The Mayor, Councillor John Boyle launched the ‘Discover an Intercultural NI’ project at a packed Mayor’s Parlour in the city’s Guildhall on Monday afternoon where organisers, North West Migrants Forum, funders and representatives from eight post-primary schools attended.
The project, supported by the Community Relations Council and The Executive Office (Central Good Relations Fund), will see a multitude of intercultural activities involving 26 young people from seven different schools across the Council area, examine and discuss interaction of cultures, deepening of relations between nationalities and religions, and promote through dialogue, a strengthening of understanding, tolerance, solidarity, acceptance and a sense of belonging among people in Northern Ireland from all walks of life.
The project began earlier this month with Intercultural dialogue workshops in numerous schools across the Council Area culminating in St Mary’s College, Lisneal College, St Joseph’s, Oakgrove Integrated College, St Columb’s College, St Cecilia’s College and Lumen Christi signing up to the venture.
Project organiser Lilian Seenoi, North West Migrants Forum, speaking on Monday said: “In this day and age, Northern Ireland faces a new challenge: how to become an intercultural society, based on a respectful exchange of views between individuals and groups with different cultural backgrounds, on an equal basis.
The project officially starts with a weekend residential ‘Become A Better Stranger’ on Friday, November 2nd at Todd’s Leap Recreation Centre, Dungannon. At this students from the seven secondary schools and colleges, cultural ambassadors from 10 different countries, along with academics and community workers will meet together and discuss the challenges of a multicultural Northern Ireland and set the stage for a lively panel debate which will take place on Friday, 16th of November 2018 at the North West Migrants Forum Community Centre. Topics will include migration, culture, integration, welcoming, community tensions and hate crimes in DCSDC area.
Lending his support to the project, Mayor, Councillor John Boyle said: ‘This project is all about building good relations between all our young people and I applaud North West Migrants Forum for their efforts in getting our young people working on the goal of achieving reconciliation through coming together and engaging with and learning about different cultures. I wish Lilian and all those participating the best of luck and look forward to seeing the fruits of their labours.’’
The Good Relations Indicator report published by The Executive Office on October 4, 2018 shows that in 2017/2018, the number of racially motivated crimes recorded were much higher than sectarian hate crimes, the first year. Indeed, this was the first year the number of racially motivated hate crimes surpassed that of sectarian hate crimes. The report also revealed that whilst 80% of respondents thought the culture and traditions of Catholic and Protestant communities, add to the richness and diversity of Northern Ireland society, significantly a lower proportion think the culture and traditions of minority ethnic communities add to the richness and diversity of Northern Ireland society (68%).
The report also shows that 70% of young people have ‘done projects’ with pupils from other schools, while 60% have ‘shared classes’, and 48% ‘shared sports facilities or equipment’. However, the report does not illustrate any interactions between people of minority ethnic backgrounds and those from the two major ethnic populations in Northern Ireland. Link to the report can be found here; https://www.executiveoffice-ni.gov.uk/news/northern-ireland-good-relations-indicators-annual-update-2018
Intercultural dialogue as a fundamental value and interaction is vital and contributes towards our efforts to integrate those from minority ethnic backgrounds who experiences racism, hate crimes, prejudice or those who may feel isolated, lonely or alienated. Schools plays a critical role in promoting community cohesion and we are delighted that 8 schools have come on board to support this project. Our intentions are to actively engage with communities and together build a much safer, and shared Northern Ireland. The 8 schools taking part in the project are
A representative from The Executive Office also lent support to the project saying: ‘Young people are a key focus of the Executive’s Good Relation Strategy Together: Building a United Community. One of the key aims is to create the conditions where young people can play a full and active role in building good relations. The young people who will be participating in the North West Migrants Forum Good Relations programme will be putting into practice that vision of reconciliation through engagement and collaboration.“
Applauding the North West Migrants Forum’s aims, Northern Ireland Community Relations Council Chief Executive, Jacqueline Irwin said: “Community Relations Council are able to support this project through our Community Relations and Cultural Diversity grant scheme. This grant scheme has been established with the support of The Executive Office to help community and voluntary groups throughout Northern Ireland develop their capacity to engage in community relations work and to enhance the community relations potential of projects they undertake. The project activity planned by the North West Migrants Forum aims to increase understanding and improve community relations between different local communities as we all work towards building a united community together.”