The International Dimension of the YCW Is a Fruitful “Gift”

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By Jacques Hanon

Cardijn, the founder of our movement, was a visionary and had a fire inside him! He had an almost “mystical” image of the “Young Worker,” victim of multiple forms of degrading precariousness: regardless of their race, nationality, gender, culture, or religion, Cardijn wanted to take action so that every young worker could become an actor in their own liberation and that of their comrades.

As early as 1912, he created the first groups of young workers in the parish of Our Lady of Laeken. But he knew from the outset that to achieve his goal, he had to create a “movement.” He first called it “Jeunesse syndicaliste“ (Trade Union Youth) and then, in 1925, “Jeunesse Ouvrière Chrétienne” (Young Christian Workers).

Cardijn also knew that in order to confront a form of capitalism that was destroying people and the planet, and whose global rise he could see coming, it would take a strong movement that was part of the international labor movement and had a specific task: the task of education!

In the 1930s, the YCW sent “extension workers” to different continents. And on August 25, 1935, the year it celebrated its 10th anniversary, the YCW organized its first “World Congress”!

The course was set! The international dimension of the YCW developed rapidly. International exchanges were a decisive experience in the life paths of activists.

The international dimension of the YCW was a fruitful “gift,” a powerful beacon that set the course. The celebration of the YCW's centenary in May 2025 was one of its highlights, and the “International Day” encourages us to continue building this international dimension. 

Yes, we can be confident: “another world is possible”... and we want to contribute to it! Thank you, IYCW!

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About the International Cardijn Association

cardijn

The International Cardijn Association (ICA) is a non-profit organization whose purpose is to serve the present and future generations of young workers throughout the world.

Officially created in September 1998 on the initiative of the International YCW, the ICA mission is to provide financial support to the projects implemented by young workers in order to improve their capacities to take responsibilities and to change their living and working conditions. In this direction those young people can find the place they deserve in society and the dignity inherent in all human beings.

Throughout his life, Cardijn, who founded the International YCW in 1957, never ceased to disseminate his message that “Each young worker is worth more than all the gold in the world.” Convinced that this message is still true today, the ICA wants to help young people – apprentices or unemployed, domestic workers, workers in the informal economy, casual workers, those exploited in export-processing zones, those excluded from society – to carry out projects which will allow them to live with dignity.

 For its functioning, the ICA relies on a team of volunteers who are involved in raising funds. Those funds come from donations by people or movements wishing to support a just cause: that of young workers. The capital is invested ethically and the interests are used to fund projects which are initiated by movements or groups of young workers who struggle to change their living and working conditions. Decent jobs, reasonable working hours, adequate salaries, weekly day-offs, the eradication of sexual and moral harassment, social protection for all … are the focus of the struggle to be carried out in a globalized world, where human beings often feel powerless when faced with walls of injustice.
 
By providing financial support to young workers’ projects, the ICA simply wants to contribute to building a society with more justice and a world with more solidarity.

 

 

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