#GiveMe1Minute video competition: more than 100 schools against racism

23 January 2019
Area of action: All areas of action
Grounds of discrimination: Racism

 "The #GiveMe1Minute video competition will be held again," announced Els Keytsman, director of Unia, at the school competition's first award ceremony in Kazerne Dossin.  "More than 100 entries came in from the length and breadth of Belgium, and the competition was a huge success."

"I'm young and I believe that together we can make a difference against racism," was the message from the young winners of our #GiveMe1Minute competition. Pupils were given 1 minute to unleash their imaginations and explain what they would do against racism if they were mayor.  

119 Videos

Living and engaging with other people is a hot topic, even in our schools. Or so we see from the enthusiastic classroom responses to our competition. We received no fewer than 119 entries.

"The very first competition was a success," says Keytsman. "Unia launched the competition this school year. A year in which two elections took place. Politics affect children too. These young people are open minded about politics and that's what we home in on. The pupils got into debates about what racism does to people, and these debates lie at the very heart of politics. Taking part in the video is every bit as important as the end result." 

On 9 January the nominees were invited to the Kazerne Dossin museum. There, Unia celebrated the achievements of the three winning classes.

Committed Winners

"The town of Mechelen is super-diverse, which is why we think it important to send out a positive message about diversity," said a pupil from BimSem, one of the winning schools. "We wanted to get people on board and show how easy it is to stop racism," said a pupil from a school in Colfontaine, which was also among the prizes. "Everyone is welcome in Belgium," concluded a pupil from VOX Pelt, the third school to go home with a winner's cheque.

Each of the winning schools received a cheque for 5,000 Euros from Unia. The schools will use the money to set up a project on diversity or the fight against racism. These projects will then be announced at the next International Day Against Racism on 21 March.

Want to know more about the upcoming competition? Stay tuned to this site.

The participating and winning videos are available from our YouTube playlist

Comparable articles

21 March 2022

Unia calls for urgent action to fight structural discrimination against people of African origin

To mark the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, Unia is publishing a report about the discrimination against people of African origin in Belgium and is making a series of recommendations. It is in the areas of employment, housing and education that the discriminations and inequalities suffered by this group are most keenly felt. "The contrast between their high level of education and their low level of employment is striking," says Els Keytsman and Patrick Charlier, Directors of Unia.