Solidarity

1. Solidarity Defining: Solidarity is all about being united, working together and to produce common ideas about certain subjects; these two days this was exactly what we did. The subjects we chose for this matter, apart from solidarity, are: • Human Rights • Equal opportunities • Intercultural and inter-religious dialogue

2. Necessary changes to reinforceequal opportunities in our daily life. In a world where inequalities increase, Europe has to react and try to give equal opportunities to all her citizens. What should we try to change to give a chance to everyone? We have focalized our reflection on two points that we would like to explain: 1) Social and economical services Because of the gap between lower and upper classes, the increasing level of poverty, societies need to develop social and economical services such as medical ones and give the opportunity to have more equal salaries: Solutions: Social services: We would like to adopt a civil service which would be obligatory once a year for every European citizen. We do not believe that one year is efficient for only young people: It might be a symbolic time that should be significant for everyone. We would like to give the option between a European military service and a social one.

3. Each European state must provide public infrastructures, which can be a national or European one. Help should not be coming only from religious communities. It is a state’s duty. • It is a priority to create a European free health-care service: It would offer doctor’s visits, recover hospital journeys and drugs. • Economical services: • Governments have to assure equal opportunities in order to get a job. • The European commission should give help to the members to get rid of discrimination and unemployment. • 2) Communication • In a world where technology gives us unlimited possibilities to communicate, how is it still possible to have so many inequalities concerning communication? What would be the solutions to rebalance these inequalities? • Solutions: • Provide mass communication to lower classes ( Means of communication available to everyone)

4. Local level: • Integration program in host countries( Language courses, Information about laws, habits, culture, traditions, history) • Direct dialogue amongst students and adults of different countries and communities. • European level: • Common education • Facilitate the exchanges between schools of different countries: ( Coppernic passport: Program proposed by “le Lycee de sevres”).

5. Necessary changes to reinforce human rights in our daily life To start off, we believe that the laws on human rights are good enough; therefore, more attention should be paid on how to promote the laws. Treat the disabled people with the rights they should have BUT with the same obligations as any other person. Invest money to promote education: Fund the families that need help Organize different groups of people that will, in general meetings, be able to inform families on how important education is Government funding for better schools with proper facilities Homosexual people should be given equal civil rights as everyone else, nothing more and nothing less . Improve healthcare (Part of right to live): Have certain tests for verifying the proper qualifications of doctors Increase tax for better quality and patient care Free healthcare to those who really need it and have the rest of the citizens to pay some money

6. Drug abuse: • All people have the right to know about how harmful drugs are, yet, that is not applied; we should reinforce this law by: Organizing groups of professionals to better inform the public especially in primary schools with the help of EMCDDA (European monitoring center for drugs and drug addiction) • Invest money with the help of EUROPOL (European Police for fighting against drugs) to build better rehabilitation centers which will be updated and better equipped.

7. Necessary changes to reinforce Intercultural and intereligious dialoguein our daily life We should not isolate people who are different from us, because what is different, does not have to be wrong. After you know other cultures, you can like or dislike them. Before it’s better to know them, then you can build your opinion. Being open-minded is basic approach to get in contact with people. Listening each other has a double effect: everybody can express himself and through this experiences we can find out our differences, growing up. Travels and exchanges are needed to improve our knowledge about other countries and cultures. In this way we lose our fears and make our relationship stronger. Events that involve exchanges between young people of different countries like “Festa dell’Europa” should be organized more often. They give to young people chances to get together and start some changes in the world.

8. Necessary changes to reinforce solidarity in our every day life Solidarity is equality within society and the EU Europe would be better if… One unique education system within the EU: Because it will provide equal career opportunities in all countries. To do this we should have the same exam boards, structured foreign language lessons, more scholarships provided and more money provided for foreign exchanges. Same taxation system within the EU and at least minimum wage provided for all: This will create a financially equal Europe, to provide the funding needed to reform the educational system, and to ensure an equal cost of living. This will help to reduce unemployment giving everyone a better quality of life. Basic standards in social and health insurance and better integration of immigrants: To support less fortunate citizens which will lead to personal identification. More information about European issues: For example have more focus of other EU countries in the news, this will provide people with a better understanding of the different cultures and make a stronger link between the countries.