Women’s Participation and Empowerment
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On November 21, three well-known international organizations held a seminar on “Women’s Participation and Empowerment in the World.” With the collaboration of Entraide et Fraternité, the MIJARC (International Movement of Catholic Agricultural and Rural Youth), the FIMARC (International Federation of Catholic Rural Adult Movements) and the IYCW (International Young Christian Workers) agreed to organize this seminar, in which young and adult women from countries such as Paraguay, Nicaragua, Peru, Colombia, Brazil, Haiti, Guatemala and the Dominican Republic participated.
The seminar, which was held online, had the important contributions of three participants from Peru, Nicaragua and Paraguay, who explained what it means to be a woman in their countries and described the reality they face in all aspects of their lives.
Paraguay YCW: 80 Years of Life, Struggle and Workers' Action
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Rosa Galeano, a leader of Paraguay YCW, elaborated on how and when the YCW entered the country. She explained that the YCW is a movement that was created at the beginning of the 20th century on the initiative of a Belgian priest, Joseph Cardijn, and some young workers.
Joseph Cardijn, a Belgian priest, and a number of young working women and men were concerned by the deplorable conditions experienced in Belgium by their fellow workers in factories, spinning mills, mines and in the families living in working-class areas.
“In Paraguay, the movement arrived through Monsignor Ramón Bogarín Argaña in 1941, and from that year onwards its most important moments were until the 1970s. Then, like all social organisations, it began to fade away due to the persecutions of the dictatorship,” Rosa said.
Errol Samarista: All Fishermen to Receive Adequate Social Protection
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“This is my second life. I spent a day and a night afloat more than 24 hrs. in the big sea in March 2020. I was fortunate to be discovered by the seashore of a nearby town. I am grateful to God for my second life.” - Jesus Aguilar, young fisherman
Errol Samarista, IYCW Asia-Pacific coordinator, was present as one of the resource persons in the webinar “Safety and Health is a Fundamental Right at Work”, organized by INSP!R Asia (International Network for Social Protection Rights) and ACV-CSC International, on Monday, October 25 and Tuesday, October 26, 2021.
All workers, regardless of their type of employment, formal and informal, men and women, have the right to a safe and healthy working environment, including affordable quality health care and social protection. Declaring safety and health as a fundamental right at work means that governments have to respect it, promote it, enshrine it in law and enforce it, monitoring its implementation in good faith.
Pope Francis to the YCW: Advance the Kingdom of God through the building of a more just and equitable society
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The life of young workers and their rights have always received the full attention of Pope Francis. On the occasion of the IYCW International Council, Pope Francis, through the Holy See Secretary of State, sent a message of encouragement to the IYCW to continue its work for a better life for all young workers.
Holy See Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, wrote to the International YCW on behalf of Pope Francis for the movement’s postponed international council, which was finally held via Zoom last month.
“His Holiness trusts that in this time of economic and social crisis, the Council’s deliberations will reaffirm the efforts of young people to advance the Kingdom of God through the building of a more just and equitable society which leaves no one behind and which promotes respect for the fundamental rights of all, including that of safe and dignified employment,” Cardinal Parolin wrote.
Hidden Histories: The YCW movement in the German Democratic Republic
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The files concerning the YCW in the German Democratic Republic are now safely stored at KADOC
We all know the images of Germans wielding hammers and chisels, hacking away at the wall that had kept them separated from each other. 32 years ago to this day, on the 9th November of November 1989, the Berlin wall fell. Not only did it end the partition of Berlin, it also set in motion the crumbling of the Eastern Bloc and signified the end of the Cold War that had divided Europe and the world for the previous four decades. The historical significance of this day can hardly be exaggerated.
Hence, today is an excellent occasion to talk about an intriguing find in the IYCW archives. Among the numerous boxes containing country files, we came across two boxes that had ‘Eastern-Germany’ written on them. The boxes are filled with handwritten papers, often lists of members or very concise reports. What was the story of these documents? Was there a YCW in the German Democratic Republic? And, if so, how did the archive boxes make it safely to Brussels?
