Congress of National Minorities of Ukraine is an All-Ukrainian non-commercial union of organizations of national minorities of Ukraine created with the aim to unite efforts of ethnic communities in the field of ethnic communities’ rights defense, integration of communities into civil society of Ukraine, tolerance education and combating xenophobia.
Since 2002 CNMU works on projects for Ukrainian youth aiming at international and interreligious tolerance education.
CNMU working directions
- Informational and analytical
- Newspaper Forum of Nations is devoted to the issues of ethnopilitics and culture of ethnic communities of Ukraine. 12 issues with circulation of 1000 copies were published and free of charge disseminated among ethnic communities of Ukraine, NGOs, governmental structures, research institutions. Editor-in-chief: Khorunzha Tatyana
- Monitoring on display of xenophobia and racism in Ukraine.
2.Education in the field of international and interreligious tolerance for children and youth
2.1.All-Ukrainian Inter-Ethnic Children “Sources of Tolerance” Summer School. The project is aimed at international and interconfessional tolerance education, combating xenophobia, forming of active civic stand of children who are the representatives of different ethnic communities, disseminating of knowledge on national diversity in Ukraine and other countries. 200 children (from 7 till 17 years old) and 40 tutors from 19 ethnic communities of Ukraine, Moldova, Belarus, Georgia and Armenia (Assyrians, Belarusians, Koreans, Hungarians, Bulgarians, Armenians, Ossetians, Georgians, Greeks, Gagauzians, Jews, Crimean Tatars, Moldavians, Germans, Poles, Russians, Romanians, Tatars, considerable group of Ukrainians) took an active part. The group of refugee children from Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Azerbaijan, Angola and the Chechen Republic also participated in the Summer School. Summer School works by unique methodology of absorption. This methodology assumes daily lessons during which all participants try to live as the representatives of certain culture. Except 14 National Days in the Summer School, there were conducted Human Rights Day, Festival of Languages and Citizenship Day. Tutors who are the representatives of ethnic communities of Ukraine including specialists who have specific preparation during CNMU seminars work in the Summer School. This year 6 tutors from Georgia and Armenia underwent study course in the School. Summer School was organized by the CNMU with the assistance of Ministry of Culture and Tourism of Ukraine, Euro-Asian Jewish Congress, Renaissance Foundation, Danish Refugee Council and other charity organizations, sponsors and private individuals.
2.1.1.Kyiv School Inter-Ethnic “Sources of Tolerance” Summer School. Summer School organizers, CNMU and Kyiv gymnasium of Eastern languages №1, participants of the Summer School, 50 pupils of small school, daily got acquainted with one of the ethnic communities’ culture. Ukrainian, Latin-American, German, Polish, Jewish, Russian, Chinese, Armenian days, and also Human Rights Day, International Refugee Day, were presented in the Summer School 2010. Tutors’ team: Andrey Knizhny, Alexandr Frenkel, Olga Savchuk, Anna Lenchovska.
Organizational support was provided by volunteers of Kyiv Tolerance Club, Union of Armenian Youth of Ukraine, Vaad Ukraine, Embassy of Federal Republic of Germany, Embassy of Indonesia, Integration Center “Rokada”.
Tolerance clubs for teenagers in Kyiv, Lvov, Simferopol, Mariupol, Kharkov, Chisinau and Tbilisi. Weekly meetings of teenagers who are the representatives of different ethnic communities, trainings on civic education and tolerance, school o leadership, actions in schools by the principle “equal to equal”. From January till July 2010 tolerance clubs in Kyiv and Kharkov realized the project “Integration program for refugee children”. The main tasks of the project were to normalize dialogue between refugee children and Ukrainian children, to strengthen social responsibility and empathy among Ukrainians; to help refugee children to find solutions in conflict situations through access to cultural and social Ukrainian life, to provide children possibilities of exchanging their cultures and representing their unique identity; to combat prejudices and xenophobia. The participants of Lvov Tolerance Club monthly publish their newspaper “Visnyk Tolerantnosti”. All clubs created their groups in social network “Vkontakte”.
http://vkontakte.ru/club12967298 (Chisinau Club)
http://vkontakte.ru/club11411889 (Mariupol Club)
http://vkontakte.ru/club21551306 (Kharkov Club)
http://vknontakte.ru/club21152064 (Tbilisi Club)
Sponsors of the project “Tolerance clubs for teenagers”: Euro-Asian Jewish Congress, Danish Refugee Council, Vaad Ukraine, Dutch Jewish Humanitarian Fund, American Embassy in Moldova.
