• Location: Tallinn, Estonia
• Reports to: Executive Committee
• Roles reporting to this one: Contractors and subcontractors as required and the CCIVS Living Earth working group

Presentation CCIVS

Founded in 1948 The Coordinating Committee for International Voluntary Service (CCIVS) is a non-governmental, non-profit making international organisation (INGO) working for the development of voluntary service worldwide.

CCIVS connects and empowers 188 organisations, promoting and advocating for International Voluntary Service and its values locally and globally it acts as a link to establish relations between the members and international institutions such as the EU, different UN agencies or foundations. The CCIVS network creates campaigns and actions based on the idea that working together voluntarily on a concrete and meaningful task is the most effective way of creating international friendship and understanding, paving the way for social transformation and long-lasting peace.

CCIVS actions focus on:

• Networking and International Representation: CCIVS organises inter-regional projects of IVS organisations, global meetings and participates in institutional forums and high-level meetings (UN, INGOS, public and private stakeholders) to defend the priorities of the International Voluntary Service Movement                                             
• Training and Capacity building: Trainings for volunteers, leaders, trainers and staff of IVS organisations to develop the organisational capacities of members                               
• Communication and campaigns: CCIVS puts IVS organisations and other institutions into contact and provides information, materials and tools. Promotion of campaigns to raise visibility and strengthen the work of IVS organisations

Location of the Position

The CCIVS Campaigns and Communication Officer (CC0) will be based in Tallinn, Estonia.

Due to the nature of our funding, this position is only open to those eligible to work in the European Union.

Key Objective

To coordinate the CCIVS Living Earth Campaign and projects related to this campaign as well as contributing to CCIVS communication work.

Any other information relevant to this particular position

• International travel may be required
• This role will require some work outside of regular hours due to the different time zones of members

Candidate Profile

We are looking for a dynamic individual who supports the aims and values of CCIVS and who believes in international voluntary service as a tool to promote a culture of peace and social transformation, feels at ease in intercultural groups and has at least 3 years’ experience in coordinating campaigns.

We understand that we offer an average salary, however, the position is unique, here are just some of the advantages:

• connection with people from all around the world
• possibilities for international travel when an activity requires the presence of the CCO
• space to develop new ideas and to work with these as a team
• a position which can only contribute to your professional growth through its grassroots to international connections

Knowledge and Experience

• Proven experience in project writing and reporting especially for European Union funding
• Demonstrated knowledge of and experience in managing international projects
• Cross cultural awareness and experience in working in a team with people from diverse backgrounds
• Has good intercultural communication skills and is able to work with volunteer driven organisations as well as with formal institutions
• Experience in the field of International Voluntary Service

Skills and Attributes

• A high level of professionalism and excellent communication skills;
• Cultural appropriateness;
• Excellent administrative and organisational skills;
• The capacity to develop strong working relationships with members of the Executive Committee, the CCIVS network members and any other institutional partner;
• Has problem-solving competences and enjoys working / dealing with challenges of different nature that occur in international projects;
• Excellent English oral and written communication skills;
• Strong computer literacy;
• Experience in Communication;
• Is stress resilient and ready to work long and flexible hours, when necessary;
• Is able to work independently in a horizontal team structure as well as in an internationally, diverse and remote team;
• Is eager to learn and not afraid of setting up new initiatives or dealing with challenges.

We offer the right candidate:

• A four-month probation period, with the possibility of leading onto a full time long term contract.
• The working hours are 40 hours per week according to local legislation. Working hours are flexible.
• Annual leave consists of 2.33 days per month according to the legislation.
• The salary is 1.500 Euro gross/ month, this may be increased to 1550 Euros gross/month after the probation period.

Application Procedure

All those interested in the CCIVS CCO position may apply using the following link: https://form.jotform.com/211893707870363

Further details of the application procedure can be obtained by writing to CCIVS at secretariat@ccivs.org.

Closing date for applications: 15 March 2022

Position to start: 19 April 2022 (to be agreed upon)

Due to the nature of our funding, this position is only open to those eligible to work in the European Union.

CCIVS is an equal opportunity employer

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The online conference “Palestinian Youth: Challenges and Opportunities” will take place on 8 December 2021, from 15:00 to 16:30 CET (from 16:00 to 17:30 Palestine time).

What is the role played by NGOs and institutions in the region in providing opportunities for youth civic engagement? How do they encourage social transformation through non-violent approaches?

