Karelian Regional Branch of Interregional Youth non-governmental charity organization Youth Human Rights Group (YHRG)

is an independent non-governmental, non-profit, non-political organization officially registered June, 29, 2000 in Petrozavodsk.
Head of the organization: Maxim Efimov
Organization's mission:
Building of a just democratic open society in Russia, and protection of human rights.
Main purposes of our activity:
" to contribute to the realization of human rights protection programs and support human rights protection movement;
" to support actively and realize youth education projects;
" to contribute to the development of non-profit human rights protection organizations and civil initiatives, in first place, those youth-oriented and proposed by youth;
" to maintain educational and civil activity for the prevention of the actions of fascism, nationalism, xenophobia, anti-Semitism, chauvinism, extremism, nazism;
" to encourage the development of intellectual, cultural and spiritual potential of youth;
" to support actively anti-militarist and peace movements;
" to defend democratic values.
Main Projects Carried out by our Organization
"Civil Reception". Organization volunteers offered free legal assistance on the subjects of human and civil rights violation.
"Resistance". Drawing public attention to the problems of the proliferation of misanthropic nationalist prejudice in the society. Lessons in humanistic democratic tolerant consciousness given to schoolchildren of Petrozavodsk. Financial support by Barents Region Secretariat (Norway).
"School of Honest Journalism". Youth had a chance to get familiar with the basics of journalism and express their opinion in the pages of the bulletin "Zero Hour".
"Xenophobia, racial discrimination and anti-Semitism in Russian Federation: public monitoring", within the framework of a European Union project "Public campaign for combating racism, xenophobia, anti-Semitism and ethnic discrimination in the multi-ethnic Russian Federation" supervised by Moscow Bureau for Human Rights.
"Performing democratic educational work and the work with the youth of Karelia". Financial Support by "Memory and Future Foundation" (Germany).
"Pro et Contra Discussion Club", the purpose of which is intellectual communication between students and their teachers in discussion of topical problems of the society.
"Tolerant behavior and consciousness and prevention of xenophobia, nationalism, anti-Semitism and neo-fascism among youth". Supported by a grant from Democracy Commission of US Embassy in Moscow.
"Lessons of Holocaust: a way to tolerance and civil activity". On material of Holocaust history the audience was told of the importance of human rights maintenance and protection of democratic values.
"All Different-All Equal". The goal of the project is to counter xenophobia, islamophobia, romaphobia and homophobia.
"Youth and tradition". The project aims at spiritual, moral and intellectual development of youth, intended to help them find truth and meaning of life. Young people will come into contact with the foundations of Russian culture, learn about the ideals of Sergius of Radonezh, get acquainted with a special human character which was formed in Russian North and embodied the gospel principles of goodness, love and sympathy.
Activists and volunteers participated in various trainings, seminars, conferences, contests, carried out activities of their own. A bulletin is being issued. A collection of articles "Democracy is My Choice" was published, as well as books: "Essays on modern racism", "Novgorod the Great and Russian North", "The Cosmos of Russian Festival", a brochure "Islam and Tolerance", collections of CDs with lectures by Karelian intellectuals.
YHRG members visited Germany, USA, Poland, Denmark, Holland, France, Finland, Switzerland, Israel, Spain and Belgium.
The activity of YHRG is carried out at the expense of its members, grants of charity foundations, private donations. Students, schoolchildren and teachers volunteer in the organization. The group is in close contact with a number of human tights protection organizations in Russia and abroad, being a participant of European anti-racism network "United" and "Youth Choose Peace" international peacemaking movement.