THE FOUNDATION
Founded in 2014, ACT ON YOUR FUTURE is a Swiss non-profit foundation based in Geneva that works to foster civic engagement among the next generation of socially active youth. Through social and cultural projects, the Foundation harnesses the power of visual arts to transform the way the youth learn about human rights and engage in social causes.
The Foundation currently undertakes three main projects: the Human Rights Photography Prize for young European artists, the Human Rights Watch Prize for high school students of the Geneva area, as well as cultural mediation activities to gather testimonies of refugees.
The Foundation currently undertakes three main projects: the Human Rights Photography Prize for young European artists, the Human Rights Watch Prize for high school students of the Geneva area, as well as cultural mediation activities to gather testimonies of refugees.
OUR THREE GOALS
RAISE AWARENESSWe raise awareness about current social and political issues to awaken critical consciousness of young generations.
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WHY ACT ON YOUR FUTURE?
The rise of populism, the refugee crisis, the growth of inequalities or gender equality are all major issues that define our time. Those events question the values of justice, dignity, compassion and equity that we took for granted and considered as universal.
New initiatives must be proposed to counter those drifts and to promote a more positive vision of the common principals on which our societies are built. Better informed citizens will therefore become more responsible citizens and will more actively participate in the social and political life of communities.
New initiatives must be proposed to counter those drifts and to promote a more positive vision of the common principals on which our societies are built. Better informed citizens will therefore become more responsible citizens and will more actively participate in the social and political life of communities.
HISTORY
Concerned by important issues defining our time, the founders wanted to create a platform for the youth, by the youth, to gather around common values and principles, while proposing concrete opportunities for engagement. Convinced that the respect and promotion of human rights shouldn't be limited to war zones, often very far away from Western realities, the founders wished to make those fundamental rights more tangible and engrave them in the heart of each and everyone's civic engagement.
This new entity had to be independant, unbiased and flexible, may it be at a structural level or for the development of its activities. It wouldn't promote the interests of a third-party organisation and would take advantage of the mobilising power of new media and the image as a universal language.
Geneva, the international capital of human rights, had to be the source of this movement. Act On Your Future responded in its own way to the growing concerns of a generation desiring to act on its future.
This new entity had to be independant, unbiased and flexible, may it be at a structural level or for the development of its activities. It wouldn't promote the interests of a third-party organisation and would take advantage of the mobilising power of new media and the image as a universal language.
Geneva, the international capital of human rights, had to be the source of this movement. Act On Your Future responded in its own way to the growing concerns of a generation desiring to act on its future.