Master Class Series against Racism and Discriminations

Empowering Youth to Combat Racism and Discrimination

Launched by UNESCO in 2019 as a global “training for trainers” initiative, the Master Class Series against Racism and Discriminations seeks to empower students to become youth champions in their own schools and communities and spread awareness on how to deconstruct the mechanisms underlying racism and discriminations.

Depending on the regional and local contexts, and In collaboration with the member cities of the International Coalition of Inclusive and Sustainable Cities - ICCAR, the programme content and the curriculum of each Master Class are designed by UNESCO in collaboration with local partners and stakeholders.

Each edition of the Master Class series culminates with the adoption of the young participants’ commitments in designing and pursuing their own local activities.

Objectives

Highlighting the growing significance of this social scourge, the Master Class Series has the following objectives:

To give young people the keys and tools to understand the concepts and scientific evidence to decipher racist attitudes and behaviour;
To propose inspiring models to equip young people to take action at their level in the fight against racism and discriminations;
To inspire policymakers, at the global, national, and local levels, to pursue collective efforts in the fight against racism and discriminations.

Master Class against Racism and Discrimination - March 2022

UNESCO / Cristelle Alix

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Watch the full playlist of UNESCO's Master Class Series against Racism and Discriminations

Global Edition of the Master Class against Racism and Discriminations 2023

On 21 March 2023, UNESCO hosted a global edition of its Master Class Series against Racism and Discriminations at its Headquarters in Paris. This global edition served as a laboratory of ideas to enable young people to have a voice in this global movement.

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Global Edition of the Master Class against Racism and Discriminations

Fostering Open Dialogue

The Master Classes serve as dialogue spaces and peer learning forums among the young participants, the experts and resource persons, and the invited personalities, in order to openly discuss the taboos that corrode the social and moral fibre in societies.

Using a human rights-based approach, the courses address various topics related to inclusion and non-discrimination, such as racial discrimination, gender-based discrimination, rights of indigenous peoples, and discrimination against persons with disabilities, inter alia.