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Based on previous experiences where the youth have been used as political tools to fuel conflict during elections, the project seeks to take the opportunity to intervene before the election processes in 2023 starts. In appreciating the role played by youth in developing a nation, the intervention thus sees beyond political and civic differences to create non-partisan dialogues between Zimbabwe’s youths on peace building, conflict resolution, and civic and political leadership for inclusive development. In addition, the youth’s marginalised position within the democratic structures in Zimbabwe is big yet the youth constitute the majority. There is limited space for meaningful youth participation in the democratic processes in Zimbabwe across all political parties. The main purpose with the intervention, is on engaging and capacitating youth from across the political spectrum in Zimbabwe to strengthen youth’s role in politics and development processes. The youth will be from all layers of Zimbabwean society, ensuring different social backgrounds come together for a better Zimbabwe. The targeted youth will be both presently actively engaged within political parties and those unaffiliated and those who wish to act as peer-to-peer promoters of peaceful and tolerant political discourse. This is with a focus on breaking barriers for active inclusion in shaping peaceful political discourse within Zimbabwe in general and the dominating political parties in specific in the time running up to the national elections (known as Harmonised Elections) that will happen no later than July 2023 in Zimbabwe. All with the aim of influencing pro-youth policy, facilitating youth inclusion in decision spaces, and promote tolerance and peaceful participation in national politics going forward and in the upcoming electoral cycle and beyond. The 3 project objectives are:  Promote a sustainable peaceful political environment in Zimbabwe through skills enhancement of politically engaged youth  To enhance young women’s active participation in key governance, democratic and development processes.  To lobby and advocate for an inclusive youth space in politics and governance in Zimbabwe Stay tuned for more news from this project. Check out our partners Know more about 4-H – Zimbabwe Click Here

The main purpose of the project is to contribute to providing Ukrainian youth with a platform for peaceful and active participation in the democratic development of the country. The Hubs will serve as dynamic focus platforms where youth can meet and engage in public affairs by learning and by debating current youth-related issues in stimulating spaces for democratic education among youth and inspire the present and future youth leaders of the country to be an active part of solving current societal challenges. In short, the Hubs aim at increasing youth interests in society, politics, democracy, independent media, human rights, environment, and to enhance youth leadership and active citizenship. The core project activities for the youth include training courses, dialogue cafés, seminars, workshops, online courses, regional debate camps, a national debate camp, and a panel debate trip to Denmark. The partnership between CB and the KF builds on the one we established in 2020 to create an enabling, safe space for youth in the Democracy Hub Kyiv project funded by CISU. KF has received positive feedback from the youth and other organizations that have been involved in the project – a good indicator that the project was needed and well designed. This project will expand on the previous good experiences of facilitating youth friendly Hub and collaborating with other stakeholders. As the purpose of the project is to strengthen youth civic engagement, the success will be measured regarding how this experience is translated into youth civic engagement in the affairs of society. The project also aims to strengthen collaboration between Ukraine and Denmark in various fields, especially youth. Towards this goal, we intend to reach out to and seek collaboration and mutual learning, coordination, and exchange of better practices. Watch out the video to find out how the Great Debate Camp went by! https://usercontent.one/wp/crossingborders.dk/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/318742859_1855337771465607_7929046272662811687_n.mp4?media=1733222032 Let’s hear what our participants from the project has to say about ‘Democracy Hub’ https://usercontent.one/wp/crossingborders.dk/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Democracy-Hub-video-1.mp4?media=1733222032 Check out our partners Know more about Klitschko Foundation  Click Here

EGD II builds on the previous CISU funded project Empowered Girls Dialogue (EGD): Facilitating girls’ leadership and community outreach. The purpose of the EGD II project is to allow marginalized Moroccan teen girls to gain a voice within their communities. A voice that drives change to detrimental practices toward girls and women in Morocco.  The project development objective is, to positively impact detrimental practices against Moroccan teen girls at the community level, such as, sexual harassment, forced dropping out of school, and forced early marriage. The core focus of this project is directed toward expanding the Community Dialogue activity, and making them a strong advocacy tool. The Community Dialogue meetings will be led by the teen girls and the activity aim is to give the girls a formal voice within their communities. Through the implementation of EGD II the poor and marginalized Moroccan teen girls in the project will be empowered with civic engagement competencies that will encourage them to solve community problems and engage other youths for civic engagement and participation. Project Objectives: 1. Empower teen girls and enhance their leadership skills to become decision-makers, active civic participants and advocates for their futures.  2. Give the teen girls a voice within their community against repressive customs and ideologies. Project Impact:225 soar girls beneficiaries27 Soar Dialogues held10 Soar Clubs launched18 Women facilitators activated in 10 sites259 Soar empowerment workshops conducted across 10 sites  Know more about our partner : Project Soar Read our blog on Crossing Borders visit to Morocco here 

