‘The Youth Section within the Education Ministry is currently holding the “All Different – All Equal” Campaign for Diversity, Human Rights and Participation that aims to encourage and support young people to participate in creating a more peaceful and inclusive environment. This campaign is being held on a European level and activities related to the campaign are being held in various European countries. Malta’s Campaign Committee developed a plan of action consisting of a number of strategies and activities with the aim of reaching the Campaign’s goals in our country. One of the activities organised was a boat party held last Sunday to promote diversity and human rights in our society.
The ‘All Different – All Equal’ boat party was held on board Hera II. The idea of a boat party was drawn up in order to infiltrate the themes of the campaign, namely human rights and diversity through the leisure and entertainment arena. The boat party was an educational event that was specifically designed to educate and create awareness against discrimination while promoting a better understanding of the issues of diversity and human rights among the Maltese youth population.
In order to reach such goals, young people had the opportunity to participate in a human library which was the main attraction of the event. The human library is an innovative idea, aimed especially to promote intercultural dialogue, human rights and pluralist democracy amongst young people in civil society. During the boat party a number of persons from different walks of life and with different backgrounds and realities shared their experiences with the youths attending to create a constructive interpersonal dialogue in order to challenge their stereotypes regarding other individuals.
Education Minister Louis Galea met and addressed young people attending this event. Minister Galea said that cultural understanding is at the basis of peace and prosperity amongst nations and although we have come a long way we must constantly and consistently work to ensure that xenophobic, racist and discriminatory attitudes are eradicated from our society as they crop up. Minister Galea said that Maltese youth should feel comfortable with other youths from all walks of life and should make their utmost to provide their piers with equal opportunities no matter what their situation is. He said that Malta’s future prosperity will greatly depend on our capability to network with people from other countries and with different realities and cultures. In this context, the youth section’s work with youth in this regard is a healthy investment.