Keywords & concepts

Common terms, schemes and organisations explained.

Calendar

May

S	M	T	W	T	F	S
		1	2	3	4	5
6	7	8	9	10	11	12
13	14	15	16	17	18	19
20	21	22	23	24	25	26
27	28	29	30	31

Active Citizens programme highlights

Read about what's been achieved by the Active Citizens programme so far around the world

May to November 2010

The programme maintained a lively pace over the summer months with a busy schedule of facilitators’ training sessions held in various regions across the globe. This coincided with Active Citizens’ warm welcome to newcomers from across Europe, the near East, north Africa and Asia, meaning that the programme now has almost 40 participating countries. Meanwhile, enterprising participants in Pakistan have brought Active Citizens to the nation’s attention by discussing serious topical issues with government representatives on primetime TV.

Europe
Welcome, Europe! May to June 2010

22 northern and eastern European countries have recently joined Active Citizens. They are: Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Poland, Hungary, Norway, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Croatia, Serbia, Romania, Ukraine, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Macedonia, and Israel.

Active Citizens will focus on various key areas in this region, such as strengthening the NGO sector and collaboration among civil organisations; Roma integration; social cohesion and community participation among young people. The programme will involve government ministries, youth and women’s organisations, national NGOs and local community groups. Most countries have already advertised the programme and selected participants, with hopes that first project plans will be complete by March 2011. Many have also started training sessions - for example, in October guest speakers from UNICEF, the EU and Save the Children joined 22 local community leaders in Azerbaijan for a two-day workshop where they discussed their experience of community work on both a local and international scale, as well as important themes including intercultural dialogue, global citizenship and community development.

In an effort to bring the theme of active citizenship to wider European attention, Active Citizens in Hungary assisted in the production of a 30-minute film about civil engagement and volunteering in the UK, which was broadcast by Duna TV in Hungary and some surrounding countries on 21 November. An English version of the film is planned to be broadcast in other countries from January onwards to coincide with the European Year of Volunteering 2011.

UK
Facilitator Training Events, September 2010

Following the overwhelming response to Active Citizens’ first major call for UK partners interested in connecting established local action to global citizenship agendas, 23 UK organisations were finally selected from nearly 200 applicants. Ranging from local action groups to large NGOs, the selected organisations for this cycle have now joined the ever-increasing global network of over 100 Active Citizens partners.

Facilitators representing partner organisations have since started their Active Citizens learning journey at international facilitator training events in Brac, Beirut, Khartoum, Amman, Croydon, Islamabad, Kathmandu and Rangoon. The training provides a greater understanding of the Active Citizens programme and the development of leadership and facilitation skills, thus enabling faciliators to feel confident about delivering the programme in local communities. As well as being led by highly experienced trainers, the sessions are spread over a number of days and involve lively discussions about relevant topics such as identity, culture, citizenship, dialogue and much more.

Feedback from the sessions has been extremely positive:
"Thank you for this amazing life changing experience."
"A powerful week that has had immediate impact on how I think and work. Its been a long time since I have been able to say that about a training event!"
"It was an incredibly enriching experience last week which can only be positive for all our work."

Pakistan
Next Generation reports: Pakistani youth speak out on TV, November 2010

A group of young people voiced their opinions about weighty topical issues highlighted in the Active Citizens report ‘Pakistan: The Next Generation’ on the national TV programme ‘Dunya Today’. The programme, which draws around 20 million viewers, aired in a primetime slot on the 9^th of November and was the first of a four-part series of seminars involving Active Citizens and the Young Parliamentarians’ Forum (YPF).

The YPF offers a significant national platform for young members of Pakistan’s National Assembly to share and develop political ideas, improve legislative and leadership skills, and form inter-regional and inter-party networks. It also encourages greater political participation among young people and helps bridge the gap between the youth and government.

The programme focused on the issue of corruption in government, which the report revealed to be of great concern to young people for the future security of their country. The discussion was moderated by Dr Moeed Pirzada, host of ‘Dunya Today’, and panelists included Dr Donya Aziz, President of the YPF, plus members of the Law and Justice Committee, Public Accounts Committee, and anti-corruption groups, among others. The event was also attended by Faisal Kareem Kundi, Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly and Patron of YPF, and Mark Robson, Executive Board Member of the British Council.

An online survey has been launched on the British Council Pakistan website, comprising of questions relating to the issues raised in the report and in particular focusing on the topic of corruption. The findings will help to form recommendations that the YPF will present to the National Assembly.

View the survey

View the programme via the following links:
pkpolitics.com
pakistanherald.com

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

March to May 2010

Spring 2010 saw a busy yet highly inspiring round of exchange visits between African and UK communities. Read here about how African Active Citizens made an artistic and historic impact on Derry, how Kenya’s football stars of the future may be created via a project inspired by Cardiff FC, the eye-opening experience of Welsh visitors to Sudanese refugee camps, and also how participants from Jos, Johannesburg and Bradford shared ideas about projects that transcend cultural tensions in their aim to improve community cohesion and integration.

