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The International Council of the International Young Christian Workers was a timely event organized by its activists every 4 years to identify where the movement is today, and how it will go forward. Our fast-evolving world has generated closer interaction among people but it has created different situations in every country and continent. These developments have had consequences and impact in the world of work, affecting thousands of workers, and young workers in particular.
The three-week activity started on September 21 and ended on October 9, 2016. It began with the exchange program hosted by YCW Germany, YCW Wallonia and YCW Flanders in 5 key cities in Europe, namely Brussels, Liege, Aachen, Munster and Wurzburg. 27 national movements took part in it, interacting and interchanging information about different realities of the young workers today: precarious work, temporary workers, migrants, refugees, unemployed, informal workers and gender discrimination at work.
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On the occasion of the XIV International Council of the International Young Christian Workers (IYCW), current and former leaders of the YCW movement gathered in Herzogenrath, near Aachen, Germany, from 24th till 26th September for the IYCW International Colloquy, aimed at developing cooperation between the various generations of YCW leaders.
Click here to see photos of the Colloquy and of the opening of the Council.
On the first day of the Colloquy, former YCW leaders could hear the main challenges facing IYCW today. IYCW president, Ludovicus Mardiyono, and treasurer Andy Predicala, shared their reflections on the needs and challenges faced by the movement today.
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“I was impressed to see that YCW Nicaragua has a plan about their gender action. It is elaborate, with objectives and everything. It made me wonder why we don’t have such a plan in the Walloon YCW.”
This is a statement from Zoe, a fulltimer in the Walloon YCW, telling other French-speaking comrades about her experience in the Spanish-speaking exchange. When describing her action on gender in the Walloon YCW, she presented a national action group giving space to young women and LGBTQI to act together.
Just like her, other delegates from Gabon, Haiti, Congo Brazzaville, Germany, Ghana, Peru, Indonesia, Wallonia (Belgium) and Nicaragua accepted the IYCW gender commission’s invitation to meet in different spaces organized according to time zones and languages in order to exchange about their actions related to gender. When sharing experiences about gender-based violence and discrimination, it became obvious that existing inequalities increased even more because of the current global pandemic. As Rony from Indonesia reported:
“It is a real challenge that many women in Indonesia do not have any health insurance. This is always bad, but it is a real challenge in such a health crisis. Also, many health workers, who are the front-liners right now in our country, are females.”
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As part of the celebrations of the "International Week of Young Workers" and "May Day", the IYCW organized an online debate on the impact of digitalization on work, life and action on April 30.
With the participation of activists of the movement from different countries and continents, as well as a large number of representatives of social organizations, trade unions, people involved in international cooperation and former activists, the online debate was able to clarify, in its different dimensions, the impact of digitalization on young workers’ lives.
Based on the testimonies and life experiences collected and analyzed, the IYCW noted that young workers, most of whom are forced into precarious work, without contracts or with short-term contracts signed by temporary work agencies, or working in "maquilas", in the informal sector of the economy or in rural areas, as well as students and unemployed youth, do not benefit from the social and economic opportunities presented as advantages of digitalization.
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It has been almost a year since Covid-19 emerged and it is still hitting humanity very hard. Unfortunately as predicted, young workers have not been able to escape and they are strongly affected by the situation. They are experiencing the impact and consequences of the pandemic in their daily lives, in their social life, in their families and at work.
Taking this reality into account, the IYCW carried out a survey and collected testimonies from young workers around the world. The International YCW wants to share that information and those realities and will therefore organize a webinar on the impact of Covid-19 on young workers’ reality on December 12, 2020 at 2:00pm (CET-Brussels time).
The panelists for this webinar are from Africa, Asia, the Americas and Europe, and they will share their analysis on the impact that the measures implemented after the surge of Covid-19 around the world have on young workers’ reality. There will be young activists of the International YCW, a representative of a Belgian social movement (WSM), the Deputy Director of the Bureau for Workers’ Activities (ACTRAV/ILO), as well as the former International YCW president (2000-2004) who fights for social rights in Quebec.
Our aim is
- To raise public awareness about how young workers have been affected by this global pandemic and about the impact of the measures implemented by the states on their lives;
- To give visibility to the actions carried out by young workers as an alternative to face the measures against Covid-19, as well as their demands to improve their living and working conditions.
You are most welcome to take part in this important WEBINAR!
Save the date: Saturday, December 12, 2020 at 2:00pm (CET-Brussels time).
Translation: Spanish/English.
If you wish to participate, please click on the link below and sign up: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_kzGL7k0BSMKV-8EKV5cgiw
The online event will also be broadcast live on our social media: Facebook & YouTube.
Please spread this information. We look forward to your participation!
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The YCW, Has celebrated the 138th anniversary of the birth of its founder Joseph Cardijn. See in this video the testimonies of young workers and adults who were YCW militants, they share their testimony about the contribution of YCW to continue fighting for a world full of justice and peace. We would like to thank all those present at the activity and our invited friends from other institutions and networking organizations. 14.30 Music is played (artistic arrival) – (YCW Phillipines) 14.35 Greetings and Welcoming in the name of the two hosting movements (CIJOC/ Berhanu) and giving the floor to the moderator (Idy) 14.52 Moderator takes over, introduction to the agenda and give floor to the young (introduce the yw from Malawi) 14.55 How Cardijn impacts my life and action until today: testimony from a young YCW - Malawi 15:00 How Cardijn impacts my life and action until today: testimony from a YCW – Dominican Republic 15:05 Greetings and Birthday wishes: video message from other movements – Mijarc, JEC, Pax Romana, MMTC, Kolping International, ILO Bureau for Workers Activities, Anna Biondi, Deputy Director of the ILO Bureau for Workers Activities Luc Cortebeeck (ACTRAV) 15:15 Greetings and Birthday wishes: a greeting from WSM (Fons) 15:25 How Cardijn impacts my life and action until today: testimony from a YCW (Asia) - Pakistan 15:30 How Cardijn impacts my life and action until today: testimony from a YCW (Europe) - Portugal 15:36 Greetings - How YCW impacted my life: Video message from a former YCW 15:45 A Blessing to the young workers‘ today: Bishop of Dom Reginaldo Andrietta 16:00 Closing remarks in the name of the two hosting movements (JOCI/Sarah) Cheering on Cardijn‘s birthday and YCW 16:25 Music played as a good-buye celebration (Joc Japan)
