On this page

1. Intercultural awareness

2. Young people's rights

3. Key initiatives to safeguard democracy and prevent radicalisation leading to violent extremism

Intercultural awareness

The Association for the Support of Migrant Workers (ASTI; Association de Soutien aux Travailleurs Immigrés) is an important stakeholder and runs a number of services and projects for young people, but not exclusively. It offers various workshops and runs campaigns on intercultural awareness among young people (see: 5.8 Raising political awareness among young people).

Young people's rights

The offers for political participation are important initiatives that promote young people’s rights (see: 5.3 Youth representation bodies and 5.4 Young people’s participation in policy-making).

An Ombudsman for children and youth was established in 2020 by law (the Ombudsman replaces the former Ombuds Committee for Children's Rights). The Ombudsman is in charge of publicizing the Convention on the Rights of the Child in Luxembourg and ensuring that it is respected.

The tasks of the Ombudsman are as follows:

• Receive and investigate complaints of non-compliance with children's rights and to make recommendations to remedy the reported situation
• Analyse the mechanisms put in place to protect and promote the rights of the child, and to make propositions to the competent bodies in order to ensure the protection of children's rights
• Report cases of non-compliance with children's rights to the competent authorities and to propose solutions in order to improve the situation
• Advise natural or legal persons on the implementation of children's rights
• Raise children's awareness of their rights and the public's awareness of children's rights in general
• Prepare opinions on draft laws, bills and grand-ducal regulations which could have an impact on children's rights
• Prepare opinions, at the request of the Government or the Chamber of Deputies, on all matters relating to the rights of the child.

The budget for the Ombudsman is placed under the responsibility of the Chamber of Deputies. 

Key initiatives to safeguard democracy and prevent radicalisation leading to violent extremism

The NGO 'SOS Radicalisation' runs a prevention and consulting centre (respect.lu). The objectives of this centre include three areas: prevention, accompaniment and deradicalization. The centre offers training for multipliers of the psycho-socio-educational field (e.g. teachers, youth workers) and for young people. It also offers consultation for people who are confronted with the phenomenon of radicalisation in their private or professional envrionment. The centre also organises the project 'dialogue instead of hate'. The main objective of this project is to work together with the authors of hate speech and to analyse their actions, to initiate self-reflection, to analyse possible causes and to learn to use more respectful forms of communication, especially in disagreements and on the internet. Both an examination of the topics 'Hate speech' and 'freedom of expression' as well as dealing with the victim groups are part of the programme. The centre is funded by the Ministry of Family Affairs, Integration and the Greater Region. 

The Centre for Political Education (ZpB; Zentrum fir politesch Bildung) is an important stakeholder with regard to citizenship education. It develops programmes and initiatives to safeguard democracy against and prevent radicalisation which leads to violent extremism (see: 5.8 Raising political awareness among young people).