festival is being held in Minsk. The third day of the festival in Minsk kicked off with the information session “Possibilities for implementing projects in the framework of the Youth Window of the Eastern Partnership” which was organised by the Directorate-General on Education and Culture of the European Commission. The audience learned about the programme “Youth in Action” and the possibilities available for Belarusians to implement projects in the framework of this programme. In addition, the moderators explained about the procedure of submitting project proposals of Belarusian organizations directly to the Directorate-General. After the presentation, Belarusian organizations “New face”, “Office for the promotion of initiatives”, “Fialta” and “Belarusian Association of UNESCO Clubs” told to the guests from Brussels about their successful projects in the framework of the programme “Youth in action”.
An hour earlier in the faculty of international relations of the Belarusian State University, Jana Kobzova, the policy fellow of the European Council on Foreign Relations (UK), gave a presentation on the European Union and its cooperation with the countries of the Eastern Partnership including European Neighbourhood Policy. More information about the lecture of Jana Kobzova can be found through this link as well as a photo report of the event. In the second half of the day, Jana gave a presentation in Hrodna.
The festival programme in Minsk continued with the screening of the short animation film “Two Young Girls” (UK) on combatting human trafficking. The European i
nformation campaign “Two Young Girls” started in Belarus in 2011 and is carried out by organizations “Youth Education Centre ‘Fialta’” in cooperation with the international CSO “Gender Perspectives” (the administration of the programme “La Strada”), as well as in partnership with the British Embassy in Belarus. After the screening, the audience had the opportunity to discuss the problem of illegal migration and human trafficking in the world, exchange opinions on the problems a migrant might come across abroad and how keep safe. In addition, participants could listen to the commentary and have discussion with the directors of the information campaign of the organization “Youth Education Centre ‘Fialta’” and representatives of the anti-trafficking programme “La Strada Belarus” and The British Ambassador to Belarus.
Besides Minsk and Hrodna, the festival also included events in Homel. On May 22th, the city hosted youth debate with the topic “Is Homel a European City”. Held in the form of an Oxford-style debate, the participants expressed strong views on the topic. More information on the event can be found here.
The fourth day of the festival included the following events:
Minsk:
• The Discussion “European neighbours or neighbours of the EU?” with policy fellow of the European Council on International Relations, Jana Kobzova
• The Presentation of the book by Ul. Arlou and D. Herasimovich “An Illustrated History ‘This country Called Belarus’”
• European Movie Night: the screening of a European film with discussion
Homel:
• The presentation of the Euroepan programmes and opportunities (for CSOs)
• The presentation of the programme ”Youth in Action