INTERNATIONAL YOUTH LEADERSHIP COUNCIL (IYLC) 2020-2021
Application Due: July 1st, 2020
The International Youth Leadership Council (IYLC) at Advocates for Youth is a group of DC-based college students that work to advance youth sexual and reproductive health and rights in the global south. IYLC believes in using our unique opportunity as DC students to influence US foreign policy that directly harms people in other countries. We work to center the voices and needs of women, girls, and non-binary people in the global south, and work to #DecolonizeSRHR.
IYLC members work on a wide-range of issues, such as sex education, international family planning and contraceptive access, abortion, global HIV and AIDS, gender equality, harmful practices such as child marriage and female genital cutting/mutilation, gender-based violence, and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) rights. IYLC is made up of students who have ties to or strong interests in the global south and who serve as activists, advocates, and spokespeople on sexual and reproductive health and rights policies that affect young people in low and middle-income countries. Council members work with Advocates for Youth for the duration of the 2020-2021 school year.
The goals of the IYLC are to:
- Mobilize fellow students to take action on sexual and reproductive health and rights issues affecting young people in the global south;
- Educate policymakers on the importance of increasing funding and improving policies for programs serving youth in the global south;
- Increase public awareness of the impact of US foreign policy on young people in the global south.
- Influence the media by providing a youth voice on global youth sexual and reproductive health and rights issues.
- Speak out at rallies, briefings, meetings, conferences, and other venues to bring attention to the needs of young people sexual and reproductive health and rights in the global south.
Due to COVID-19, we are finding new and creative ways to continue our advocacy online. We will continue to work towards these goals in Fall 2020, but will adapt if need be.
IYLC responsibilities include: Attending AFY’s Virtual Youth Activist Institute in September 2020, joining monthly meetings, organizing campus events in partnership with university clubs/other students, organizing cross-campus campaigns, submitting monthly time sheets and reports, presenting at conferences and conducting trainings, and more.
Every semester, each campus represented on the Council is expected to:
- Host two campus events such as film screenings, discussions, presentations, or rallies that educate and mobilize peers to take action on US foreign policy
- Participate in a Lobby Day to educate members of Congress about the need for increased funding and improved policies for youth in the global south
- Utilize online and traditional media outlets to educate peers and the general public about youth sexual and reproductive health and US foreign policy
- Participate in at least two social media campaigns that address global youth sexual and reproductive health and rights
Members receive a small monthly stipend.
If you are interested, apply by June 15th!
For more information, contact Khadija Khan, the IYLC Coordinator at khadija@advocatesforyouth.org. Thanks!