In October 2022, young people from Dumfries and Galloway Youth Council attended the IAVE (International Association for Volunteer Effort) World Volunteer Conference in Abu Dhabi, where they delivered a workshop on youth democracy and employability to delegates from around the world, highlighting the work they have done across our region and the importance of including young people in decision making processes. The cost of the trip was fully funded through fundraising.
In the days before the conference, Alasdair, Cameron and Hannah took part in a seminar that focused on Youth Volunteering and Sustainable Livelihoods. 100 organisations from across 75 countries were involved in the seminar sessions that ran, and the group contributed to an Insights Paper which aimed to detail what actions need to be taken to facilitate and support young people through their volunteering journey to develop skills, knowledge and attitude towards enhancing their livelihoods, employability and entrepreneurship.
As a result of the insights paper being published and continuing the momentum on the topic of Youth Volunteering, four global webinars will now focus on taking forward key issues. On Tuesday 7 March, some of the young people participated in the “Youth Volunteering, Employability and Sustainable Livelihoods” webinar where they sat on a panel made up of organisations from around the world.
Former Chair of Dumfries and Galloway Youth Council, Hannah Birse said: “As a group of young people from across Dumfries and Galloway, it was a fantastic opportunity to use our voices to talk to partners across the world about our experiences of being a young person in our region, and to take part in a conversation on a global platform through the webinar where we were invited to sit on the panel.”
If you would like to read the Insights Paper that Alasdair, Cameron and Hannah contributed to, please email: [email protected]
