Intolerance and Discrimination during the COVID-19 Pandemic – Perspectives from Civil Society Organizations
When
Where
Organized by
The event will bring together leading voices from civil society organizations to discuss the impact of the COVID-19 crisis that exacerbated the discrimination and exclusion already faced by individuals and communities. It will also shed light on additional challenges the pandemic has created for the work of those civil society organizations that monitor hate incidents and support victims, and provide space to discuss possible solutions and recommendations.
Why is it important?
The COVID-19 crisis has created conditions in many societies across the OSCE region conducive to the spread of rhetoric that scapegoats, dehumanizes and demonizes various minority groups claimed to be the cause of the virus and responsible for its spread. Much of this scapegoating and the intolerant discourse that has accompanied it has occurred online. The pandemic has also exposed existing vulnerabilities and deepened inequalities.
Participants
The event will be of particular interest to civil society organizations working to address intolerance and discrimination, including through support to victims, national human rights institutions, law enforcement professionals, as well as decision- and policymakers mandated to address manifestations of intolerance and discrimination.
The speakers will include:
Sacha Lin-Jung, Co-Founder, Association of Chinese Youth of France
Dalia Grinfeld, Assistant Director for European Affairs, Anti-Defamation League
Bernard Rorke, Advocacy and Policy Manager, European Roma Rights Centre
Julie Pascoët, Senior Advocacy Officer, European Network against Racism (ENAR)
Iman Atta OBE, Director, Tell MAMA
To participate, please register here. The event will be held in English and will be recorded for reporting purposes.
Background
On multiple occasions, the OSCE participating States have committed themselves to addressing manifestations of intolerance and discrimination, including hate crime, recognizing that such phenomena threaten the security of individuals and social cohesion. The participating States have also recognized that, if unchecked, such manifestations may give rise to conflict and violence on a wider scale. ODIHR provides support, expertise and assistance to OSCE participating States to fulfil their commitments in the area of tolerance and non-discrimination, and also works to strengthen the capacity of civil society to address racism, xenophobia, intolerance and discrimination, including through broad-based coalitions.
The event is organized as part of ODIHR’s project Words into Action to Address Intolerance.
The ODIHR report OSCE Human Dimension Commitments and State Responses to the COVID-19 Pandemic notes that intolerant discourse and scapegoating of minorities have added to the complex task of addressing discrimination and hate crime. It also highlights the difficulties that pandemic-related restrictions added to the work of civil society addressing these phenomena, underlining the need for heightened state attention on matters related to intolerance and discrimination in times of crisis.