2.2.Use of debating video clips in human rights’ and tolerance education.
Debating program Free2choose in Europe, created by Anne Frank House (Amsterdam, the Netherlands) in cooperation with 12 partner countries, is effectively used by CNMU during its work with youth (leaders of student government, foreign students, Ukrainian students who are the representatives of different ethnic communities), teachers and journalists in Ukraine. The project is aimed at encouraging critical thinking for teenagers in solution dilemma questions.
In summer 2010 CNMU created two video clips “Is it required to make Muslim holidays – Eid ul-Fitr and Eid al-Adha – as official holidays in Ukraine?” and “Is it required to translate and to perform Ukrainian Anthem in the languages of ethnic communities of Ukraine?” (director Alexandr Lidagovsky). The trainings for school pupils were conducted in the network of tolerance clubs as well as in Akhtyrka, Simferopol, and Chernovtsy. Free2choose methodology was presented in the framework of the program “We understand human rights” during human rights schools for youth and teachers and during final conference of this program.
Sponsors: British Council, program “We understand human rights”.
- International and interreligious tolerance education for adults.
3.1. Advanced training for tutors of All-Ukrainian Inter-Ethnic Children “Sources of Tolerance” Summer School. Annual seminar for tutors of the Summer School was successfully conducted. Among the seminar topics were identity, historical memory and reconciliation, migration and refugees.
3.2. Seminar for teachers and young leaders from Georgia and Armenia “Tolerance And Dialogue Between Different Nationalities And Religions”.
Among 32 seminar participants were teachers and colleagues from youth organizations from Armenia and Georgia. Trainer team of the seminar included human rights activist Josef Zissels, psychologists Anna Lenchovska and Vyacheslav Likhachov, pedagogues Natalya Bakulina and Alexandr Voytenko. Expert support was provided by ethnographer Arutiun Marutyan from Armenia, archaeologist Guram Lordkipanidze and psychologist Ramaz Sakvarelidze from Georgia. Interactive trainings, lecture discussions, work in small groups, program presentation of All-Ukrainian Inter-Ethnic Children “Sources of Tolerance” Summer School and tolerance clubs afforded the participants an opportunity to get acquainted with methods of forming international and interreligious tolerance. 5 seminar graduators underwent study course in the Summer School 2010. Tbilisi graduators created tolerance club, and Armenian seminar leavers conducted presentations of “Sources of Tolerance” Summer School 2010 in schools in Yerevan.
Seminar was organized by CNMU in cooperation with Euro-Asian Jewish Congress.
3.3. Project “Ukrainian books for tolerance education” was devoted to the issues of human rights and ethnic communities’ rights, xenophobia and tolerance, use of educational potential of publications among 5 target groups – teachers of history and social disciplines; school vice-principals of educational work; students from educational department; librarians and students from journalistic department. The project provides new editions on the issues of tolerance, combating anti-Semitism and xenophobia, in 16 educational publishing houses and also translation and publication in Ukrainian language other 11 educational methodological and scientific books on the similar issues. Project partners: Anne Frank House and Fund of projects of Central European and Eastern European Publishing Book House (Amsterdam); CNMU, Center of Civic Education, Ukrainian Center for Holocaust Studies, Institute of Judaica, Jewish Fund of Ukraine.
CNMU trainers and lecturers conducted seminars in the following cities – Kharkov, Dnepropetrovsk, Chernigov, Cherkassy, Ivano-Frankovsk, Odessa, Lutsk, Rovno, Zhytomyr. Anna Lenchovska and Tatyana Khorunzha worked with librarian workers for children and youth (directors, specialists, methodologists). Kira Kreyderman, Maksim Butkevich, Vyacheslav Likhachov worked with students from journalistic department, Political Science department, and International Relations department. Kira Kreyderman took also part in the seminars for school vice-principals of educational work.
