On the 19th of June, the traditional networking event #ALFgyvai took place. Human rights was the theme of this year’s networking event.

“Working with organisations from all over Lithuania, we notice that discussions on human rights issues decrease the further away you get from Vilnius. In the regions of Lithuania there are community-based organisations, organisations that provide a range of services to people with disabilities, illnesses and poverty. At the same time, advocacy organisations that work on human rights or the rights of vulnerable people are concentrated in Vilnius. We see the sense of different organisations meeting, getting to know each other and starting to communicate more closely,” – believes Jurgita Poškevičiūtė, Programme Manager of the Active Citizens Foundation.

During the event, we recalled the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and its provisions. We examined and discussed which of these fundamental human rights are most important to us personally. This was followed by a human rights discussion with political scientist and journalist Paulius Gritėnas, Monika Guliakaite-Danisevičienė, lawyer at the Lithuanian Human Rights Centre, and Justinas Žilinskas, writer, lawyer and member of the Open Society Foundations Council.

The event is financed by the Active Citizens Foundation. This fund is part of the EEA and Norway Grants. 9 million euros have been allocated for 2019-2024 to strengthen civil society in Lithuania and empower vulnerable groups. In Lithuania, the Active Citizens Fund is managed by the Open Society Foundations and OSFL Projects.