The event will cast a spotlight on the opportunities and strategies aiming at involving young people in shaping their future in Palestine, using non-violent and inclusive methods. The invited speakers are:

• Mr Jamal Zakout, Chairman of board of Al-ARD and Member of PNC; (key-note speaker)
• Ms Noha Bawazir, Head of Office and Representative UNESCO Ramallah;
• Ms Rewa Barghouty, Youth Specialist at UNICEF Palestine;
• Mr Mazen Jabari, director of Youth Development Department at Arab Studies Society, Jerusalem;
• Mr Adli Dana, Director-General: Palestinian Center for Media, research and Development-PCMRD, Hebron;
• Ms Nidaa Nassar, director of Baladna, Haifa;
• Dr. Mahmoud Soliman, Palestinian researcher at Coventry University and an expert on dynamics of peace and conflict in the region;

After a Round Table, the programme will propose an interactive session where participants will be able to ask questions and share their comments with the speakers.

The post Palestinian Youth: challenges and opportunities appeared first on CCIVS.

About CCIVS

Founded in 1948 The Coordinating Committee for International Voluntary Service (CCIVS) is a non-governmental, non-profit making international organisation (INGO) working for the development of voluntary service worldwide. CCIVS connects and empowers 188 organisations, promoting and advocating for International Voluntary Service and its values locally and globally it acts as a link to establish relations between the members and international institutions such as the EU, different UN agencies, or foundations. The CCIVS network creates campaigns and actions based on the idea that working together voluntarily on a concrete and meaningful task is the most effective way of creating international friendship and understanding, paving the way for social transformation and long-lasting peace.

CCIVS actions focus on:

• Networking and International Representation: CCIVS organises inter-regional projects of IVS organisations, global meetings and participates in institutional forums and high level meetings (UN, INGOS, public and private stakeholders) to defend the priorities of
  the International Voluntary Service Movement.
• Training and Capacity building: Trainings for volunteers, leaders, trainers, and staff ofvIVS organisations to develop the organisational capacities of members.
• Communication and campaigns: CCIVS puts IVS organisations and other institutions into contact and provides information, materials and tools. Promotion of campaigns to raise visibility and strengthen the work of IVS organisations.

JOB TITLE Development Officer

Short description of the position

After 70 years, The Coordinating Committee for International Voluntary Service – CCIVS is undergoing a reorganisation process. Fully supported by the CCIVS Executive Committee and existing Secretariat team, the Development Officer (DO) is responsible for, leading and overseeing the strategic change programs that align with the key mission and purpose of CCIVS. Specifically, they will be responsible for supporting any needs in the setting up of the new office in Estonia, whilst overseeing the general team coordination and focusing on the development of the network itself.

Location of the Position

The CCIVS Development Officer (DO) will be employed in the first stage by our Estonian member organisation EstYES and will work from their office based in Tallinn. Once the new office is fully functional the staff member will be employed directly by CCIVS. 

MAIN RESPONSIBILITIES

APPLICATION PROCEDURE

All those interested in the CCIVS DO position may apply using the following link
Further details of the application procedure can be obtained from CCIVS, UNESCO House, 75015 Paris, France. Tel: + 33 1 45 68 49 36 or email: secretariat@ccivs.org.

Closing date for applications 15 September 2021

Position to start 1 October 2021

CCIVS is an equal opportunities employer

The post Call for CCIVS Development Officer appeared first on CCIVS.

After exploring possibilities and postponing the General Assembly to 2021, we believe that it is necessary to create an online space for CCIVS members, Executive Committee and Secretariat.

The post CCIVS Online Dialogues: Is this the end of IVS, as we know it? appeared first on CCIVS.

EMpowering Youth – Improving Capacity for Euromed Youth Projects is a project coordinated by the CCIVS that aims to improve the management and coordination skills of youth organisations and young trainers for future EuroMed projects, developing also innovative online tools to ensure participation and promote volunteering. The partners of this project are ACC (Morocco), Baladna (Israel); Concordia UK; PCMRD (Palestine), SCI Catalunya, SCI Hellas (Greece), Space SD (Jordan).

The project includes online and residential activities to be implemented within an 11-month timeline:

• an online networking meeting in November 2020 to define the next steps and the role of each partner;
• a series of 4 one-day capacity-building webinars in March 2021 to provide project management skills to 14 young staff members and youth workers;
• a residential Training for Trainers planned in Morocco in May 2021 to equip 16 young trainers with skills to coordinate EuroMed NFE activities;
• an online Conference in June 2021 to disseminate results and encourage synergies;
• a digital platform running in 2021, to provide visibility of the activities and to promote e-learning and intercultural dialogue;
• involvement of the participants of the Training for Trainers in local actions in summer 2021, to put into practice the skills learned.

The post Networking Meeting of the EMpowering Youth project appeared first on CCIVS.

This webinar provided a brief introduction of the International Voluntary Service movement and showcased its non-formal educational approach to engage and empower youth in world heritage preservation and promotion.

