Racism and Diversity Intergroup( ARDI) for their help in co-organizing and cosponsoring this Seminar.
Ms. Finch then explicated that over the next 3 years, ODIHR’ s Project will focus on 3 main themes: addressing the security needs of Jewish communities, countering anti- Semitism through education and fostering civil society coalition building. In relation to security, through a consultative process with governmental officials, law enforcement experts and civil society, ODIHR will develop a publication that lays out what can be done to prevent and respond to anti-Semitic attacks. Using modern technology, the project will also set out to create online tools that will allow for better reporting of bias-motivated incidents.
In the educational sphere, ODIHR will follow up on existing materials, developed with the Anne Frank House, and develop guidelines and a teacher’ s curriculum that will lay out key elements of an educational policy to counter anti-Semitism, intolerance and discrimination, address the very real classroom challenges related to educating about anti- Semitism, prejudice and bias and develop concrete proposals for educators to help them address these challenges. ODIHR will produce videos, podcasts and other interactive content to ensure that the materials are widely available and easily accessed.
The Project will seek to develop a flexible workshop format that can be used to facilitate civil society coalition building at local and national level. ODIHR will further hold workshops and training on how to build coalitions that are successful and impactful. Before embarking on this process, ODIHR wished to gather civil society actors as experts, who play an important role in influencing government responses to the challenges of Jewish and other communities so that these responses are relevant, and direct their attention towards coalition building – by asking how to make civil society coalitions sustainable and effective tools for joint advocacy. ODIHR wished to learn how coalitions can improve governmental responses to anti- Semitism and other forms of intolerance in the most effective way.
Ms. Finch also noted that too often anti-Semitism is viewed as a problem to be solved by the Jewish communities themselves. In many OSCE participating States government and broader civil society ownership of the effort to combat it is hard to find. But to have lasting effect, this effort, as all efforts to combat intolerance and discrimination, required joint commitment from governments and civil society as a whole. She pointed out the necessity to work with civil society to build strong and broad coalitions against anti-Semitism and other forms of discrimination and intolerance, so that the onus of addressing this problem does not fall on one particular community. Instead, strong and well-informed coalitions should be playing an important role in supporting communities who experience growing fear and uncertainty in these volatile times.
In November 2015, a conference on“ Advancing Tolerance and Non-Discrimination through Coalition Building and Co-operation” in Vienna, helped ODIHR understand that empowering and strengthening civil society coalitions was of paramount importance. But, very importantly, these coalitions should never become a substitute for governments doing their job. Clearly, governments need to implement their commitments in this area without delay. 5