Project sponsor: Program “MATRA” (Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs).
- Education on antidiscrimination for young leaders from ethnic communities and governmental bodies.
4.1. Project “Steps towards each other” was aimed at developing human rights culture, tolerance strengthening and combating xenophobia through enhancing the role of civic society in Ukraine. The main project tasks were to conduct 8-day training course on human rights and antidiscrimination with specific attention to the issues of combating xenophobia, developing international tolerance for young leaders and conducting introductory seminar for governmental bodies. Youth schools’ participants had a possibility to realize their obtained skills and to expand new knowledge in 11 mini-projects.
Project results: network of young leaders who received basic knowledge in mini-projects on the issues of human rights and antidiscrimination, skills to recognize hate speech, to combat xenophobia and to develop tolerance between different nationalities. Governmental bodies’ knowledge (in Chernovtsy Region and in Crimea) in the field of human rights, antidiscriminational policy, and tolerance culture, combating xenophobia and hate speech were spread. Project partner became All-Ukrainian educational program “We understand human rights”.
Project sponsors: Embassy of Federal Republic of Germany in Ukraine, Euro-Asian Jewish Congress.
5. Publishing activities
5.1. «Polikulturika: how to organize international tolerance education in school and out-of-school activities»: educational methodological manual / Authors A.Lenchovska, K.Kreyderman, M.Grinberg. – К.: ТОV «Maysternya knugu», 2010 – 344 pages. Circulation 2500 issues.
Educational methodological manual “Polikulturika” is addressed to teachers of history and social disciplines, vice-principals of educational work, pedagogues organizers, form masters, school psychologists, and tutors for youth. The following manual includes methodological recommendations on how to conduct lessons of educational work in any school and out of school on the issues of tolerance, intercultural competence and combating xenophobia and racism.
Using this manual, teacher can conduct any event on international tolerance education in school – from educational hour or thematic lesson till school children inter-ethnic “Sources of Tolerance” Camp. The manual was published, and supported by International Renaissance Foundation, Euro-Asian Jewish Congress, Fund of Central and Eastern Publishing Book House.
5.2. Educational postcards about refugees / Author A.Lenchovska, design D.Verstak. – K.: Автор-сост. А.Ленчовская, дизайн Д.Верстак. – К.: ТОV, «Maysternya knugu», 2010 – 8 postcards. Circulation 2500 issues.
Educational materials include 8 postcards and each of them can become the topic of lesson in group. In general, materials compose cycle of lessons for working with visual sources, collection and analysis of thematic messages, NGOs researches, organization of debates, and so on.
The front page of postcards contains material for educational work, and the reverse side includes text with tasks. Trainings for teachers for working with postcards were conducted in Kharkov Institute of Advanced Studies (Andrey Kinash). School pupils and youth worked with materials in Kyiv, in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, and in Chernovtsy. Publication was sponsored by Danish Refugee Council in Ukraine.
6. Web-presentation of CNMU projects:
Internet web-site of the CNMU - www.kngu.org
Internet web-site “Tolerspace” is an electronic recourse for children, youth, parents and teachers. www.tolerspace.org.ua
Account of “Tolerccamp” and video-hosting YOUTUBE where are shared video movies about the CNMU events. Address of the web-page: http://www.youtube.com/user/Tolerccamp.
7. Participation in international seminars and conferences.
June – “Stand Up, train Up”, training for trainers in Budapest (Yevgeniya Saganchi and Yaroslava Myeshkova).
May – «A New Generation of Learning: Holocaust Education and Internet”, seminar on educating new technologies on the issues of Holocaust in Budapest (Hungary) (Anna Lenchovska, Kira Kreyderman)
July - OSCE Review Conference, Warsaw – conference on OSCE activities in Warsaw (Anna Lenchovska)
October - OSCE Review Conference, Warsaw – conference on OSCE activities in Warsaw (Anna Lenchovska)
November – December – UNITED Conference, Moscow (Anastasya Kitillova).
