How do you spot a harmful narrative before it takes hold, and how do you build communities where people genuinely feel safe? These are not simple questions, but a group of twenty young people from across the Eastern Partnership region spent two days in Georgia working through exactly that.
Brought together by the European Union and Council of Europe as part of the Block the Hatred, Share the Love 2.0 initiative, Young European Ambassadors (YEAs) from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia and the Republic of Moldova, as well as young people from across Georgia, explored how the hate speech is constructed, how it spreads and, crucially how it can be countered.
The conversations built on previous exchanges between YEAs from the Western Balkans and the Eastern Partnership region, pushing participants to move beyond awareness and into action.
‘’Regional seminars can be empowering for young people passionate about human rights. Young European Ambassadors are active and committed citizens, and providing them with a platform to exchange ideas, share experiences and strengthen their competency can help create a more informed and stronger society,’’ said Ani Gogokhia, YEA from Georgia.
Participants learned to identify discriminatory narratives, trace how harmful content moves through both online and offline spaces, and practise building inclusive messages that can genuinely reach people. Group and peer-to-peer activities encouraged them to apply this knowledge in real-life contexts, equipping them with practical tools to raise awareness and promote diversity within their communities and across the region. The focus was practical throughout: not just understanding the problem but developing the instincts and tools to respond to it.
That kind of perspective is hard to develop in isolation, but it comes from genuine exchange. Sitting alongside peers from countries with different cultures, languages and political contexts challenged participants to question assumptions they did not even know they held. "It was encouraging to learn from others and to see from a different angle how narratives are constructed, interpreted and communicated, and how to recognise and analyse them and respond in a balanced way," said Sabina Ramazanova, YEA from Azerbaijan.
Lilit Sofyan from Armenia described that encounter with different viewpoints as one of the most powerful parts of the experience. ‘’Events like this are an ideal opportunity to bring young people from different countries and cultural backgrounds together to create space for mutual understanding, dialogue, and the exchange of perspectives,” she said.
Perhaps most importantly, participants left with something harder to measure than skills or knowledge: a renewed sense of purpose and solidarity. Nicoleta Plămădeală from the Republic of Moldova put it plainly. "We understand the importance of creating safe spaces where everyone feels respected and valued," she said. „We are motivated to continue promoting inclusion and building more tolerant societies.
This event is part of the European Union and the Council of Europe joint programme “Partnership for Good Governance”, co-funded by the European Union and the Council of Europe, and implemented by the Council of Europe, in the framework of the projects “Promoting equality and non-discrimination: towards more resilient and inclusive societies” and ‘’Combating Hate Speech in Georgia’’.
