Czech civic group launches anti-discrimination project

The Partners Czech civic group presented an educational anti-discrimination project Our Neighbours designed to trigger a discussion on discrimination among Czech students at a press conference today.

According to its coordinator Katerina Kuncova, the project which depicts various forms of discrimination includes six documents, manuals and seminars for secondary school teachers designed to help them in their work.

"Our goal is to supply material to students so that their education on the subject be based on experience," Kuncova said.
Thanks to subsidies from the Czech government and the European Commission all the documents are available free of charge atwww.discrimination.eu.

"Teachers will learn how to use the material in practice at the seminars that will be organised in all regional centres in November and December. The films and the methodical manuals will also be offered to non-profit organisations and libraries," Kuncova said.

The project is accompanied by a media campaign against discrimination that will be conducted across the Czech Republic in October and November.

"The goal of the campaign is to acquaint the public and especially young people with various forms of discrimination and show how they can protect themselves against discrimination," campaign coordinator Tomas Habart said.

Through spots that will be broadcast on the public Czech Television and in cinemas, and through posters, post-cards and ads the campaign will direct people to the www.diskriminace.eu Internet page that has been offering information on various forms of discrimination since the beginning of this week. People can find there advice on how to fight against discrimination and information about the centres and experts who can help them, Habart said.

The Czech Republic is one of a few countries that still does not have an anti-discrimination law, Habart said. That is why victims of discrimination have to look for support in other laws and find it difficult to prove that they were discriminated against.

In September, the Chamber of Deputies passed the government-sponsored anti-discrimination bill in the first reading and sent it on to the committee stage.

The final vote on the bill is to be taken in the months to come.