INTERNATIONAL YOUTH LEADERSHIP COUNCIL (IYLC)
Application due May 16th, 2021
What is IYLC?
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.
What do IYLC organizers do?
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, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) rights.
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.
IYLC responsibilities include: Attending AFY’s Virtual Youth Activist Institute from September 17-20th, 2021, 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 $600 a semester for their work.
Who can apply to IYLC?
Applicants must:
- Be college students at a DC-based school
- Have ties to or strong interests in the global south and be willing to serve as activists, advocates, and spokespeople on sexual and reproductive health and rights policies that affect young people in low and middle-income countries.
- Be available to work with Advocates for Youth for the duration of the 2021-2022 school year (NOTE: this is in addition to your regular school work), including attend regular meetings at Advocates for Youth’s office, depending on COVID-19 and restrictions that are in place.