The Free Derry wall a gets a facelift
Derry, Northern Ireland
May 2010

Northern Ireland
Derry and Sub-Saharan Africa exchange, May 2010

In this photo, Active Citizens exchange participants from Nigeria, Ethiopia and Kenya are leaving their mark on Derry’s iconic wall mural, 'You Are Now Entering Free Derry'. Painted in 1969, the wall has come to symbolise the local nationalist community's resistance to decades of repression. It is also well known as a gathering point for public demonstrations and parades in the Bogside area of Derry, and was a focal area for Bloody Sunday and other episodes of community conflict for over 35 years.

The wall’s 2010 makeover not only helped celebrate Africa Week, but also the city's transition towards a new future of community cohesion. Additionally, the mural poignantly reflects a similar ambition to eliminate community tensions among groups of different cultural and religious backgrounds in the exchange visitors’ home countries in Sub-Saharan Africa.

A mosaic of different people

Attracting much positive media attention - including a mention on the UK's breakfast TV show GMTV - the wall's new look was designed in collaboration with local artist Jim Collins and SEEDS, a diversity support group based in Derry. "SEEDS has over 890 members from 62 countries living, working and studying in the Derry area,” explains SEEDS Director Eddie Kerr. “We offer useful introductions to our city for the recently-arrived so they can better understand their adopted home. This includes taking them to see the famous murals with the artists who created them. I am very conscious of contested spaces in our city and work hard to reduce sectional ownership of place and space. When our African Guests were coming, I entered into discussions with both communities under the gambit that this city is no longer about green and orange colours, but an entire mosaic of different people from different places.

“We designed a simple but powerful message that 'our little world is changing'. The handprints symbolise sharing, while the range of colours demonstrate diversity." Eddie adds, "Sometimes I wonder if our African friends realise what they did and what effect it had on our psyche here in Derry. I am proud to have played our part in it."

To see more images of the exchanges click here for the photo album.

Wales
Kenya and Sudan exchange, March 2010

A group of young Welsh community leaders visited Kenya and Sudan in March 2010, working alongside Sudanese and Kenyan community leaders in order to gain an international perspective on positive social action and community development.

For example, in Kenya the Welsh visitors met local groups comprising of people from different tribes that have a history of tension, yet are committed to working peacefully with each other in activities that benefit the community as a whole, such as agricultural production.

Intercultural Dialogue in Africa

Meanwhile, those who visited Sudan spent time living and working with peers in the Al Fat’h refugee camp, a shelter to more than 60,000 internally displaced people. They also participated in educational, environmental and cultural workshops for the Al Fat’h community and contributed to the ‘Intercultural Dialogue in Africa’ event hosted by the British Council in Khartoum.

One Welsh Active Citizen, Ceri Weightman, commented "Coming back from Sudan was a puzzling experience. Walking into a home with so many things in it that truthfully no one really needs and knowing you had spent most of your time the week before with people who had nothing but yet gave everything was a bit of a shock. They seemed to get so much from life but also put so much into it. I learnt to be more caring towards others since truthfully we are indeed all one family."

Engaging youth

In May, eight community leaders from Kenya journeyed to Wales where they carried out similar activities with community development project leaders. For instance, they met with the Welsh Assembly Government and witnessed how Welsh communities engage youth from deprived areas of Wales. They also visited Cardiff City Football Club, which runs community-orientated and youth-focussed schemes that have since inspired the Kenyan Active Citizens to develop an under-14s championship back home in Diani.

To watch a video of the Wales - Kenya exchange, click here.

Click here to read more.

Bradford
South Africa and Nigeria exchange, May 2010

Thirty participants from Nigeria and South Africa visited the UK city of Bradford to take part in a five-day programme designed to offer them a flavour of what local Active Citizens have been doing to improve community relations.

The visiting group had been selected from a variety of backgrounds in Jos and Johannesburg, and included school governors, members of women’s groups, community development activists, educators, community wardens, youth workers and members of disability awareness groups.

Improving communication

Among the programme’s highlights was a special civic reception hosted by the Lord Mayor, where both local and visiting Active Citizens were able to meet and discuss ideas on ways to improve communication and understanding between different cultures. Within the busy schedule they visited focal points of community activity such as local schools and colleges; the Alhambra Theatre; community projects in Holme Wood, Keighley and Manningham; and Bradford Talking Media, a not-for-profit organisation that provides audio information for visually impaired people.

“Bradford is truly an international city with residents coming from all fours corners of the Earth,” said Selina Ullah, Assistant Director of Bradford Council’s ‘Safer and Stronger Communities’. “The Active Citizens programme is just one of the ways in which Bradford Council and our partners promote positive relationships and deeper understanding between cultures.”

