Euro-Latin American Youth Exchange on Indigenous People, Human Rights and Youth

Training course for youth workers/Concepcion, Chile/7-16 December 2001

This exchange activity aimed at offering an opportunity to European and Latin American young people to meet, discuss and share experiences around issues such as social exclusion, violation of human rights and educational opportunities affecting indigenous peoples and ethnic minorities. In particular, participants learnt about resilience strategies employed by indigenous groups against acculturation, struggle for self-determination; they were exposed to various types of activities run by and for indigenous groups, and human rights organisations at large; promoted the participation of youth representing indigenous people in youth mobility and international voluntary service activities. As part of the exchange process, participants learnt to appreciate differences and commonalities of issues affecting indigenous groups/ethnic minorities in Europe and Latin America, as well as the importance of young people’s commitment to promoting respect and more just relations between dominant and minority cultural, social and economic groups.

XXII ICYE General Assembly 2001

The XXII General Assembly (GA) of the ICYE Federation was held on the 19th through the 24th of November 2001, in Mombasa, Kenya. It was attended by some 60 participants representing all the ICYE National Committees, regional bodies and invited organisations. Overall, the General Assembly was a success.

For more information about the XXII ICYE General Assembly please contact the ICYE International Office at icye@icye.org.

ICYE-EASTLINKS Training Seminar to improve quality delivery of EVS Programme activities between EU and CEEC countries

Training course for youth workers/Budapest, Hungary/20-27 October 2001

The aims of the training seminar were twofold: on one hand to enable ICYE and Eastlinks network members to improve the quality of youth mobility activities, especially in relation to the EVS programme, and on the other, to share knowledge and expertise to ensure the meeting of the minimum quality standards as spelled out in the YOUTH Programme guidelines.

These aims were accomplished through the training of staff/youth workers on the distinct phases of the establishment and implementation of EVS long-term voluntary service exchanges, and on intercultural learning and team building techniques. Equally, this seminar aimed at identifying and assessing the needs of ICYE and EASTLINKS members in relation to fundraising, lobbying, advocacy and training for trainers. By adopting a peer-to-peer training approach, this seminar secured a homogeneous level of knowledge and expertise between the more experienced and new networks’ members (i.e. in the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia) resulting in  enhanced quality and innovation of the EVS programme between EU and CEEC countries.

EASTLINKS IV

EVS project in Eastern Europe ( Estonia, Latvia, Poland and the Russian Federation)

long-term volunteer placements from  January 2001 to  September 2001

Similar to the project Eastlinks III again 20 young Western Europeans participated in this 8 months European Voluntary Service involving host projects in four Central and Eastern European countries. ICYE’ s partners in this project were SWALLOWS and the Fund Social Initiative from the Russian Federation, the Estonian organisation EstYes, EJAM Latvia and SPPO Poland. The volunteers worked in a variety of fields, with children, elderly and socially disadvantaged persons as well as in environment protection organisations and youth clubs.

Euro – African Voluntary Service

EVS project in Africa (Mozambique, Nigeria, South Africa, Togo and Uganda)

Long-term volunteer placements from  January 2001 to July 2001

This EVS multilateral project aimed at providing opportunities of long-term voluntary service to young Europeans in five African countries. The project consisted of a variety of voluntary service organizations working with abandoned children, disabled children and youth, displaced people, and others carrying out programs of local development and was realized in cooperation with ICYE Nigeria, the Mpumalanga Youth Commission, AJUDE of Mozambique, Uganda Volunteers for Peace (UVP) and the Togo-based ATNU (Association Togolaise pour les Nations Unies).

EVS Multilateral Euro – Latin America 2001

EVS project in Latin America

Long-term volunteer placements from  January 2001 to July 2001

Through this project, a number of voluntary service opportunities have been offered to young European volunteers such as working in an income generating project in underprivileged communities in Ecuador, assisting in a Contemporary Art association in Quito, supporting street children in Puebla, Mexico, working in a housing estate of low income families in Mexico City and work camp organisation in Mexico etc. SIIJUVE – ICYE Mexico and “The Experiment in International Living Ecuador” as our partners in this EVS project greatly contributed to make this a successful experience for both volunteers and local communities involved.

EASTLINKS III

EVS project in Eastern Europe (Belarus, Lithuania and Ukraine)

Long-term volunteer placements from September 2000 to May 2001

Acknowledging the great need for East-West exchanges between Youth on a grassroots level and encouraged by two earlier EVS activities involving Eastern Central and Eastern Europe the ICYE Federation together with our partners DEINEITA and AUSTEIJA from Lithuania, LYVS from Belarus and the Ukrainian organisation ALTERNATIVE-V gave 20 young Western Europeans the opportunity to commit themselves to a long-term European Voluntary Service project in Eastern Europe.