The project’s overall objective is for the partner organization (Teach the Child initiative) and their leader to develop competencies and skills that can make them more effective, sustainable and thrive in a fast-changing world. The aim objective is also to ensure the staff of the organization and public-school educators have a clear understanding of Inclusive education and the use of the TaRL approach in 21st-century teaching for improved educational outcomes in young learners. The project duration will be of three months funded by Danish Civil Society in Development (CISU) during which time the project implementation activities will be locally carried out by our Teach for Child partners. The Capacity Strengthening for Change-makers comprises of 3 days’ workshop in Copenhagen facilitated by Crossing Borders on Organization development and non-formal education methodologies and a 3-day workshop in Nigeria to equip the staff of Teach the Child Initiative and public-school educators with the tools necessary to improve learning outcomes in young learners, particularly those who attend public education institutions. This exercise will influence every other project implemented that target contributing to the achievement of goal 4 of the Sustainable Development Goals -Quality Education. We have kick started the project on 9 January 2023 on zoom with the participation of Crossing Borders and Teach the Child. Stay tuned to see more exciting updates from this project! Check out our partner

What would you say to a high-level diplomat or a decision-maker on a high level if you meet them in person? Have you ever thought of being in such a situation? The last week of September was exceptional for us at Crossing Borders. After very hard work put in by Linda Ligori, a project coordinator at CB, and with our partners in Italy CPLT, we organized a trip to Brussels to pay a visit to the European Commission and the European Parliament. The purpose of this visit was to meet with Mr. Kamil Maj, Member of the President’s Cabinet at the European Parliament, Mr. Nicolai Hartvig, Danish Directorate General for Communication, and Amanda Husum, Assistant to the Danish MEP, Kira Marie Peter-Hansen from The Green Group/European Free Alliance, Caterina Chinnici, an Italian MEP, and Ms. Iris Abraham, and Mr. Mattia De’ Grassi, members of the Cabinet of the Vice President of the EU Commission. This comes as a very important step in our EU project CO4YOU. From Denmark, 19 years old Sima Kamal, a Hazara Afghani refugee in Denmark and a participant in the project was able to join, and this was a big thing for her. “I was the only Afghan girl and I was proud of myself and proud of being an Afghan girl for coming this long way from Denmark as a refugee and talking with high-level decision-makers at the European Union and European Commission,” Says Sima Kamal. Sima came to Denmark in 2021 in the wake of the Taliban seizing power in Afghanistan following the US troops’ withdrawal from the country. The discrimination and violence against girls and women in Afghanistan from the Taliban pushed Sima and her family to leave the country searching for a safer life. “When last year the Taliban took over Afghanistan my family took the hardest decision of leaving everything behind in search of a safer future. Now I live in Denmark with my family and Denmark is our second home” Says Sima. The CO4YOU project spoke to Sima’s heart, and she found herself in this project empowered and confident again. “I lost myself among my pains and my problems, and this project and this trip helped me to get away from problems. It made me feel fresh and strong” Says Sima. The CO4YOU project is an EU-funded project implemented by Crossing Borders and three other European partners, Centro Pio La Torre from Italy SFERA from North Macedonia, and FICAT from Barcelona. This project aims to facilitate open spaces for dialogue toward civic engagement and inclusion of young people within European national contexts and build their knowledge of European values, youth rights, and policies. The purpose of those meetings with the European Commission and the European Parliament was to, first give a better understanding to youth from the 4 partner countries about EU institutions, values, and the decision-making processes. Secondly, and a very essential goal, was to build a bridge with decision makers at this high level of EU institutions to eventually share the findings of our project as a policy recommendation that was promised it will be taken into consideration. “I can’t explain that feeling when I was approaching the gates, I remember it was rainy and I was counting the moments before entering the EU Parliament and with every step, I got closer to the gate I wished I had other Afghan girls with myself there so that we could walk together but unfortunately I was alone, I was the only Afghan girl but I was very proud of myself” Sima One of the matters raised by the youth during the meetings was how could the distance between young citizens and EU institutions be shortened and how to reach directly to the heart of the institutions without an intermediary. In this case, Mr. De Grassi pointed toward the EU Youth Portal while addressing them regarding the new instrument currently being discussed and soon passed by the EU Commission. “It was a great trip for me, and I learned so many new things. I saw the EU Commission and EU parliament from such a close distance, that was mindblowing” says Sima. It is worth mentioning that Sima and other participants from Denmark and the partner countries took part in three intensive days of training back in June. The training aimed at raising awareness about the abovementioned notions while simultaneously carrying forth the notion of active EU citizenship among young people with a migrant background. The project provided the participants with a vital knowledge toolkit enabling them to take a more proactive action within their respective socio-economic and democratic political spaces. Finally, this trip was a huge step for the participants, the project, and for Crossing Borders. We want to express our deep gratitude to Vice President Suica’s head of Cabinet, Mr. Scicluna who through Mrs. Helena Kolaj arranged the meeting with his cabinet members, Ms. Iris Abraham, and Mr. Mattia De’ Grassi for the CO4YOU cohort. Additionally, heart-warming gratitude goes to the President of the EU Parliament for her kind consideration and to Mr. Kamil Maj for kindly delivering a wonderful afternoon meeting even exceeding the one-hour agreed-upon time. Our gratitude goes also to Mr. Nicolai Hartvig, Danish Directorate General for Communication, and Amanda Husum, Assistant to the Danish MEP, Kira Marie Peter-Hansen, and to the Italian MEP, Ms. Chinnici’s office, for giving us a chance to know about the hard work behind the scenes of the individual European MEPs. Have you also read: CB news A meeting at European Commission and the European Parliament – A vital step for youth inclusion and engagement in Europe. October 6, 2022 Facebook Twitter Google+ Linked In Pinterest CB news Youth Promoting Peace and Tolerance – a new project with 4-H Zimbabwe September 15, 2022 Facebook Twitter Google+ Linked In Pinterest CB news The women that want to touch the sky – The story of Mintu Davi September 8, 2022 Facebook Twitter Google+ Linked In Pinterest CB news Workshop on Saturday, September 24th –

