In the year 1966, at 11 o'clock on the 11th day of the 11th month....
...thousands of volunteers took to the streets to participate in the first Joint Action for the Third World'. They wanted to give a new interpretation to the commemoration of the armistice of 1918, the end of the first 'World War' which had struck Western Europe for over four years. Their motive? Development aid as an investment in world peace. Hence 11.11.11 and their yearly 11.11.11 campaign was born.
One of the NGOs taking part in this campaign is UCOS. The (VUB) University Centre for Development Cooperation (UCOS) wishes to contribute to sustainable human development, by promoting global citizenship among students, often in relation to North-South mobility. This goal is pursued by organising courses, seminars, training sessions and international exchanges for students, teachers and international officers connected to the institutions of Flemish higher education.
En route towards a better future. That little sentence and the hashtag AllemaalMensen, (#allhumans) summarises the essential message of the 11.11.11 campaign 2017: migration has and will always be there because all humans are entitled to live with dignity. Tuesday, 7th of November UCOS will attract your attention to it.
Students will find them on the esplanade from noon. There Olivia will invite people to play a little quiz to inform them about correct facts and numbers. A small teaser: worldwide 1.2 million people are looking for a new settling. Europe takes care for about only 4% of them.
In the VUB restaurant students will have the opportunity to enjoy a special Syrian inspired dish: Oven roasted chicken and potatoes with Fattoush salad. If you choose this you will be offered a pin to show your support to this campaign.
More in detail 11.11.11 asks our politicians to:
- Get hold of the structural sources of forced migration instead of attacking the symptoms. Do more against poverty, inequality and climate change.
- Ensure safe escape routes so migrants do not die or get abused on the way.
- Treat migrants as your own citizens, from the moment they arrive.
- Talk in an honest and correct way about migration.
If you want to do more: check https://www.vluchtelingenwerk.be/vluchtelingenwerk-vlaanderen-3 on how to become a volunteer helping refugees.
From 4 pm onwards students are welcome in the Lounge Bar 1050 for some in-depth conversations. At 6 pm Yazan Rajab, Syrian refugee and VUB-student will testify about his own escape route. If you cannot make it you can read it quite extensively here: http://www.vubtoday.be/en/content/story-yazan-rajab .
This campaign precedes the Conference and VUB Doctor Honoris Causa Day, “Engaging Values, Education and Responsibilities: refugees and migration – the role of Higher Education Institutions” on November 29th at Flagey. That day, Mrs. Emma Bonino and the inhabitants of Lampedusa will be awarded an Honorary VUB doctors title, for their struggle to improve life of refugees. This is followed the next day by a Workshop with Rob Quinn, from the Scholars at Risk Network on Wednesday November 30th.
More information via https://www.ucos.be/?lang=en and http://www.11.be/en/