Weeks after the #BlackLivesMatter protests in Vienna, Doreen Atim, the ICDO team member shares her personal experiences and thoughts regarding racial discrimination. How is it to be a woman of color in Europe?
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In this week’s ‘Quarantine Diaries’ episode ICDO team member will share with us Easter traditional preparations in Medjimurje, Croatia. This Easter in lockdown due to COVID19 is different than any before. Check out why!
ICDO introduces ‘Quarantine Diaries’ blogs every Sunday, where ICDO team members will describe their time, thoughts and conclusions in the time of COVID 19 virus. Enjoy the first episode written by our multimedia intern Naana from Ghana.
By Viktoria Strejc What is beauty? Have you ever thought about how extremely specific beauty perceptions are to cultures? Today I’m going to take you on a “different” kind of beauty journey. Have you ever heard about the Mursi tribe? They live in Omo Valley, an isolated region in Ethiopia. They are one of the last tribes that still wear traditional clothing and accessories. Mursi women are famous for their wooden lip plates - a symbol of beauty and identity. A girl’s lower lip is cut (sometimes by her mother)...
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Photo credit: FIFA.com By Elena Ruzic Women’s empowerment has become an essential and prominent topic in political, social, and economic spheres. Under the UN’s Millennium Development Goals, the world is keen on achieving progress towards gender equality. However, although improvements are happening every day, we’re still far from reaching success. As I’ve been following the news, I found myself pleasantly surprised by the worldwide coverage of the Women’s World Cup 2019. I was quite intrigued by the topic and asked myself: why is there so much debate and buzz around...
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By Viktoria Strejc In April 2019 ICDO executed the next phase of the project ‘Bosnia and Herzegovina’. Here’s a look behind the scenes of the project. Thursday, April 4, 6:00 am - it was way too early to be awake, but the ICDO team members were boarding the bus to Zagreb. We were all so excited about our time in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and finally getting to meet the participants. For most of us, it was our very first time there. The ICDO team on the way to Zagreb. When...
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by Isidora Colic Have you ever asked yourself how often you hear “typical” being applied to a group, community, ethnicity, or country? If you ask me, I think we like to generalize things too often. If you look in the dictionary under “S”, you will find the definition of “stereotype”: a widely held but fixed and oversimplified image or idea of a particular type of person or thing. When we discuss beauty, we often tend to stereotype it, too, according to the standards imposed by the media or the fashion...
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Aboriginal mother. © nopathology.com A Vietnamese proverb runs, “Birth is the door of the tomb.” A mother and her baby are most vulnerable during childbirth. The magic of modern medicine has made childbirth a relatively safe procedure in most developed countries, but many continue to take it for granted. Childbirth is no picnic. It can be a painful, messy, and stressful procedure. Children and their mothers in many sub-Saharan African countries are still at a high risk of death from childbirth complications. Many Central and Southeast Asian countries, as well...
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All things must come to an end, even good things. The 2019 Long Nights of Interculturality wound down - or rather, reached even greater heights - with the Closing Ceremony at the Wiener Börsensäle on September 6. In addition to speeches from our President Josipa Palac, opportunities for cultural networking, and delicious food brought by our partners, the highlight of the evening was ICDO’s “Costumes of the World” exhibition. It was an inspiring show of more than 160 national and traditional costumes, some handcrafted, from 60 different cultures. Ending the...
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Speaking about “women’s issues” seems to be a crowd gatherer these days, and many think all has been said. But it is obvious that all hasn’t been said and done, because women still lack opportunities when compared to men, they don’t have enough representation and more often than not, are not included in the growth story. ICDO, headed by women, thought it was but natural that a weeklong celebration of interculturality couldn’t go by without discussing diversity and inclusion of women in the society. Held on 4th September 2019 in...