Geraldine Howley, Chair of Bradford’s ‘Stronger Communities Partnership’ added, "Bradford is one of the most diverse cities in the UK and this programme is a fantastic opportunity for us to strengthen links between communities and gain a deeper understanding of different cultures.”

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

November 2009 - January 2010

As 2009 drew to a close, the Active Citizens programme continued to gather momentum and increase its global impact. In fact, the project attracted an unprecedented level of worldwide media attention as its thought-provoking report on Pakistan's large yet disaffected young generation was launched in November 2009. This resulted in extensive press coverage from The New York Times to The Times of India. In December 2009 in Northern Ireland, the Director of human rights organisation Liberty, Shami Chakrabarti, gave an inspiring lecture at the British Council in Derry, while in January 2010 participants from Al Fateh, Sudan – a settlement inhabited by internally displaced people – welcomed the British Council's Acting Chair, Gerard Lemos, who joined in discussions of project proposals to aid their impoverished community.

Pakistan
'The Next Generation': The world's media responds to an Active Citizens report on young Pakistanis, 21 November 2009

Pakistan will face a “demographic disaster” if it fails to address the needs of its young people, according to a sobering report published by the British Council's Active Citizens team on 21 November 2009. The report attracted much global media attention, with over 50 press citations including articles in The New York Times, The Guardian and The Times of India.

The country stands at a critical juncture. It has never had such a high proportion of young adults: with a population of 180 million, half is aged under 20 with two-thirds yet to reach its 30th birthday. Moreover, the population is forecast to swell by 85 million over the next two decades – a pace that is double the world's average. Yet the report reveals that Pakistan’s young generation is deeply frustrated and distrustful about how it is governed. “Pakistan is at a crossroads,” said David Steven, a fellow at the Centre for International Cooperation at New York University, who was an adviser on the report. Steven observes that Pakistan is in a position to invest in its large youth population and thus power an economic rise, but warns that it faces disaster and risks creating a giant underclass prone to extremism and violence if it fails to provide proper education and employment for its young people.

Of the 1,226 18-29 year-olds surveyed, only a third believe democracy is the best system of governance (equal to the number who support sharia law). While young Pakistanis see their nation's politics as corrupt and rewarding of personal connections rather than merit, the report shows that they are more interested in collective action and volunteer activities than their parents’ generation. They are civic-minded, with a third believing that the purpose of education is to create good citizens. David Steven argues that the country's future now depends on the question, ‘Can Pakistan harness this energy or will it continue to fight it?’ You can download the report and some of its resulting press coverage here.

Northern Ireland
Lecture from Director of Liberty, Shami Chakrabarti, 17 December 2009

Shami Chakrabarti, the Director of human rights organisation Liberty, gave an inspirational lecture at the British Council in Derry/Londonderry, where an Active Citizens project currently promotes the human rights and social integration of the city's large immigrant community. Shami discussed the position of human rights-campaigning in democracies, its dangers and opportunities in a fast-paced world, and the value of the Human Rights Act.

This is an excerpt from the lecture: “It’s difficult to seem positive, but I’m really here tonight to say in context of this discussion about public diplomacy or what we call ‘campaigning’, that I am so much more optimistic than I was even six or eight years ago [...] People are just slightly more decent than not. You can reach out to their common humanity rather than the things that divide them. There is an ocean of altruism and solidarity there to be touched. That’s my experience. Remember the public response in Britain, Northern Ireland, all over the world back in 2004 after the Indian Ocean tsunami? [...] Do you remember how people shamed their governments? How the BBC World websites virtually crashed with people’s emails? People shamed their governments with their personal donations into giving more. For people over there. For people who we don’t want over here because we want complete immigration control, right? Except not.”

Read the full transcript of the lecture here.

Sudan
Visit of Acting Chair of the British Council, Gerard Lemos, to Al Fateh, January 2010

The Active Citizens programme in Sudan continues to work tirelessly in its promotion of peaceful co-existence and sustainable, improved living conditions in Al Fateh, a vast and impoverished settlement outside Khartoum that is largely inhabited by internally displaced people who have fled the country's civil war conflicts. Gerard Lemos, Acting Chair of the British Council, visited Al Fateh in January 2010 and was keen to discuss proposed projects with participants. Tilal Salih from British Council Sudan says that, “[Gerard's] background in dealing with vulnerable societies makes him a good listener to what these citizens have to offer. In finding solutions to upgrade and develop Al Fateh, our participants are indeed Active Citizens, making a huge difference with very little resources.”

In areas with little access to electricity, let alone the internet, one of the essential projects is to provide electric generators. There are also plans to hold IT workshops in which participants can learn computer and internet skills, enabling them to come into virtual contact with people and information from other parts of the world for the first time. So far 33 Active Citizens participants are residents of Al Fateh, divided into six groups with each developing a project that aids their community. One such participant described Gerard's visit as, “Really wonderful”.