Dear ACIC Members,
As we move deeper into autumn, I want to send out a message to update you on some of the news coming out of the sector and to make you aware of upcoming opportunities through ACIC and our work this fall. I also want to take the opportunity to share a little about the very positive experience that I had participating in the Rotary Peace Fellowship Program this summer. I returned in mid-September, feeling rejuvenated and refreshed, with a much deeper knowledge of peacebuilding and conflict prevention, and many new ideas for how we might become stronger as a coalition.
Sector News:
Sexual Misconduct
Many of you will have kept abreast of what has been happening in the sector around sexual violence and the work that is taking place to address it. I would like to draw your attention to the CCIC Leaders' Pledge to Prevent and Address Sexual Misconduct, a statement of commitment to be signed by the Presidents, CEOs, and Executive Directors of CCIC members and others in the global development and humanitarian sector. By signing the Pledge, sector leaders will commit to a set of concrete actions to prevent and respond to sexual misconduct in our sector.
Today, I join CCIC in asking you to do three things:
Sign the Pledge. If you haven't done so already, the best time to sign the Pledge on behalf of your organization is right now. Please sign-on online.
Socialize the Pledge inside your organization. Share your commitment with your staff, to ensure that they know you have signed on and understand what it means for your organization's policy, programming, and culture.
Share the Pledge. Contact your fellow leaders in the sector, asking them if they have signed on and encourage them to do so. We want this sectoral commitment to be as inclusive and comprehensive as possible, because only then will we see truly transformative change.
GAC cost-sharing guidelines
Global Affairs Canada has recently released its new Policy on Cost-Sharing for Grant and Non-Repayable Contribution Agreements. This information is now available on the Contracting Publication section of the website: Policy on Cost-Sharing for Grant and Non-Repayable Contribution Agreements and Questions and Answers - Policy on Cost-Sharing for Grant and Non-Repayable Contribution Agreements.
Some key changes are as follows:
cost-share requirements have been lowered to 5% (from a previous range of up to 25%);
the exemption for humanitarian projects has been maintained;
non-Canadian funding sources can be included; and
there has been clarification around in-kind contributions.
OECD Peer Review
OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) has recently put out its Peer Review of Canada’s Development Cooperation program.
Many of the recommendations listed by the OECD concern areas of ongoing collaboration between Global Affairs Canada and Canadian Civil Society organizations (as led by the CCIC) - particularly regarding cutting red tape and increasing efficiencies.
The report also lays out important areas for continued improvement, including Canada’s decline in ODA (official development assistance) spending relative to ODI (outward direct investment) and encourages the government to chart a course to reverse this trend.
Summer 2018 Highlights:
Many of you joined us for a very successful symposium and AGM in Charlottetown this June. We were thrilled to have Sheila Watt-Cloutier as our keynote speaker and hosted a variety of diverse capacity building activities, which have received extremely positive feedback from participants. During our AGM, we passed a resolution that has introduced a new category of membership: Student-led Campus Organizations. We had noticed over the years that membership fees have been prohibitive to student groups, but that their involvement in ACIC activities and events has added great value to our work. With a reduced rate and a solid plan for engaging new groups, we anticipate that over the next year we will increase our membership and be more inclusive of youth and student-led groups.
Governance:
We were delighted to welcome three new board members this June. Valeri Pilgrim joins us from Memorial University as Director-at-Large, Scott Smith was elected as a Director-at-Large representing Latin America Mission Program (LAMP), and Madalyn Nielson from Dal Agricultural College, joins as our Director-at-Large. ACIC’s new Board Executive is as follows: ACIC Board Chair, Freddy Wangabo Mwenengabo; Treasurer, John Cameron and Secretary, Valeri Pilgrim.
Governance responsibilities also include chairing one of ACIC’s committees. Our committees are open to ACIC member organizations, so please contact us at ACIC if you have an interest in engaging in any of our committee work.
ACIC Committee Chairs:
Governance Committee: Nick Scott
Membership Committee: Madalyn Nielson
Finance Committee: John Cameron
Risk Management Committee: Laura Hunter
Ad hoc Symposium Committee: Valeri Pilgrim
We have just finished a very successful board and staff retreat, where we came together to discuss important governance and operation issues, and to build our capacity as a team. I am thrilled to have such a strong board and staff team to support ACIC’s work, and feel confident that the collective skills and experience we have will undoubtedly result in excellence.
