COPEAM and the institutions

November-December 2020

At the end of the year, COPEAM has fulfilled its institutional commitments by participating in important meetings and events organized by historical partners, such as the Steering Committee for the Media and the Information Society (CDMSI) and the North / South Centre of the Council of Europe, the Anna Lindh Foundation and the Alliance of Civilizations of the United Nations.

On 24 and 25 November, the CDMSI (Steering Committee on Media and Information Society), of which COPEAM is an observer member, held online its 18th meeting, which was an opportunity to inform, in particular, on the work of the Council of Europe in relation to the impact of Covid-19 on freedom of expression and the media, including guidance provided to member states on how to address the challenges raised by the health crisis in terms of access to information, freedom of the media and, more broadly, freedom of expression. During the works, Inge Welbergen (Netherlands) and Thomas Schneider (Switzerland) were re-elected respectively as Chair and Vice-chair of the Committee.

From December 1 to 3, on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the European Convention on Human Rights, the North/South Centre of the CoE opened the doors of the Lisbon Forum 2020 which, this year, has placed life, people and the planet at the heart of a global debate on the topic: "Learning from our global challenges: enhancing solidarity".  
With a large panel of actors from all over the world, this event was an opportunity to focus on three specific issues: education and global citizenship awareness ; vulnerabilities through intersectionality, and intergenerational dialogue and environmental protection.        
The richness of the themes discussed and the activities set up in parallel with the plenary sessions ensured the full success of this worldwide meeting of the North / South Centre.

December 2 was dedicated to the Public Policy Forum on Youth and Civil Society in the EuroMed, organized by the Anna Lindh Foundation and aimed at strengthening dialogue between young people, representatives of civil society and the main decision-makers on the current opportunities and challenges for better cooperation in the Euro-Mediterranean area, especially in this historic year for the region, marked by the 25th anniversary of the Barcelona Process, but also by the impact of Covid19, namely on future generations.
The Forum was also the occasion for the international launch of the Intercultural Trends Survey 2020, a scientific tool allowing to collect the voices of thousands of people from Europe and the south and east of the Mediterranean on their perceptions, attitudes, fears and mutual aspirations.

Finally, on Friday 4 December, from the United Nations’ headquarters in New York, the online award ceremony of the Plural + Festival took place: an international video competition of which COPEAM is media partner since 2009, that encourages young people on a global scale to explore the pressing social issues of migration, diversity, social inclusion and prevention of xenophobia and to share their creative vision with the world.   
For this edition, the special COPEAM prize was assigned to Jorge Orellana Lorenzo (Spain), for his “The two sides of the coin”: a beautiful portrait of social integration, made through poetic images and truthful witnesses of young people who have succeeded in their new life. For the first time, a COPEAM special mention was awarded to “Error 017”, by the Jordanian Bayan Abuta'ema.

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