The Council of Europe has launched a new campaign to challenge ethnic and race-based discrimination across its member states.

The Strasbourg, France, based organisation is comprised of 47 member countries across Europe and has already launched ad campaigns across various countries.

In January this year it bought space on 1,200 posters across Rome for a pre-launch teaser campaign. A poster blitz was more recently launched in Ljubljana (Slovenia) and Strasbourg.

“Our mandate is to defend and extend – across our 47 member states – the values of freedom and human dignity for every individual, regardless of his or her nationality, ethnic origin, cultural background, religious beliefs or other characteristics,” says the COE’s deputy secretary-general Maud de Boer-Buquicchio.

The ‘Speak Out Against Discrimination‘ campaign comes out of a White Paper published last year on the necessity of intercultural dialogue.

The COE believes the media can help raise awareness of discrimination across European countries, and to that end has enlisted journalists and journalism training institutes.

It hopes to spark a wider discussion about the media’s role in the promotion of dialogue in an increasingly multi-ethnic and multi-faith Europe.

A series of television spots and special events will also be unveiled later this year.

Website: www.coe.int/antidiscrimination
More info: Nigel Smith, antidiscrimination@coe.int