We are very happy to announce the start of the new project, Youth Promoting Peace and Tolerance in Zimbabwe. Together with our partners 4-H Zimbabwe, we will work on engaging and capacitating youth from across the political spectrum in Zimbabwe to strengthen youth’s role in politics and development processes. As elections are on the door in Zimbabwe and based on previous experiences, the youth were used as political tools to fuel conflict during elections. Therefore, this project seeks to intervene before the election process in 2023 starts. In appreciating the role played by youth in developing a nation, the intervention thus sees beyond political and civic differences to create non-partisan dialogues between Zimbabwe’s youths on peacebuilding, conflict resolution, and civic and political leadership for inclusive development. In addition, the youth’s marginalized position within the democratic structures in Zimbabwe is big yet the youth constitute the majority. There is limited space for meaningful youth participation in the democratic processes in Zimbabwe across all political parties. Through this project, we will reach out to youth from all layers of Zimbabwean society, ensuring different social backgrounds come together for a better Zimbabwe. The targeted youth will be both presently actively engaged within political parties and those unaffiliated and those who wish to act as peer-to-peer promoters of peaceful and tolerant political discourse. This is with a focus on breaking barriers for active inclusion in shaping peaceful political discourse within Zimbabwe in general and the dominating political parties in specific in the time running up to the national elections (known as Harmonised Elections) that will happen no later than July 2023 in Zimbabwe. All to influence pro-youth policy, facilitate youth inclusion in decision spaces, and promote tolerance and peaceful participation in national politics going forward and in the upcoming electoral cycle and beyond. Stay tuned for more information and updates on this project. Know more about the partners 4-H Zimbabwe Click here Read Also The women that want to touch the sky – The story of Mintu Davi September 8, 2022 0 Facebook Twitter Google+ Linked In Pinterest edit post Today, Mintu Davi is one of the most influential female leaders in her community and many women in the Muzaffarpur… Read more Søger praktikant: Vil du være med til at give skoleelever redskaber til at begå sig som verdensborgere i en foranderlig verden? August 30, 2022 0 Facebook Twitter Google+ Linked In Pinterest edit post Ansøgningsfrist: September 15, 2022 Som praktikant vil du være med til at udbrede kendskabet til vores innovative skole workshops, og… Read more Looking for a Danish speaking Intern for the Migrantour project August 29, 2022 0 Facebook Twitter Google+ Linked In Pinterest edit post Ansøgningsfrist: September 15, 2022 Crossing Borders er ved at opstarte det EU-støttede Migrantour Copenhagen, hvor migranter tager ejerskab over København… Read more

