The RJE Network brings together organisations from Barcelona and the Camp de Tarragona to strengthen the collective response to racism
The Racial Justice & Empowerment Network (RJE Network) took its first steps on 2 and 3 June with an inaugural in-person meeting at the Casal de Barri Congrés-Indians in Barcelona and at the Casal de les Dones in Reus. The meeting brought together various social organisations working to defend rights from an anti-racist and feminist perspective, with the aim of beginning to build a collaborative network to strengthen support for migrants, refugees, Roma people and racialised communities.
Although the network is still in its early stages, it already has nine member organisations. Organisations such as MigrESS, Metzineres, Médicos del Mundo, Heroïnes Anònimes and H2O took part in this first meeting, sharing their knowledge, experiences and needs in order to begin to envisage how this alliance might work in practice.
The RJE Network was established as a forum for cooperation to improve access to resources in situations where rights are violated on racist or xenophobic grounds, and to tackle under-reporting from a collective and community-based perspective. Its objectives include strengthening coordination between organisations, facilitating case referrals, sharing tools and developing joint responses to the inequalities that many people face in their daily lives.
Furthermore, the network is committed to pooling diverse knowledge and skills, promoting training, forums for exchange and advocacy initiatives that contribute to a more effective defence of human rights from an intersectional perspective.
These meetings on 2 and 3 June served not only to present the initiative, but also to launch a collective process of development. The participating organisations began to jointly define the network’s values, priorities and organisational structures, in an exercise centred on listening, care and collaborative work.
At present, the RJE Network is in a start-up phase in which the foundations are being laid: from formalising memberships to creating forums for coordination and shared tools.
The medium-term objective is to establish a stable network that will enable joint initiatives to be sustained, increase the number of organisations involved, and continue to strengthen support that is more accessible, coordinated and people-centred.
This first meeting thus marks the start of a collective journey that seeks to transform, at a community level, the conditions that allow racism and inequality to continue to restrict genuine access to rights.
Source: La Fragua Projects
Photos: La Fragua Projects