Addressing racism—current efforts, and broader principles—was the focus of a session last month co-organized by the Bahá’í International Community’s Brussels office and the European Commission for the EU Member States’ national anti-racism delegates.

Titled “Youth as Catalysts for Anti-Racism Strategies,” the workshop brought together the EU Youth Coordinator, the EU Coordinator for the Rights of the Child, EU national delegates and a group of civil society organizations to explore how young people can be recognized, not merely as a group affected by racism, but as active contributors to its eradication. Several case studies describing learning experiences on the role of youth in overcoming prejudice at the grassroots formed the central focus of the discussion.

One case study illustrated a project initiated by the Bahá’í community in the Canary Islands, Spain, where a local young person decided to offer Spanish language lessons to immigrant youth from different backgrounds. Emma García, one of the young facilitators of the project, elaborated on how the initiative went beyond language instruction.

“The project helped to create meaningful spaces where people could interact,” she said, by nurturing an environment “where young people from different backgrounds could engage meaningfully in creating deep friendships that broke down barriers of prejudice.”

Daniel Sancho, another youth from the Canary Islands, said that in broader efforts of the Bahá’í community in the Canary Islands to overcome polarisation and build societal unity, the conversations that take place amongst youth seek to “identify that our primary identity is human (...) and that every other form of identity is built around this centre.”

“This idea allows us to build a sense of unity and a sense of community among the youth who participate, and as a result, we feel more capable to gradually tackle the barriers related to prejudice and discrimination,” Mr. Sancho added.

Another experience was shared from the Bahá’í community in the Netherlands, where a series of roundtable discussions on collective identity were held across the country. Many of the participants involved in the roundtables were young people from diverse backgrounds, some of whom facilitated the sessions in schools and within their own realities.

Henoch Tekle, a youth from the Dutch city of Overvecht, said he “extended this conversation to the families and friends around him, with the purpose of overcoming these prejudices all together,” as he and his friends felt inspired to “become a positive example for the even younger generation.” 

A national delegate, speaking under the Chatham House rule, said “Youth have their own large networks and can reach more people. Therefore, it would be much more difficult to do things without co-organising with youth,” adding that they have “a desire to tackle racism in society (...) We should respect the initiative of young people and support it with institutional resources, and give room for the young people to become actors of change.”

Other participants share that the conversation helped them see young people as co-creators of policy rather than its subjects. Attendees agreed that realizing equality requires more than inclusion—it calls for nurturing agency.

Alessandro Benedetti, a representative of the BIC’s Brussels Office, said after the workshop that “Youth possess an acute sense of justice and an instinctive ability to build bridges between groups and people. Every society has within it the resources to overcome prejudice. Our task is to create the conditions in which these moral capacities—especially among the young—can be released for the benefit of all.”  

Earlier this year, the Bahá’í International Community also released a statement addressing the upcoming EU Anti-Racism Action Plan 2026-2030 and looks forward to continuing exploring together with others the conditions required to overcome all forms of prejudice in our societies.