ICP UN Consultative Status Press Release
For
Immediate Release
February
17, 2009
Press
Contact: Jean Manney, manney@icicp.org or 202-775-0290
ICP
Looks to New Opportunities for Engaging with
UN
Innovations
in Civic Participation (ICP) will be building
further partnerships with the
United Nations to advocate for service as a
strategy for development through
its newly designated special consultative
status to the UN.
During
the Committee on Non-Governmental
Organizations’ review on January 20,
2009, ICP was one of 12 NGOs granted special
consultative status with the
Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) at the UN.
Special Consultative Status will
allow ICP to send
representatives to the UN, attend ECOSOC
meetings and make oral and written
statements in order to share ICP’s expertise
and represent the views of its
strategic partners on national youth service
and service learning program and
policy development.
Through
these channels, ICP will be able to provide
ECOSOC and its subsidiary bodies
with access to its knowledge base in developing
service policies and programs
in countries around the world. In
addition, ICP is readily available to provide
technical expertise and consult
with ECOSOC and its subsidiary bodies, as it
has increasingly done in the past.
ICP
will also disseminate information from ECOSOC
and its subsidiary bodies to
policymakers and other practitioners involved
in the development and
implementation of service policy programs
through its various communications
programs and its participation in
service-related
conferences.
ICP’s
Executive Director, Susan Stroud, said “Special
Consultative Status will
strengthen ICP’s role and impact in advancing
the field of youth civic
engagement. We
welcome this distinction
as a way to further enhance our partnership
with UN agencies and work more
broadly with the UN to advocate for youth
service as a strategy for youth and
community development, as well as leverage the
influence of the UN to have a
greater impact on the field of youth civic
engagement.”
This
status recognizes that ICP has a special
competence in fields of activity
covered by ECOSOC, which is the central forum
for discussing international
economic and social issues and for formulating
policy recommendations focusing
on sustainable
development; social development; the status of
women; population and
development and human rights.
ICP
has previously collaborated and consulted with
the UN in a number of ways. Most recently,
ICP was contracted by
UNICEF to conduct a review of youth
civic
engagement policies and programs in East Asia
and the Pacific. In February
2008, ICP completed the report that analyzes
the state of youth civic
engagement in East Asia and the Pacific,
including the challenges and support
available for programming in this area. ICP
also made recommendations to
further develop youth civic engagement in the
region.
In
addition to promoting service as a strategy, a
number of ICP’s initiatives
contribute to advancing the field of youth
civic engagement and the impact of
youth service on youth and community
development, which are closely aligned
with ECOSOC’s work for sustainable and social
development, and particularly for
the work of UNICEF.
Some
examples of ICP’s accomplishments
include:
·
Conducted
and published policy scans
of the youth service policy
environments in four regions to determine
directions for improved service
provision: 1) Latin America and the Caribbean,
2) Eastern Europe, 3) East Asia
and the Pacific (this report was commissioned
by UNICEF); and 4) South
Asia.
·
Published
two editions of Service Enquiry, an international journal on
youth civic service, (over 11,200 downloads to
date) and monthly editions of Service News Worldwide (2,500 e-newsletter subscribers);
·
Enhanced
national youth service policy in 10 countries
by providing $120,000 in grants,
strategy consulting, and technical
assistance;
·
As
secretariat, expanded membership of the
Talloires Network, a consortium of high
education institutions around
the world that are committed to social
responsibility and civic engagement, from 43 institutions in 2006
to 73 institutions in 2008.
·
As
secretariat, organized the 8th Global
Conference of the International Association for National
Youth Service, which
brought together the
largest number of participants and
representation from diverse countries in
IANYS history, with more than 120 participants
from approximately 40 countries
attending.
·
Worked
with the Children and Youth Unit at the World
Bank to develop a chapter
focusing on youth civic participation as a
strategy for community development
for the 2007 World Development Report, then
co-hosted a meeting of
international experts on the topic of youth
civic service and impact evaluation,
and is now leading an informal working group in
an ongoing initiative to build
the evidence base for the impact of youth
service.
“As the only organization
of its kind working
both nationally and globally,” said Pat Wasley,
Chair of ICP’s Board of
Directors, “ICP is uniquely positioned to
capitalize on the growing interest
and opportunities for youth civic engagement in
the US and globally by
leveraging its expertise, partnerships and
resources.”
ICP
will work to support and enhance the role that
national and community service,
particularly youth service, plays in ECOSOC’s
development strategies.
Well-structured youth service programs can
provide innovative solutions to
social and environmental issues, while helping
young people develop skills for
future employment and active citizenship.
“It is imperative to engage youth in the
process of addressing the
complex issues affecting them and their
communities,” says Susan Stroud, ICP’s
Executive Director. “Youth service
opportunities, while building professional
and citizenship skills, can help society to
appreciate young people and help
young people to view themselves as a resource
for change, rather than merely
recipients of services.”
ICP
advances strategies for youth civic engagement
by designing programs and
policies, contributing to the knowledge base of
the youth service field and
building networks that result in many more
young people being given the
opportunity to engage in civic activities.
These efforts have expanded opportunities
for tens of thousands of young people
throughout the world to connect with
their communities through service. According to
Susan Beresford, former
President of the Ford Foundation, “ICP is the
leading agent for promoting youth
service in the world today.” For more
information, visit www.icicp.org
Responses from the Field
“At a time when governments are grappling to find ways to address the failure of economic institutions, the significance of individual agency and civic participation is highlighted, and you [Susan, ICP] have [has] done so much to raise the awareness of this.”
-Martin J Mulcahy
Advisor to Minister of Education
South Africa
-Cleophas Kanamugire
Executive Director, YADDI
Rwanda
-Helene Perold
Executive Director
Volunteer and Service Enquiry Southern Africa (VOSESA)