“All human beings”, runs the first article of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, “are born free and equal in dignity and rights”. It was with these words that the Director of the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights, Michael O’Flaherty, began his talk before an audience of UWC Adriatic students and representatives of philanthropic associations gathered in Duino on October 20-21 2022.
The event was organised at our College by Assifero (Italian Association of Foundations and Philanthropic Organisations), and was promoted together within the European network Ariadne (European Funders for Social Change and Human Rights), in collaboration with Fondazione Pietro Pittini and The Human Safety Net.
Over the course of those two days, some of the great challenges of our time were discussed, such as growing inequalities, the erosion of democratic systems, the promotion of fundamental rights and freedoms, climate change and the rights of nature.
A great opportunity for College’s students, who were able to attend parts of the meeting and engaged with representatives of foundations working in the field of philanthropy. This was a mutually enriching experience as, on the one hand, students learned from the association what working in the realm of social change actually entails, on the other, philanthropic organisations benefited from hearing the perspectives of a very diverse group of young adults, whose voice sadly often goes unheard or overlooked in decision-making processes. In particular, our two former students Valentina Dereani and Marta Salvarani (AD 20-22) were able to present at the meeting their project on sustainability and art – one of the successful projects funded thanks to Welfare di Prossimità – an initiative born within Assifero and implemented in partnership with Fondazione Ѐbbene and Fondazione di Comunità San Gennaro.
One of the highlights of this meeting was the keynote speech delivered by Michael O’Flaherty and the subsequent Q&A session with our students. The event ended with a discussion about the crucial role of human rights today and the importance of intergenerational collaboration and justice and the role of philanthropic organisations.
Please find here the summary report “Putting Human Rights at the Heart of Europe’s Future to which Michael O’Flaherty referred in his talk that you can listen to in the video above.
