The IYCW (International Young Christian Workers) is an international non-profit association present in over 40 countries on all continents. The IYCW works with young people aged 15 to 30, of all religions, in the informal economy, as young workers, unemployed or in vocational training. It is a popular education movement that seeks to strengthen the leadership potential of all young workers through the development of actions at local, national and international levels.
The YCW is very close to completing its 100 years of existence, but before this glorious date, it was able to hold its 15th International Council in Peru from 27 October to 7 November 2022. Being there, national leaders representing the YCW national movements were able to initiate our plan towards the celebration of the 100 years of the YCW in 2025.
The main objectives are to give more visibility to the current YCW action, to reach more young workers and to spread Cardijn’s legacy, methodology and heritage.
The central activities to commemorate the centenary will be carried out in 2025, but we want to announce the beginning of the process. We will create commissions and work teams, we will campaign, debate, and write… a whole arc of actions, for which we will need many hands. Joseph Cardijn is no longer here with us, but his spirit, values and principles live in every young worker who believes in the struggle and is willing to take action together to be able to bring real change in their lives, their groups, their communities and in the society. From this day onwards, we would like to encourage you to develop initiatives that will promote and strengthen your actions in your own movement, but also enhance the use of the methodology in the action processes and take this opportunity to reach out to more young people for them to join the movement.
The YCW centenary will not be a single event but a process.