The Finnish government's anti-racism campaign is currently causing widespread outrage - and rightly so. The unwillingness of political decision-makers to support policies that promote equality puts organisations in a conflict of values, making it difficult to decide whether to participate in the campaign.
The problem is not the content of the campaign, but its credibility. Moniheli is ready to support the Finnish government in its anti-racism work, but it is difficult to do so if the work is constantly being undermined by members of the government. It is unacceptable for the government to outsource anti-racism work to actors whose scope for action it is at the same time restricted through cuts and changes in the law.
We expect the Finnish Government to take concrete action against racism in the spirit of the campaign. These actions could include withdrawing discriminatory policies, removing openly racist members from leadership positions, educating on equality and anti-racism and, as a minimum requirement, getting the governing parties to join the campaign. With these actions, we can create a great campaign that genuinely speaks with action!
Antirasismi on Monihelille tärkeä arvo ja kannatamme valtakunnallista kampanjointia rasismia vastaan. Olemme valmiit liittymään mukaan, kun uskomme, että koko Suomen hallitus on valmis siirtymään sanoista tekoihin.
Moniheli Board
What anti-racist actions we are doing and will continue to do in Moniheli:
- Strengthening the transition towards autonomy of the population affected by racism. We do this by building the capacity of organisations and providing funding for projects such as empowerment projects.
- We increase representation in the media, politics and civic action. We do this by providing places to advocate, organising meetings and dialogues, and through active media cooperation.
- We ensure the diversity of our own organisation. We take a realistic view of the language requirements of our tasks and make use of the right for positive discrimination.
- We work according to the "for us, by us" principle. Moniheli is governed by a diverse board of member organisations and key people in the field of integration.
- We take an active stand against racism and discrimination through position papers, statements and in the various bodies in which we represent our multicultural network.
- We dismantle discriminatory structures by forming strategic partnerships with public actors and influencing decision-making processes.
- We adhere to the principles of a safer workplace and have designated harassment officers and a health and safety committee in our office.
- We communicate bilingually in Finnish and English, with an emphasis on plain language and the use of Selkosuomi.
- We promote the employment of immigrants by offering low-threshold language and work placements for foreign-language speakers.