International Young Catholic Students
Aim
Evangelise and transform the student milieu (both secondary and tertiary), through forming students and encouraging them to look at the world from the perspective of the poor, with a commitment to global solidarity, freedom, justice, and peace.
History
The International Young Catholic Students (IYCS), also known as the Young Christian Students, has its roots in the development of several YCS national movements in the late 1920's in Belgium and France. Since its creation, YCS movement grew in the spirit of the Specialized Catholic Action movements that were inspired by Joseph Cardijn (the founder of the Young Christian Workers) with the methodology of See-Judge-Act. In 1946, just at the end of the Second World War, the International Coordination was established in Paris - France. Today, the International Secretariat is coordinating 85 national movements across the continent. The IYCS has a General Consultative Status with the Economic and Social Commission (ECOSOC) of the United Nations, and an Operational Status with UNESCO in 1998. IYCS is recognised by the Holy See.
IRD Activities
- A Training Manual - Promote Dialogue to Build Peace
The International Young Christian Students (IYCS) - Africa Regional Coordination, Students for Peacebuilding and Conflict Resolution, is the efforts of the Pan African Team 2007-2011 who come up with the idea of publishing this manual and implementing it. This project/ manual train students to know the word 'dialogue' and to use it in different context, in daily life, at work or interreligious experiences, also design activities for students to practise interreligious dialogue and using dialogue for conflict resolution and peacebuilding
- Workshops from Pan African Teams
The Pan African Teams initiate capacity building workshops on various topics such as: Interreligious Dialogue, Peace Building and Conflict Resolution, Leadership for Good Governance.
Main Focus Countries of Activities
Benin - Burkina Faso - Burundi - Cameroon - Central African Republic - Chad - Congo - Democratic Republic of the Congo - Ivory Coast - Gabon - Gambia - Ghana - Guinea - Kenya - Lesotho - Madagascar - Malawi - Mali - Nigeria - Rwanda - Senegal - Sierra Leone - South Africa - Sudan - Tanzania - Togo - Uganda - Zambia - Zimbabwe - Liberia - Namibia - Niger - Ethiopia - Benin - Burkina Faso - Burundi - Cameroon - Central African Republic - Chad - Congo - Democratic Republic of the Congo - Ivory Coast - Gabon - Gambia - Ghana - Guinea - Kenya - Lesotho - Madagascar - Malawi - Mali - Nigeria - Rwanda - Senegal - Sierra Leone - South Africa - Sudan - Tanzania - Togo - Uganda - Zambia - Zimbabwe - Liberia - Namibia - Niger - Ethiopia