The guest speakers for the Webinar included the CCIVS President Ingrid Danckaerts, CCIVS Director Victoria Lovelock, CCIVS Vice President for Europe Tamás Mahner, CCIVS Programme Coordinator Zhuoling You, Non-Formal Education trainer Mauro Carta, and Impact Research Expert Francesco Volpini.

Webinar Playback: ‘International Voluntary Service: engaging youth in heritage preservation’

The World Heritage Volunteers Initiative is organized in the framework of the UNESCO World Heritage Education Programme, led by the UNESCO World Heritage Centre (WHC) in collaboration with the Coordinating Committee for International Voluntary Service (CCIVS), European Heritage Volunteers (as a branch of Open Houses) and Better World. More info on https://whc.unesco.org/en/whvolunteers

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The laboratory started analyzing the decreasing number of volunteers and participants defined what are workcamps and what is a quality workcamp. The activity moved forward by comparing the existing exchange guidelines of the networks and looking for common points to harmonize them and missing points to add. During the week, participants also looked for learning opportunities form the different stakeholders by analysing them. The activity concluded by discussing IVS values and practices, decolonization, funding, fees, research and visibility. The Europe Laboratory also offered a space for the Global Meeting of IVS organisations and CCIVS Strategic Plan for 2021-2027. The representatives of the networks and organisations also discussed about the keywords that define the IVS Movement.

The laboratory was facilitated by Bogdan Imre, with the support of Tamás Mahner. The next Laboratory will take place in Indonesia, hosted by GREAT Indonesia, form the 21^st to the 28^th of April.

The post Frame(v)Work: Europe Laboratory appeared first on CCIVS.

Let´s go back in time. At the beginning of this year, I was thinking about the other opportunity to experience volunteering somewhere abroad. I was encouraged by my previous short-term European voluntary service (known as “EVS”) experience in Bulgaria and my work for Transparency International, the anti-corruption organisation, where various people started to offer their skills and time for free to help us. This was beyond our expectations. I was astonished by this and I felt a need to do the same. This time I received the email from European Solidarity Corps (previously “EVS”) about the job opportunity in Paris for CCIVS. When I checked the job offer and the website of CCIVS I hardly could believe that I got the chance to be part of the organisation which coordinates different volunteering-based projects all over the world. I had a strong desire to see what it´s behind the volunteering on the multinational level, how the partnerships between almost two hundreds of different members work.

I applied for a job, passed through the Skype interview and finally, the last interview took place directly in Paris. I really appreciated the clearness of the circumstances of the job. Half of the last interview was performed as job shadowing, which made me aware of my potential job activities. I could observe the daily work of the team and asked them questions about it. The team tried to make me sure about the following facts. It will be mainly about office work, which I was used to. To get an apartment can be “a little bit” challenging, which I first did not take as big concerns (now I can imagine some slight “poor-you” smiling of Parisians reading this).

CCIVS team welcomed me very well, I had the opportunity to work with super cool colleagues from different countries, practice my English and discuss the different habits and traditions (such as “horrifying” findings in the eyes of my Italian colleague that in Slovakia it´s not the rule to cook a dinner or for me funny Christmas tradition of Spanish kids to feed the piece of wood J). Thanks to the European Solidarity Corps and our director Vicky the relocation process was much easier. The ESC financially supported my move. Moreover, I received the language support. Vicky gave me a hand with the first weeks when she offered me to stay at her place during searching for my own apartment. And finally, if someone told me a few years ago that once I would live in lovely Paris, I would think that it was a joke.

My official position was as an administrative assistant. Our team of Secretariat office is responsible for all logistic behind every project event, training, meeting or campaign. Of course, many activities are not feasible without the cooperation of our partners. However, we are the body who is directly responsible for the budget of received grants. We allocate the financial support in accordance with project goals and we are accountable for it to donors. I was responsible for communication with the participants of the project activities and I would deal with their reimbursement request for their main travel costs. Then I was in charge of annual membership fees. In a simple way, my main working tools were emails, inscription excels, tickets, receipts, invoices, and the new internal system. In the very first meeting, I was fully engaged to the mysterious world of the shortcuts of project such as RP, KA2, STEP or CJ (my first thought was that it was the name of person since I had association with the name of the character “J.T.” from the famous American sitcom of my childhood, called Step by Step). It sounds boring or as nothing to do with my mentioned excitement about working with multinational volunteering?

Maybe at first glance, you would say yes. Actually, after some time you get to understand what behind these excels, timesheets, etc. is. It is that moment when the participant of the event sends you the travel documents and by the same email, they thank you for organizing the training where they gained useful skills, exchanged the experience in the field with others, etc. One of my last tasks was to process the support for Climate Justice Campaign and Raising Peace Campaign. In other words, I collected the invoices, reports, photos and check their eligibility in order to reimburse some related expenses. Just some kind of paperwork again. However, when you look at photos and read the narrative reports of activities you get a new perspective of your paperwork. I remember the photos from Sri Lanka, where one of our members organized a volunteering workcamp for cleaning the local area completely polluted by all kinds of rubbish. Maybe you heard that the plastic island in the ocean is now six times bigger than all France. There were other workcamps which supported the marginalized communities or disabled people.

