Young Adult Network
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- By ICUUW Staff
Launched in March 2022 with 22 participants from 11 countries, IWC’s International Young Adult Network Program - funded in part by the UU Funding Program - offered a virtual space for Unitarian and Unitarian Universalist young adults from around the world to come together for a meeting of minds.
The interactive year-long program, led by young adult co-leaders from Belgium and India, provided opportunities to build and strengthen connections and to spark inspiration for civic engagement and initiatives designed and led by young adults – not only at the United Nations (UN) but in the young leaders’ own communities as well.
The meetings took place the first and third Saturday of the month, where young adult Unitarians/UUs learned and dialogued about issues facing global society, guided by presentations by various resource speakers. Participants also learned and practiced leadership and project management skills, helping them to create and present their own program at the 67th session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) on March 11, 2023.
During this innovative program, the group explored thematic areas such as environmental justice, LGBTQI+ issues, violence against women, refugee experiences, and much more – drawing on resource speakers from a variety of contexts (Bolivia, India, Philippines, Singapore, Ukraine, Rwanda/Uganda). Speaker sessions were recorded, enabling participants with poor connectivity and conflicting schedules to access them at their own convenience.
In the fall of 2022, the program shifted to practical sessions to prepare participants for the final phase of the program: forming a young adult delegation to attend the NGO CSW Forum, the civil society side of the UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) in March 2023.
A core group of this network rallied to create an inspirational event in March 2023 at the NGO CSW67 Forum, the civil society forum of the 67th Session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women. The event titled “Learning and Mobilizing in the Digital Space: Experiences of Global Young Women” featured two program participants – Siân Evans from Wales and Elle Llewellyn Zhang from Singapore – who shared their experiences of the program and of being part of other socially active groups, with a particular focus on the use of digital tools.
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- By Zsófia Sztranyiczki, ICUUW Executive Director
March 2023 marked the completion of our year-long International Young Adult Network program, funded in part by the UU Funding Program and the European Unitarian Universalists. The interactive program for young adults from 11 countries, led by young adult co-leaders from Belgium and India, provided opportunities to build and strengthen connections and to spark inspiration for civic engagement and initiatives designed and led by young adults – not only at the United Nations but in the young leaders’ own communities as well.
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- By Emilie Jarrett and Liza M. Lamar
ICUUW’s International Young Adult Network Program, funded in part by the UU Funding Program and the European Unitarian Universalists, offers a virtual space for Unitarian/Unitarian Universalist young adults from around the world to come together for a meeting of minds. So far, this exciting initiative has attracted 22 participants from 11 countries – Canada, France, Germany, Hungary, India, the Philippines, Romania, Singapore, Rwanda refugees residing in Uganda, the U.S., and Wales.
- Details
- By Emilie Jarrett, Belgium, and Liza M. Lamar, India, Co-leaders, ICUUW's Young Adult Network
Since the ICUUW International Young Adult Network program kicked off in March with 22 participants from 11 countries, the group has met twice a month to explore thematic areas such as environmental justice, LGBTQI+ issues, violence against women, and much more – drawing on resource speakers from a variety of contexts (Bolivia, India, Philippines, Singapore, Ukraine, Rwanda/Uganda). The most recent thematic session focused on refugee issues, with personal testimony from two speakers from the African and European contexts (fleeing war and fleeing persecution).