Tolerance and Non-discrimination
Islamic world affiliated with the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in the development of
a country-specific resource guide on Muslim
communities in Spain. The guide aims to provide accurate information about Muslim communities, counter stereotypes and highlight the
contribution of Muslims to Spanish society.
In order to assess the need for additional tools
and resources for educators on how to address
intolerance against Muslims, on 3 and 4 June,
ODIHR convened an assessment meeting in
Warsaw bringing together 25 experts from a
range of backgrounds, including policy-making bodies, NGOs, academia, religious leadership, university research, school leadership
and major inter-governmental organizations.
The aim of the meeting was to identify challenges and recent developments, discuss lessons
learned from international and national initiatives, and explore what value ODIHR could add
in the educational field in addressing intolerance
against Muslims. Special emphasis was placed
on building on, rather than duplicating, work
already being done by others.
In order to support the efforts of governments and civil society to promote a greater
52
Annual Report 2008
understanding of and respect for different religions or beliefs and to fight prejudice, further
roundtable events were held, where requested
by participating States, to discuss and raise
awareness about the Toledo Guiding Principles
on Teaching about Religions and Beliefs in Public
Schools and to identify areas where those states
require assistance. Dissemination of the guiding
principles was successfully completed through
presentations, contributions to expert discussions and co-operation with other international
actors working on teaching about religions and
beliefs.
During these roundtables and dissemination
events, the guiding principles were repeatedly
commended and held up as a positive new tool
for governments and religious communities by
the UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief, as well as by other international
and local actors. The Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD), for
instance, endorsed the Toledo principles at a
symposium on 23 May in Washington D.C.
The guiding principles were translated into a
number of languages and circulated widely to
governments and NGOs.
IV. Supporting Civil Society
A resource guide and training programme
were developed in 2008 in order to strengthen
civil society’s capacity to prevent and respond
to hate crimes in the OSCE region. The draft
resource guide was piloted during a training
seminar for 30 civil society representatives
from across the OSCE region in June in Warsaw. At the end of the seminar, 10 participants
submitted small-scale project proposals to
ODIHR. Upon the availability of funds, ODIHR
will support the implementation of these projects, thus strengthening the capacity of civil
society to address hate crimes.
ODIHR also facilitated the enhanced participation of civil society at OSCE events, namely
the Supplementary Human Dimension Meeting in May and the Mediterranean Conference,
in Amman, Jordan in October, through preparatory meetings, where participants exchanged
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