Youth Programs:
International Internships for Indigenous Youth (IIIY)
On October 1, our 20 indigenous youth interns departed from Pearson International after ten days of pre-departure training. Through a partnership with the Northern Council for Global Cooperation (NCGC), GPI Atlantic, the Native Council of PEI, and the Confederacy of Mainland Mi’kmaq, we successfully recruited a diverse group of interns, primarily from Atlantic and Northern Canada. Teams of four interns will be working with our southern partners in Nepal, Cambodia, Kenya, Costa Rica, and Guyana. Upon their return in early February, they will work with us during International Development Week (IDW) to share information about their experiences abroad.
ACT 4 Global Change Youth Conference
We have just finished the selection process for our upcoming youth conference, to be held this year in Nova Scotia at the Tatamagouche Centre. Approximately 50 youth (between the ages of 15 and 17) will come together from November 9-12 to learn about global issues. Through interactive activities, discussion, games, reflection and more, the conference will explore topics such as:
peace & conflict
human rights
Indigenous realities
the Sustainable Development Goals
refugee experiences
poverty & food sovereignty
gender equity
environment & sustainability
international trade (fair trade) & food security
global migration
2SLGBTQ+ realities
water and sanitation
The conference is an opportunity for youth to get informed, get inspired and take action on local and global issues in a safe and welcoming space. Participants will meet and engage with a diversity of youth from a variety of communities and cultures from all four Atlantic provinces.
Youth Gender Equality Program
ACIC continues to work with Plan Canada and the Canadian Teacher’s Foundation on the Youth for Gender Equality program.
Over the Fall ACIC will host six dialogues (one in NB, two in PE, two in NL, one in NS), with the possibly of adding one to this list (one in NL and one in NS). The NB dialogue with is with MP Matt Decourcey’s office and two possible dialogues to be added are with MP Andy Fillmore and MP Seamus O’Regan.
ACIC is working with various member organizations, partners and community contacts to help recruit youth leads for these dialogues and youth participants. We also continue to be actively involved with the YGE steering committee and the media working group.
Our Membership:
ACIC has organized a number of capacity building and networking activities this fall, which we hope will enable our membership to come together to collaboratively learn and develop relationships.
We are very excited to be partnering with the Alberta Council and other councils across Canada to host Together 2018 in Halifax and Charlottetown on November 5th. We will be also hosting one-day workshops on Peace-building Conflict Resolution in Fredericton and St. John’s in November (stay tuned for details), networking events in Charlottetown, Sackville and Halifax in October, and a two-day Human Rights Based Approach (HRBA) workshop in Nova Scotia in February. As always, travel subsides for members are available to support your participation, and we strongly encourage you to reach out to us if there are any ways in which we can further enhance your involvement in our programs and activities.
Finally, ACIC staff will be travelling this fall to meet with members, participate in sector events and to host networking meetings. We hosted a successful networking event in Nova Scotia in October, and in November, there will be networking events in NB (Sackville) PEI (Charlottetown) and NF (St. John’s)
Peace Fellowship:
After having completed my three-month studies at the Rotary Peace Center, Chulalongkorn University, I can only be grateful for the support of my family, my colleagues and my friends. It was at times challenging to be away from home and work, but the reflection of my personal, spiritual, academic and professional growth, and with the joy of having met wonderful people from 17 countries, the experience was nothing but positive. I have heard stories from colleagues, including those that have been directly impacted by conflict and inequality, that we should never forget, and have strengthened my conviction that dialogue and non-confrontation are the main tools for the construction of peace. I return, more than ever, with the commitment to continue supporting opportunities for partnership and collaboration. The importance of learning more about what other organizations and individuals are doing cannot be overstated, and the relationships that have been developed with instructors and colleagues will undoubtedly influence this work moving forward.
The program has also reinforced my belief that it is essential that we recognize that youth play an integral role in the peacebuilding process, and that in order for them to be agents of change, they must have the knowledge, skills and understanding of the global context to be able to do so. I feel strongly that we must continue to work to build leadership so that youth can address systemic change through their work in peacebuilding and conflict resolution, which sometimes is the root of issues, and sometimes is an indicator of other factors shaping human conflict.
Finally, I am excited to be able to reconnect with ACIC member organizations and to have conversations about peacebuilding as it relates to gender, human rights and engaging youth. I hope to organize opportunities for us to have dialogues about peacebuilding efforts, within our networking meetings, through webinars and within our training activities. Please reach out to me to share stories about how your work is progressing, and how ACIC can better support you.
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