The IYCW took part in the 2022 International Conference of NGOs at UNESCO Headquarters (Room II) & online, which was held in Paris from 14-16 December 2022 with the general theme, “Breaking barriers – What role for civil society organizations towards a sustainable future.”

Through this conference the NGOs in official partnership with UNESCO built their program and route map for 2023-2024 and brought to UNESCO their propositions, demands, issues and relevant topics about youth, education, peace, culture, patrimony and technology among other subjects.

The conference discussed about the main efforts and reminded the challenges to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals – SDGs, as well as the role of the NGOs, the civil society organizations (CSOs) to achieve these objectives, more particularly the actions to reinforce partnerships in the global movement for the transformation of education in this rapidly-changing and challenging world.

CSOs_statement_ILC.pdf

The undersigned Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) had the joy of virtually attending the 110th session of the International Labour Conference (ILC) that took place from May 27th to June 10th.

The CSOs wish to extend our welcome and felicitations to Mr. Gilbert Houngbo for being appointed as the new Director General of the International Labour Organization (ILO). We are sure that this new stage will come with many successes for ILO, and all partner organizations. We would like to express our hope for the continuation of the excellent collaboration between the ILO and the CSOs, as has been the case for so many years.

The importance of the topics discussed has increased our awareness of the seriousness of this subject and its impact on the lives of workers around the world. We were highly privileged to have been able to participate in this Conference, as observers, to examine and contribute to each theme through our allies in the various delegations, and to deepen our understanding of some of the issues that workers in particular experience on a daily basis.

Cardijn was born on November 13, 1882. The 140th anniversary of his birth will be celebrated in the church of Our Lady of Laeken, Belgium on November 13, 2022 at 11:15 am. You are welcome to attend! You could also organize a celebration wherever you are!

In the church of Our Lady of Laeken, there is a very simple tomb: the tomb of Joseph Cardijn, the founder of the YCW, who died in 1967 at the age of 85.

A sentence is written on the wall: A young worker is worth more than all the gold in the world. It is a CRY, a CRY of denunciation of a dominant system that destroys personal dignity, solidarity, the environment...

It is a CRY of demand, a goal of action and struggle, a rallying CRY. That sentence sums up the feeling that drove Joseph Cardijn deep inside.