A Galway-based community arts group is among the three winners of the first Enar Foundation awards for a racism-free Europe.
Solas Community Arts won the companies category for being an exceptional organisation in the fight against racism.
In a statement, the European Network Against Racism (Enar) said Solas Community Arts “facilitate creative workshops which explore and tackle themes of social inclusion and human rights, within a community development context.
“They work with disadvantaged youth, elderly people, women’s groups, travellers and asylum seekers,” the statement added.
Other winners include Forward Maisokwadzo, who topped the individuals category for his development work with City of Sanctuary in Bristol, UK.
According to the statement, Maisokwadzo’s achievements include getting more than “100 pledges of support from business, the voluntary sector, Bristol City Council, faith communities and over 1,000 individuals across the city of Bristol so that Bristol City Council on 16 November voted to give their support to the City of Sanctuary movement,”
The third award for the NGOs category went to German group Antidiskriminierungsnetzwerk Berlin des Türkischen Bund in Berlin-Brandenburg (the anti-discrimination network of the Berlin-Brandenburg Turkish Association) which supports and counsels “people of colour who experience discrimination”.
The organisation also works in “public campaigning, publication of brochures/reports as well as networking and the organisation of diversity and empowerment trainings. They do all their work from the perspective of people of colour – the only organisation using this method in Berlin.”
Speaking ahead of the Brussels presentation of awards, Enar Foundation president Chibo Onyeji said: “These awards give visibility to the many actors who strive, often anonymously and against all odds, to improve our collective daily life by pushing for inclusion, respect, diversity and equality at all levels of our society.”
He added: “In particular in the light of the current climate of increasing xenophobia and populist rhetoric, we need to keep the work towards achieving equality alive, for the benefit of all members of society.”
