Call: Support dialogue and exchange of best practice in fostering tolerance and mutual respect

The general objective of the Programme shall be to contribute, in accordance with Article 4 of the Treaty on the EU (TEU), to the further development of an area where equality and the rights of persons as enshrined in the TEU, in the Treaty of the Functioning of the EU (TFEU), in the Charter of fundamental rights of the EU and in the international human rights conventions to which the Union has acceded, are promoted, protected and effectively implemented.

To achieve the general objective, the Programme has the following specific objectives:

• to promote the effective implementation of the principle of non -discrimination on grounds of sex, racial or ethnic origin, religion or belief, disability, age or sexual orientation, and to respect the principle of non-discrimination on the grounds provided for in Article 21 of the Charter;
• to prevent and combat racism, xenophobia, homophobia and other forms of intolerance;
• to promote and protect the rights of persons with disabilities;
• to promote equality between women and men and to advance gender mainstreaming;
• to prevent and combat all forms of violence against children, young people and women, as well as violence against other groups at risk, in particular groups at risk of violence in close relationships, and to protect victims of such violence;
• to promote and protect the rights of the child;
• to contribute to ensuring the highest level of protection of privacy and personal data;
• to promote and enhance the exercise of rights deriving from citizenship of the Union;
• to enable individuals in their capacity as consumers or entrepreneurs in the internal market to enforce their rights deriving from Union law, having regard to the projects funded under the Consumer Programme.

Amongst others, the specific objectives shall be pursued through:

• enhancing awareness and knowledge of Union law and policies as well as of the rights, values and principles underpinning the Union;
• supporting the effective, comprehensive and consistent implementation and application of Union law instruments and policies in the Member States and the monitoring and evaluation thereof.

The Fundamental Rights and Citizenship programme aims to promote the development of a European society based on respect for fundamental rights and rights derived from citizenship of the European Union.

The focus of the Fundamental Rights and Citizenship programme is:

• the protection of the rights of the child;
• combating racism, xenophobia and anti-Semitism;
• the fight against homophobia;
• active participation in the democratic life of the Union;
• data protection and privacy rights;
• training and networking between legal professions and legal practitioners.

The priorities of this call for proposals are:

• Grassroots projects on preventing and combating Antisemitism and anti-Muslim hatred and intolerance (as a follow up of the 2015 Colloquium on Fundamental Rights event);
• projects on preventing and combating homophobia and transphobia;
• projects promoting the development of tools and practices to prevent (counter-narratives), monitor and combat online hate speech, including but not limited to means of criminal law (as a follow up of the Colloquium);
• Projects to create better understanding between communities, including religious communities, and prevent and combat racism and xenophobia through interreligious and intercultural activities.

This call will fund activities on:

• mutual learning on tolerance, respect and non-discrimination, exchange of good practices and strengthened cooperation between key actors, including representatives of the communities;
• development of monitoring and transparency tools on hate crime and hate speech. In particular, projects should focus on developing tools to report and monitor online hate speech and/or enhancing transparency of the notifications made by users to the Internet companies and social media platforms will be a priority. Priority should be given to languages of the countries where the extent of the problem is considerable but no solutions are being genuinely developed;
• capacity building and training activities for key stakeholders, including representatives of communities and youngsters;
• dissemination, awareness raising activities and campaigns (e.g. production of counter and alternative narratives) aimed at preventing Antisemitism, anti-Muslim hatred, xenophobic or anti-migrant sentiment, homophobia and transphobia and other related forms of intolerance.
• supporting community leaders and local authorities to fight against racism, xenophobia and other related intolerance through community building, creation of networks, interreligious and intercultural dialogue, initiatives serving the community and boosting self-esteem, creativity and a sense of belonging, breaking of stereotypes and the developing of counter-narratives.

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