In May 2017, the Welsh Government adopted the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance's definition of anti-Semitism in full and without qualification. We've also provided £40,500 of EU transition funding to the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust to undertake work in Wales as part of this year's commemorations.

The funding went towards three elements: the 75 memorial flames project, where community groups across the UK created their own pieces of artwork to remember all those who lost their lives during the Holocaust. Nine of these memorial flames were developed by groups in Wales, including entries from HM Prison Cardiff art group, Merthyr Tydfil central library and the Association of Voluntary Organisations in Wrexham. The Holocaust Memorial Day Trust is planning to bring an exhibition of all of the 75 memorial flames to Cardiff in February, but you can see examples of these memorial flames here in the Senedd until 29 January; the Stand Together website, which generates the name of an individual killed in the Holocaust and encourages website users to share details of this individual on social media to help raise awareness of the individual stories behind the harrowing genocide; and finally, the employment of a support worker to encourage activity in Wales around Holocaust Memorial Day 2020.

It is vital that children and young people understand the reasons behind the Holocaust and the consequences of dehumanising sections of society. The Welsh Government gives £119,000 to the Holocaust Educational Trust to deliver the Lessons from Auschwitz project in Wales. The programme is open to 16 to 18-year-old students in post-16 education, and gives learners the opportunity to hear the testimony of a Holocaust survivor and also take part in a visit to Auschwitz-Birkenau. Students then become Holocaust Educational Trust ambassadors in their own communities, and use their experiences to spread awareness and challenge racism and prejudice.

Further to our work to combat anti-Semitism and commemorate the Holocaust, we have bolstered our existing programmes that prevent hate, promote inclusion of diverse communities, and improve support for victims. We have expanded our support for the national hate crime report and support centre, operated on our behalf by Victim Support Cymru. The centre now has increased capacity to raise awareness of hate crime, develop partnerships with community support organisations, and ensure all victims of hate crime can be offered support.

We've recently developed the hate crime minority communities grant, which is funding eight third-sector organisations to raise awareness of hate crime and how to report it, seek to promote understanding of diversity in communities, and trial innovative approaches to tackling hate crime and support victims. The Hate Crime in Schools project will deliver critical thinking skills training for children in approximately 100 schools across Wales, equipping our young people with the skills to identify hate and misinformation, to enable them to avoid becoming perpetrators in future and challenge negative behaviour where it occurs.

Our equality and inclusion programme supports minority communities to have their voices heard and to challenge inequalities. This activity includes groups who have been affected by persecution and genocide, such as Gypsies, Roma and Travellers, refugees and asylum seekers, and LGBT groups. Later this year, we will launch an anti-hate-crime campaign to try to turn the corner in the spread of divisive rhetoric. We are involving stakeholders to make the campaign as effective as possible.

Tragically, other genocides have followed the Holocaust. The Holocaust Memorial Day Trust encourages remembrance of all people killed in genocides, such as Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia and Darfur. This year is also the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Srebrenica massacre, which will be marked in July at an event at the Senedd.

We have a duty to carry the memory of those who lost their lives during the Holocaust, and remember victims of all backgrounds: Jewish people, Roma people, disabled people, LGBT people, and many other groups who faced unimaginable persecution during this period, and ultimately lost their lives because hate and prejudice had become acceptable. By marking these days of remembrance, we can ensure that these horrendous crimes against humanity are never forgotten and we move the world to a situation where it is never again repeated.