Young people against violence: “Global Action Month” also in Switzerland in November

November 1, 2021

Media release – Violence against individuals and groups is a global problem and must stop. Young people from three continents and five countries – including Switzerland and Basel – are tackling the problem of violence at its roots. With “Global Action Month” (GAM) in November, they are standing up for diversity and against discrimination. With virtual actions and physical events, GAM 2021 is running under the motto “No Excuse To Violence”. For this year’s GAM in Switzerland, the International Youth Network IYN and the MePower project from terre des hommes schweiz are teaming up with imagine in Basel.

“When all people are in contact with each other, we make violence disappear. Integration helps against violence.”

This is what Jeyani Thiyagaraja from terre des hommes schweiz says. Jeyani Thiyagaraja came to Switzerland from Sri Lanka two years ago and couldn’t speak German. Today she is studying at the University of Basel. Jeyani Thiyagaraja is a member of the First Swiss Refugee Parliament; she coordinates the International Youth Network (IYN) of terre des hommes schweiz in Switzerland. In the IYN, young people from Africa, Latin America and Switzerland stand up for a global culture of tolerance. Free and self-determined.

Jeyani Thiyagaraja: “If we know each other and listen to and understand each other, the differences disappear. That helps prevent violence and promotes good coexistence.”

Violence is an absolute no-go

Global Action Month (GAM) is the IYN’s campaign and takes place every year in November. For GAM 2021, under the motto “No Excuse To Violence – Nothing Justifies Violence”, young people from five terre des hommes schweiz project countries have joined forces. They live in Tanzania, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Nicaragua and Switzerland. With buttom-up campaigns and events, on social media and live on site, they stand up for respect and peaceful coexistence. They stand up against all forms of violence – and show how it can be done.

Promotions and events in Basel

For the GAM 2021 in Basel, the multicultural Swiss IYN group from Brazil, Eritrea, Cuba and Sri Lanka is teaming up with imagine and MePower. imagine is an autonomous youth project with terre des hommes schweiz and is known for its music festival for diversity and against discrimination in Basel. MePower is a project by terre des hommes schweiz with young people from refugee backgrounds.

On November 6, imagine and two other NGOs are hosting the interactive workshop “Übersee.en” in the Markthalle Basel. The “Living Room” installation for imagine, MePower and the IYN, which will probably take place at Klara, is still in the imagine planning stage. The MePower project is organizing a blood donation campaign during the GAM 2021 and is currently developing an online photo exhibition on the topic of integration.

A youth campaign of the Terre des Hommes movement

The “Global Action Month – Young People Act for Change” is a campaign run in partnership by terre des hommes schweiz and terre des hommes Germany as part of the international Terre des Hommes movement.

In the photo above: (from left) Beatriz Iane Pereira Silva and Cieliis Bravo Gonzalez, Swiss delegate to the International Youth Network of terre des hommes schweiz. Photo Jeyani Thiyagaraja

Links

GAM 2021 on Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/internationalyouthnetwork_tdhs/

https://www.instagram.com/internationalyouthnetwork/?hl=en

https://www.instagram.com/imaginebasel/

GAM 2021 on Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/youthnetworktdh

Website GAM 2021:

http://gam-tdh.org

Promotions and events in Basel

Blood donation campaign:

https://www.blutspende-basel.ch/termine/ (org. MePower)