Now I can confirm and answer the question again that it was not just only paperwork. The international voluntary service is the change.  Personally, the experience in CCIVS influenced my decision to professionally continue in the field of volunteering. In my new work, I will have the opportunity to build a partnership in order to deploy the volunteers to places, where the need for change is identified.

Nikola Gurgoľová

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During the four working days, the representatives of the different networks and organisations discussed about their realities concerning the volunteer exchange, and designed the structure of the 4 regional laboratories that will take place in 2020 to improve the IVS volunteers exchange. In the introductory part of the meeting, participant analysed the development of the volunteer exchange occurred in the last 20 years and discussed about related issues (such as volunteers’ motivation to join projects, needs and resources of the networks). From this background, the participants identified topics to discuss during the laboratories, created a first structure of the new exchange guidelines and proposed a common “strapline” to enhance IVS visibility.

The meeting was facilitated by Mauro Carta, Coordinator of the Global Human Rights Week in 2018 and 2019, and Bogdan Imre, with the support of Tamas Mahner from Egyesek.

Background

Since the creation of the International Voluntary Service movement, workcamps have been the most relevant instrument to spread the values of peace, international understanding and solidarity. Currently, IVS movement networks are facing a decreasing number of volunteers sent and received in workcamps. This project intends to find answers to this challenge.

The project “Frame[v]work”, funded by Erasmus+, aims to improve the quality of volunteer exchange within the IVS movement, in order to reinforce the concepts of international voluntarism, active participation and international solidarity. The name refers to the concepts of framework, network and voluntarism: “Frame[v]work” intends to be a capacity-building project to develop a functional, shared framework for international voluntary work and volunteers exchange in the IVS movement.

How does the project continue

After the kick-off meeting, the outcoming results will be discussed in four regional laboratories that will take place during 2020. The first laboratory will take place in Europe and will be followed by meetings in Asia, Africa and America. At the end of the year, and evaluation meeting will gather the final results to create the project outputs.  The project will be closed at the beginning of 2021 with a final training course where the new exchange guidelines, procedures and promotional tools will be presented.

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Q: How did you discover the IVS movement?

A: I read an advertisment at the board of our catholic girls’ school at the age of 18. I liked the idea of physical activity in international groups, and then took part in my first workcamp in 1972 near London, redecorating a community centre.

Q:How did you end up being the CCIVS director during the 80s? How were you chosen?

A: After having taken part in many workcamps, in the executive committee of the German branch of SCI, for some time as vice president, the international structure of SCI proposed me as a candidate for the post of the CCIVS director in Paris. At that time CCIVS staff was sent my member organisations for 2 – 3 years.

Q:Which was the relationship established between UNESCO and CCIVS during your mandate as a director?

A:The relations were very good, especially with the UNESCO Youth Division, which was very supportive, also financially. CCIVS took part in the Executive Committee meetings of UNESCO as observer and other meetings, consulting on UNESCO issues.

Q: During the 80s, two important themes were peace and disarmament. The number of East-West encounters across the “iron curtain” increased. How was the relation and communication between West countries organizations and East countries organizations?

A: The communist youth organizations of the Eastern world were active members of CCIVS and represented in the CCIVS executive committee. This was very unique at that time. West European CCIVS member organisations exchanged volunteers and organised meetings for youth.

Q: Some CCIVS members were actively involved in political movements, campaigning for nuclear disarmament, for human rights, and against apartheid. How did you get involved? What did CCIVS?

A: Myself I came from the German branch of SCI which at that time was very active in the above-mentioned subjects organizing workcamp concerning the themes, raising political awareness, do fundraising, campainging. CCIVS took up these themes as well, proposed by member organizations. It worked on the level of publications, organization of conferences and seminars for member organisations.

Q:During your visit, you talked about your participation in a demonstration with SCI Germany, taking care of the security. Tell us about your experience.

A: In Bonn we had two big demonstrations for peace and disarmament in the early 1980s with 300.000 and then 500.000 participants. SCI German branch was member of the organising Peace committee and we all were involved with the organization of the demonstrations and the order service.

Q: We have been talking about West-East relations but, during the 80s, we can also start to talk about relationships with the South. Did CCIVS support/organize campaigns against apartheid? Which was their representation in the IVS movement?

A: Organisations of the South were also members of CCIVS. As their financial means were little CCIVS took care that they were represented in conferences and meetings, giving them a voice to express. At that time there was no member organisation from South Africa, however, the fight against apartheid was always an issue.

21.08.2019

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