From 14th to 18th of July, ICYE organised an advocacy training in Brussels, Belgium as a continuation of several previous projects aimed at decolonising the International Voluntary Service (IVS) movement. 20 participants from 18 different countries representing various IVS networks (CCIVS, ICYE, SCI) came together to build the skills needed to advocate for more equitable funding, power relations, and distribution of resources in the field of volunteering. The ICYE Youth Engagement Committee (YEC) took the lead on getting participants up to speed on the existing policy papers and advocacy work in two online preparation calls.
As guest speakers representatives from our new partner organisation, Quest, and from the IVS network Alliance provided valuable inputs on advocacy. In further preparation, participants learned strategic communication skills, like storytelling, petition writing, how to structure a policydocument and public speaking. While Day 4 was packed with in-person advocacy meetings with relevant European stakeholders, the final day allowed for reflection and the compilation of lessons learned.
The group developed advocacy asks regarding Erasmus+ and the European Solidarity Corps programme in the European Commission’s proposal for the Multi-Annual Funding Framework 2028-2034. This tangible experience in advocacy work will be taken forward into future advocacy work within the framework of our strong coalition of young advocates for decolonising IVS.
_____________________________
This project was made possible with the financial support of the Council of Europe
