European Union and Council of Europe launch the “Block the Hatred. Share the Love!” campaign in Skopje

Back European Union and Council of Europe launch the “Block the Hatred. Share the Love!” campaign in Skopje

MEDIA ADVISORY

The joint campaign of the European Union and the Council of Europe, “Block the Hatred. Share the Love!”, focused on combating hate speech, will be officially launched at the Museum for Contemporary Art in Skopje on Monday, 20 December 2021 – from 12:00 to 13:30.

The launch of this awareness-raising campaign will include the following speakers:

Katalin Tamus, Council of Europe Programme Office in Skopje
Elizabeta Gjorgievska, First Lady of the Republic of North Macedonia
Freek Janmaat, Head of Operations for economic development, rule of law, public administration, European Union Delegation in Skopje
Vesna Bendevska, Chair of the Commission on Prevention and Protection against Discrimination, North Macedonia
Filip Popovski, Secretary General, Football Federation of North Macedonia

Prominent public figures who will support this campaign as ‘No-Hate Speech’ Ambassadors, will also address the event, including: Luljeta Ademi - civil society activist; Denis Jankulovski - medical worker and European of the Year 2021; Silvana Mucic Plevnesh - famous singer and part of the popular group Silvi Band, Ognen Janeski – TV host and human rights activist; Besfort Idrizi - actor; and Young European Ambassadors Dona Srdikj and Albrie Xhemaili.

The “Block the Hatred. Share the Love!” campaign aims to raise awareness of the various forms of hate speech targeting specific communities and individuals in the Macedonian society, and ways of combatting it. It will be rolled out ‘online’ through the web and social media channels, but also in the conventional media, as well as through public events. The campaign will involve prominent public figures, important institutions and key human rights activists, who will promote diversity and equality in the local communities and wider in the region, through personal storytelling, testimonies and exchange of good practices.

The event is open to media. Pre-registration is needed due to COVID-19 restrictions. Interested media representatives should register by sending an email to Natasha Bozinovska Mirkova [email protected] no later than 18 December, 14:00 h.

The event will be livestreamed via ZOOM: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82150462181 (Passcode 000000) and the Facebook page of the Council of Europe Programme Office in Skopje.
Interpretation in English/Macedonian/Albanian will be provided.

Agenda of the event
Webpage of the campaign and its activities
Follow the campaign Facebook; Instagram; Twitter

The campaign is implemented within the action “Promotion of diversity and equality in North Macedonia”, that is a part of joint European Union and Council of Europe programme "Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Turkey 2019-2022".

For more information contact:

Natasha Bozinovska Mirkova - [email protected] – tel: 070206454
Marija Andreeva, Council of Europe Programme Office in Skopje – [email protected], tel: 070840559

North Macedonia 17 December 2021

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Hate speech is on the rise across Europe, jeopardising social cohesion and putting human rights under threat. The Western Balkans region is not immune to hate speech that particularly targets individuals from vulnerable groups, who have already been affected by stigma and discrimination during the COVID-19 pandemic. To counter this phenomenon in the region, the European Union and the Council of Europe have launched a campaign for the Western Balkans – “Block the hatred. Share the love.”

The campaign implemented under the action on “Promotion of diversity and equality in the Western Balkans” will take place entirely online, through dedicated Facebook, Instagram and Twitter pages: “Block the hatred. Share the love.”, and will be ongoing in the years to come.