5 August 2015

The re-designed and upgraded version of the Diversity Initiative Network* website was recently launched. Its improved interface and up-to-date content aim to draw increased attention to the activities of the DI in preventing and countering intolerance and protecting the rights of migrants and ethnic minorities in Ukraine.

For example, the new section entitled Unity of Diversity in Ukraine provides the latest reports and news about the situation of internally displaced people who had to move to other regions of Ukraine from the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the war-torn East.

The updated website places particular emphasis on countering hate speech. It provides a variety of tools to identify and counter hate speech including hate speech examples, examples of petitions on hate speech and practices of combatting hate speech.

The DI website has also become more interactive, providing each Network member with the opportunity to register their accounts and autonomously add news about activities of their organizations in the field of cultural diversity.

The new concept of the website was developed in close consultations with the DI members within the framework of an IOM project on fostering national mechanisms to counter xenophobia and discrimination in Ukraine, funded by the IOM Development Fund.

*The Diversity Initiative (DI) was set up in 2007 in response to a sharp rise in the number of racially motivated attacks in Ukraine. Co-chaired by the International Organization for Migration and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, DI now has 65 members from various spheres who work together to combat racism and xenophobia and promote cultural diversity in Ukraine.

IOM promotes migrant integration and cultural diversity in Ukraine, inter alia through coordinating the voluntary Diversity Initiative platform together with UNHCR and implementing interactive programmes for Ukrainian youth.