9.6 Intercontinental youth work and development cooperation
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Intercontinental youth work cooperation
Foundation International Volunteer Projects (SIW)
SIW has been receiving foreign volunteers on various projects in the Netherlands for over sixty-five years and sends Dutch volunteers to projects all over the world. It is SIW's mission to encourage people to broaden their horizons. They do this by bringing volunteers into contact with other cultures. In this way, SIW wants to increase intercultural understanding and contribute to personal development of volunteers and encourage them to work selflessly for a better society. This can be done through their Dutch projects or abroad through the projects organized by their partner network. SIW executes more than 2000 projects in 70 countries worldwide. The foundation does not receive any structural funding and works mostly with volunteers and donations.
Development cooperation activities
Youth advisory committee to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
A governmental news message (1 June 2023) announced a multi-year follow up to the successful 20-month pilot with a youth advisory committee. In many countries where the Netherlands is involved in development cooperation, the average age is between 15 and 25 years. By working together with young people and listening to their experiences, a better understanding of what is really going on in those countries can be reached. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is therefore working with a youth advisory committee. To give young people a voice in its policy processes, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in collaboration with the National Youth Council (NJR), has set up the Youth Advisory Committee.