ILO address on the occasion of the Centenary of the IYCW

Leaders and Members of the International Young Christian Workers,

On behalf of the ILO, I congratulate you on reaching your 100th anniversary.

You are now officially a centenarian with a presence in more than 50 countries, and you continue to fight for better working conditions and adequate representation for young people worldwide.

You are also one of the few youth organizations with consultative status at the ILO and have been an invaluable partner in our journey to protect labour rights.

When your movement was first established in 1925, its goals were to empower young workers and promoting social justice.

Those goals are still as relevant today as they were back then.

Young people, especially young women, still face multiple challenges in the labour markets.

Global youth unemployment is three times higher than that of adults.

One in every five young people is neither employed or in education.

And many young workers are trapped in precarious, informal, and low paid jobs.

But it does not have to be this way.

Policymakers can still take action to prioritize youth employment. They can and should invest in young people’s education, skills and lifelong learning.

And the ongoing digital and green transitions in the world of work present us with new opportunities. It is our duty to ensure that jobs created in these sectors are decent and accessible to our youth.  

Your movement’s unwavering commitment to young workers' rights is essential to achieving this.

Your vision of a society, built on dignity, solidarity and social justice, aligns with the ILO's mission. Together, we can be a driving force for change for the next century and beyond.

Happy anniversary, and congratulations on one hundred years of making a difference!

 

YCW Centenary: Virtual Worldwide Opening on April 12th, 2025

On April 12, 2025, we commemorate the founding of the Young Christian Workers (YCW) movement. To mark this special day, we will host an online celebration, allowing movements from around the world, along with friends and partners, to join us in unity. This event will serve as the launch of a series of activities and events organized by national movements in the days leading up to May 1st.

 

YCW Centenary: 100 years of struggle for young workers!

In 2025, the YCW will celebrate its 100 years of existence. Although Cardijn created the first base group in 1912, 1925 was the year of the official registration of the men and women’s Francophone and Flemish Belgian YCW movement. It was also the year of recognition by both the local Church and the universal Church in the person of Pope Pius XI, who listened and responded to Cardijn's hope to "save young workers."

From that moment on, the YCW spread rapidly from Europe to the whole world, in a remarkable way, to organize young workers and fight for their dignity and future.

As a popular education movement, the YCW incessantly seeks to strengthen the leadership potential of all young men and women workers worldwide by developing actions at local, national and international levels. The internationally recognized SEE-JUDGE-ACT method is the legacy of its founder and goes hand in hand with the movement's pedagogy and philosophy, which encourage young people to be relentless agents of change and universal citizens. The YCW remains faithful to its fundamental mission and political option of organizing and raising awareness among young workers about their own realities and the root causes of the problems and challenges they face around the world.

Over those 100 years of existence and action, the movement has been composed and coordinated by young people at all levels - the definition of an ever-young movement!

Indeed, the YCW is not only an organization of young people, but also an organization for young people. Since its creation, it has striven not only to improve the living conditions of young workers, but also to represent young workers and young people in general.

It has given a voice to the most vulnerable sectors of the communities in the different countries, not just a voice but a safe space to organize and hope for a better future, which of course comes with an action that is renewed time and time again and remains a permanent need!

YCW centenary – 100 years in action!

In 2025, the Young Christian Workers' celebrate 100 years of existence. Between April 18th and May 10th, the official international celebration will take place online and in Belgium. In addition to that, different national movements and groups will have decentralized activities. Find all the important information on this site and feel free to contact us if you want to join or support the centenary.

 

100 years of struggle for young workers!

Although Cardijn created the first base group in 1912, 1925 was the year of the official registration of the men and women’s Francophone and Flemish Belgian YCW movement. It was also the year of recognition by both the local Church and the universal Church in the person of Pope Pius XI, who listened and responded to Cardijn's hope to "save young workers."

From that moment on, the YCW spread rapidly from Europe to the whole world, in a remarkable way, to organize young workers and fight for their dignity and future.

Read more...

 

Our planned program

Beyond the different activities to prepare and promote the 100 years of the foundation of the YCW movement, the year 2025 will be very special. The main activities will be carried out during that remarkable year.

The centenary will also be linked to some activities promoted by the Belgium movements of KAJ Flanders and JOC Wallonia. The first step towards the centenary celebration will be to gather young potential key leaders + former YCW activists (adults) from each national movement who will have the chance to travel to Europe for the 2025 program.

It will be a collective program developed by the whole international movement from the grassroots to the international level. Each national movement and region will set up their own plan linked with the international level orientation defined by the 2022 Council.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
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