MEP Irena Joveva will be a guest of the dialogue with young people, which will take place on Thursday, 27 January 2022 at 5 pm, as part of the rEUral Europe project. They will talk about work in the European Parliament, women’s equality in politics, youth engagement and other current topics.

rEUral Europe is a one-year project supported by the European Parliament, implemented by the MaMa Network in cooperation with the Institute for Political Management, Youth Centers and Secondary Schools. The aim of the project is to raise awareness of the structure, functioning and influence of the European Union and the European Parliament. The project brings the European Union closer to its citizens and supports their democratic participation. The main goal of the project is to raise awareness of citizens, especially young people, about how European parliamentary democracy works and the impact that the EU has on our lives.

The Covid19 pandemic further emphasised the need for responsible, professional and objective journalism, whose key tasks are to inform the public and control the work of political, capital and other power holders.

How necessary is journalism for the existence of a democratic society? How to prevent pressures and attacks on journalists and provide them with an appropriate social status and significance for their mission? How to ensure the professionalism of journalism?

These and related issues will be discussed in an online debate on the future of journalism in the European Union, in which members of the FEJS Journalism Students’ Association and MEPs Irena Joveva and Milan Zver will exchange views on Wednesday, 12 January.

You will be able to watch the discussion live on the Facebook profile of the European Parliament Office in Slovenia: https://bit.ly/FBeploLJ.

We invite you to an online panel discussion inspired by the short movie When we were them, made by an Oscar-winning BiH director Danis Tanović and a Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist Damir Šagolj.

The 8-minute documentary shows the inhumanity and brutality people on the move face on a daily basis at Europe’s doorstep. Surrounded by minefields and destruction from the Bosnian war, thousands of migrants are still stranded in the northern part of the war-torn country. Heart-breaking scenes leave us questioning human nature and the consequences of the armed conflicts. Terrifying images are also coming from the Polish-Belarusian border where we can witness cruel reality and uncertainty faced by the people in need. Today they are part of more than 80 million forcibly displaced people around the world in search of peace and survival.

Borders have never stopped people from moving. New humanitarian crisis erupt more and more often. Following the 2015 migration flows to Europe the main flaws of the EU’s asylum and migration system were exposed. There has been some progress made since then but much more effort and political will is needed for fairer and more effective system, that is based on solidarity.

Regardless of the laws and policies, the perception of migrants, refugees or asylum seekers, caused by fear, unawareness and lack of information, divides the societies all over the world. The main purpose of the event is to discuss the stories behind the labels given to the people on the move and in need, to address the challenges faced by the Member States and the role of the European institutions in the field of migration and asylum policies.

Our panellists:
– Damir Šagolj, Director of the movie, photojournalist and Pulitzer prize winner;
– Tom Snels, Deputy Head of Cabinet to Commissioner for Home affairs Ylva Johannson;
– Esther Pozo Vera, Head of Asylum Unit at DG HOME;
– Katarzyna Staszewska, Activist from the NGO Grupa Granica working on the Polish-Belarusian border;
– Sabiha Kapetanović, Child Protection Programme Coordinator at Save the Children in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Please register here: https://bit.ly/3rvrf9Y

Please note that the movie will not be screened during the event.
The link to watch the documentary will be sent to you after the registration.