A creative event for young people under the joint campaign of the European Union and the Council of Europe, “Block the Hatred. Share the Love!”, focused on combating hate speech and discrimination, took place today at the High School ‘Josip Broz Tito’ in Skopje.
This event aimed to raise awareness among young people of the various forms of hate speech and discrimination that target specific communities and individuals in our society, as well as to promote different ways of fighting hate speech, primarily by spreading positive messages of acceptance and respect for diversity, in a creative way, through street art and music.
Prominent mural artist Dejan Davchevski created a unique mural on the wall of the school themed around fight against discrimination and sharing the message of love, invited all the young boys and girls to join in the quest to block the hatred and discrimination in our society. The artist pointed the importance of art as a creative way to prevent spreading of discrimination and hate speech. “Hatred and prejudice are very common in our society. We learn about them as young people, and before pointing the finger at the youth, the older ones should also ask themselves where they learned that hatred from. Art is a freer form of expression has proved very effective for building bridges between different groups of the younger population, for helping them understand we are all the same, for removing all stereotypes and reducing hate speech. I hope that at least some of the young people who came here today, and who will see the mural in the future, will think about this message,” said Davchevski.
Local officials from the Education Department of City of Skopje, the Principal of the School Mrs. SiIvana Krzovska, teachers, activists and ‘No Hate Ambassadors’ - prominent public figures in support of this campaign joined the event.
“It is very important to join forces and say ‘no’ to hatred and ‘yes’ to love. The joint campaign of the European Union and the Council of Europe invites everyone to be part of the campaign. Today, through art and music, we celebrated ’togetherness’ and creativity – the things that our society needs to grow and develop. Let’s help this by blocking the hatred and sharing the love.” – said Marija Andreeva, project officer in the Council of Europe Programme Office in Skopje.
Co-ordinator of the Young European Ambassadors from North Macedonia, and one of the “No Hate” Ambassadors for the campaign, Dona Srdikj, shared her empowering message in support of a diverse society, without hate speech and discrimination. (quote to be added)
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. This awareness-raising initiative will be extended ‘online’ through the web and social media channels, as well as through various open public events. The campaign involves prominent public figures, institutions and renowned human rights activists, who promote diversity and equality in the local communities and in the region, through personal storytelling, testimonies and exchange of good practices.
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 program "Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Turkey 2019-2022".