Your city, your community – your voice! Do you know this feeling? Living in a place for a while but nothing makes you feel at home, nothing makes you feel like you belong, you feel alone in your head, not knowing what is going on around you. Like a tourist, forever. Sometimes you feel grateful, and then there are times you ask yourself, “what the hell am I still doing here”? Sometimes you even begin to feel like this while you are in your own country, between your people and speaking the same language. This is what happens when you are being excluded from your surroundings, because of who you are or how you identify yourself. Inclusion is the key. When systems, people, and policies include you, you will feel it! When you feel included, the place you live starts to feel like home. When you are being seen, recognized, acknowledged, and appreciated. But inclusion is not a responsibility of one side. It is a collective action from all sides that facilitates the road to “home”. Therefore, it is important to define and communicate your needs, and tell your stories so that other people can listen and respond to them properly. If you join us in this workshop, we will focus on two methods, that we believe will help you with that. The first part of the workshop will be Community Mapping, and in the second part, we will practice Storytelling. So what exactly do we want to do? In the first part, we will discuss and learn about Community Mapping. It’s a method we use to discover what people resonate with, both positively and negatively, about the places they live in. Is there a park that makes you feel calm? A bakery you walk past where the smell of pastries brightens your day? Is there a place that feels like it was made to include you and feels like ‘home’? Or is there somewhere that you avoid, that feels unsafe, or where you feel unwelcome? Through discovering how people feel connected to their community we can learn more about how to make our city inclusive to all. After you’ve created a detailed overview of your community, we’ll move on to the second part of the workshop: storytelling. We’ll listen, you tell your story! Stories connect people, empower and educate, and help bring to light things that have not been talked about before. By sharing your story you are owning your words, and claiming a spot in that community you always wanted to be in. But telling a story isn’t easy, it takes a little bit of knowledge on how to do it and even more courage to actually share it with others. In this part of the workshop, we will learn all this together. Share your experiences with other participants, discuss problems, and find ideas for change in your community. Interview each other, express your feelings, and develop local strategies that can move Copenhagen in a direction that represents all its citizens. By participating in this workshop, you are helping yourself and many others that feel the same way you do, because Crossing Borders will include your input, suggestions, ideas, and concerns in a report that will be used to raise awareness in the public and to address city councils and government. If you live in Copenhagen and have a migrant background, speak English, and are interested in making a difference, this workshop is for you! Bring your grandparents or others whose stories need to be heard, but who may not be as well connected as you.Come join us at our beautiful new headquarters in Nørrebro. This workshop is all about dialogue, connection, and fun. We’ll provide great food and drinks, fun activities, and a safe environment for all. Here you will find a safe space regardless of where you come from, how old you are, what religion you belong to, or whether you are part of the BIPOC, disabled, LGBTQIA+, or any other community. We want to include anyone who feels lost and not heard in a place where they seem to not belong. Claim your space and tell us what you think! If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to get in touch with us write directly to the project manager at emma@crossingborders.dk This workshop is part of the INCLUDATE Erasmus+ project, co-funded by the European Commission, which aims to educate migrants or people with a migrant background on how to make their voices heard. To apply or if you have any questions send an email directly to emma@crossingborders.dk

“Do what you can, with what you have, wherever you are” The essence of Mandela Day – take action, inspire change, and make every day a Mandela Day – is more important than ever before. As always, Mandela Day is a unique opportunity to do good for those who need it most. Hence, every year we at Crossing Borders seize this opportunity to serve food, drinks, and distribute clothes and play music for the homeless and other citizens who need it. This year, we celebrated Mandela Day in a very special way together with YouPeople. With the participation of the South African Ambassador HE Ms. Magubane and a representative of the Mandela Foundation, we had an unforgettable day with the homeless in Copenhagen. We shared food, donated clothes, and danced to the uplifting music by the great DJ Kipanga who brought his gears and played South African music. Previous Next A million thank you to the Crossing Borders Team for planning and implementing the event. We are grateful to all those who supported and attended the event especially Ala’a at Sorte Firkant restaurant. The Nelson Mandela International Day campaign remains rooted in the call Nelson Mandela made in 2009 to honor him by working in communities rather than by celebrating his birthday. While 18 July remains a focal point for the campaign. About YouPeople: YouPeople is a morning café for the homeless in Copenhagen. They are located in Folkets Hus and we serve coffee, tea, and breakfast 6 days per week from 7-10.30.  They are a part of Kirkens Korshær/DanChurch Social. CB news Crossing Borders // Roskilde Festival 22 June 23, 2022 Facebook Twitter Google+ Linked In Pinterest CB news The key element in the “working together” recipe – PISH Project June 22, 2022 Facebook Twitter Google+ Linked In Pinterest CB news We are partnering up with Transparency International Zambia on a new project – Check it out May 31, 2022 Facebook Twitter Google+ Linked In Pinterest