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On the second day of “The Long Nights of Interculturality 2019”, guests were able to enjoy art, dance, and a food tasting session at an evening dedicated to the Azerbaijani culture held at the Azerbaijan Cultural Center in Vienna, which was inaugurated by Ms. Leyla Gasimova, the head of the Azerbaijan Cultural Center and Ms. Josipa Palac, President of ICDO, who both emphasized the value of contributing to projects like the Long Nights. The Azerbaijan State Dance Ensemble flew in from Baku to perform national Azerbaijani dances, such as Qarabagh,...
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Have you ever seen a dancer execute an elegant turn while balancing a candelabra on her head? Or keep a ceramic plate safe in the palm of his hand while he spins it at a speed of a tornado? Have you ever seen a rainbow move to the sound of trumpets? You haven't? Well, too bad! Had you come to the Opening Ceremony of ICDO's The Long Nights of Interculturality, you would have seen all this – and more! Performers from more than 30 countries came to show off their...
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By Elena Ruzic Diversity is an intersectional issue, covering multiple areas of society. To champion and safeguard diversity is to amplify the voices of marginalized groups - people excluded because of their differences from what is considered “normal” (ethnicity, religion, gender, sexual and romantic orientation, economic status, etc.). ICDO’s mission is to foster change in the current social landscape, so that we can move towards a diverse and inclusive society. We are part of the #SKINCLUSION campaign because it is a forerunner of that change. By showing via research that...
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By ICDO Member – Lizaveta Vozjakova, From Russia with Love. Have you ever thought about how many ways different people can understand the same story? Cultural diversity influences our perception, imagination and interpretation. As a Russian individual, who encountered many different traditions and beliefs during my travels, I’ve learnt to ask and listen first, rather than assume something. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, in her Ted Talk, brings attention to the dangers of hearing a single side of the story. Her speech points out the stereotypes placed on the African people around...
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Image by UNICEF By ICDO Member – Lizaveta Vozjakova, From Russia with Love. Is marriage an outcome of love or force? Have you ever thought about how many underage girls are forced into marriages? It’s fine if you didn’t since in some countries it is less practised or completely unheard of. Others don’t JUST think about child marriages, they LIVE out these atrocities on a daily basis. In today’s world with the constant fight for gender equality, elimination of misrepresentation, and human rights, there are a lot of silenced issues....
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By ICDO Member – Lizaveta Vozjakova, From Russia with Love. My best friend once started a very interesting discussion about feminism. Since both of us were raised in Russia, we were never introduced to the deep meaning behind feminism. This changed for me when I was first introduced to the speech of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie ‘We should all be feminists.’ During the presentation she raises very important topics about gender, masculinity, femininity, representation, and standards. Her definition of feminism is very appealing to me, however, I think there was…
Photo Credit: China News Valentines Day: Around the Globe By ICDO Member – Lizaveta Vozjakova, From Russia with Love. Already feel fed up with this combination of words? I feel you! It is interesting to note how, even among the same culture, there is a division between celebrators and haters of the ‘Day of Love.’ I guess the secret behind the negative reaction from some fellow Russians is that according to “Vzglyad” – the Russian newspaper – Saint Valentine identified as a member of the LGBTQIA+ community, so it…
By ICDO Member – Lizaveta Vozjakova, From Russia with Love. Did you know that only 8 countries in Europe have legislation making sex without consent – rape? Approximately 9 million women in EU have been raped after the age of 15. Not so long ago it was perfectly legal to discriminate against women in the workforce, place job listings only for men, and pay women less. There were no women doctors or lawyers, and in some countries, women had no right to vote or decide their own maternal healthcare. With...
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By ICDO Member – Lizaveta Vozjakova, From Russia with Love. Have you ever found yourself googling information about other cultures? If yes, then you are in the right place. Our goal at ICDO is to promote intercultural dialogue by focusing on different cultural aspects and values. Diversity Speaks is a platform where every week the members of the ICDO team will present new discussion topics covering everything from customs and traditions, communities, various social barriers that are influencing society, and much more. Just like our readers, our team members are...
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