4 Romanians speaking about Switzerland

When you are in Geneva, the time flies. You wake up early in the morning and without knowing, soon it's going to be night. But let's speak about the time between the beginnings and the endings of the day. I shall start my story speaking about tuesday (the 3rd day of our training). 

First of all, it is compulsory to present you the theme discussed: political participation and human rights. By the starting hour, we have talked about the general frame of human rights. Our trainers - Bianca and Roy - have introduced us into the universe of minorities and the way in which human rights are observed in different regions of the world. 

The day was divided in two parts: the theoretical chapter and the practical issues. In the morning, we were presented with details about types of human rights violations, countries where people are denied rights because of their race or ethnicity, organizations which are fighting for human rights and about the political systems from countries participating at the Incomindios training (Romania, Italy, Switzerland, Finland, Sweden and Norway). 

For example, in the afternoon, participants coming from the countries mentioned had to prepare a presentation about the way in which their political system works. 

In the case of Romania, we spoke about the following:

• From 1866 to 1948, Romania was a constitutional monarchy and after that a communist regime was installed;
• In 1989, the Romanian people revolted against the communist rule in order to have a state where the Rule of Law is respected and people are not oppressed anymore;
• Since the Constitution of 1991, Romania is a democratic country, where legal powers (executive, legislative, judicial) are separated, freedoms are respected and the market economy functions normally;
• Romania is divided into 41 counties plus the capital (Bucharest) and from this year it will be divided into different regions;
• The rights of the citizens are protected by the Ombudsman and special institutions;
• We also have advocacy organizations that watch over the politicians actions (watchdog organizations).

We also found out the following from our colleagues:

• Italy has about 900 Members of Parliament and they will organize elections for the Prime-Minister next week;
• The Swiss usually vote for 4 times/year in referendums and public consultations;
• Norway has one of the best social systems in the world, due to the fact that taxes are paid accordingly to the revenues of the citizens;
• The Finnish National Parliament is called Eduskunta, is unicameral and has about 200 members;
• Sweden has the world's 8th highest per capita income;

Another interesting activity from yesterday was connected to a cultural game. We have been divided in three teams and each group had his own customs and beliefs. Of course that meant communicating with people totally different from you, just like it happens in real life. For example, the Blue Team was a really friendly one (they were trying all the time to hug the people they've talked to and look in their eyes) contrary to other cultures which were more personal and tradition-oriented. 

At the end of the day, the participants had to give feedback. Each one has chosen a Dixit game card which expressed their feelings and attitudes about the current day. It was nice hearing people from different parts of Europe talking in a positive way about how this training contributed to their general knowledge and how eager they are to know better their colleagues. 

Free hugs from 4 enthusiastic Romanians!