Membership of CCIVS brings you into our worldwide network which is itself linked to other regional and international structures including those of the United Nations system.
This will enable you to:
Be part of an international movement, with the possibility to meet international partners from all around the world,
Allow for greater communication and connection with organisations from around the world,
Support the recognition of your organisation and provide you with a means to communicate and develop partnerships with IVS organisation around the world;
Develop new bilateral or multilateral exchanges,
Provide a link to the UN system though the CCIVS status with UNESCO, ECOSOC and FAO,
Join funded capacity building training opportunities and global campaigns and programs,
Gain visibility by participating in CCIVS’ internationally recognised actions and campaigns,
Use the results of the high-quality impact measurement process CCIVS is carrying out with various universities and participate in new studies,
Recognition by becoming part of the CCIVS membership book which is published on diverse platforms and promoted through our website,
Be kept up to date on CCIVS activities and events through our mailing list,
Have the possibility to join in the development of the global network, on its Executive Board and in its Plan of Action and to develop common programmes and activities.
If you wish to become a member, you can apply online. After completing your application, you have to send all required documents to CCIVS secretariat via e-mail (secretariat@ccivs.org). Please note that all the documents must be in English. Applications are considered by the CCIVS’ Executive Committee (EC). The acceptance by the EC is subject to ratification by the General Assembly of CCIVS, currently taking place once every two years. The Secretariat circulates the complete application among the EC members, which takes a final decision by its next physical meeting at the latest. In case your application cannot be considered favourably, the inscription fee paid by you in advance shall be reimbursed. The administration fee is not refundable.
CCIVS was created with the support of UNESCO in order to create a natural home, a community, where diverse networks active in IVS could meet, share, develop and work together for the empowerment of the global movement. Today the role of CCIVS has expanded to also include individual organisations, it continues to be the natural home of IVS networks and organisations alike, its place is still highly relevant today as we move forward in face of the climate crisis and increasingly worrying global instability. Our grassroots and political engagement are vital to counter this.
CCIVS remains the only space where diverse IVS organisations and networks from all over the world can come together, share common concerns, work together to address these, and develop common priorities (CCIVS70Statement).
CCIVS was created in order to be a coordinating body bringing together organisations working in the field of International Voluntary Service, this role is still very relevant today. Membership will be an important step in uniting and bringing a greater visibility to the overall IVS movement; it allows organisations and diverse networks to work in synergy and to benefit mutually from the different resources each entity can bring.
Our values. Together we are stronger. In terms of value proposition, we, IVS organisations hold common values. We all seek to create peace, intercultural understanding and social justice through workcamps and mid and long term volunteering by joining forces we move closer to our vision.
Global scope. CCIVS has a real global scope where we put our values into action in all continents. If you are interested to bring your projects to a global level, CCIVS is the place for you! Many of our members have grown their programmes from the intercontinental connections they gained by actively participating in CCIVS projects.
CCIVS is a coordinating body for IVS networks and organisations. It brings together networks and organisations which would not normally work together and creates a common space to work together for the vision and objectives of the IVS movement
Organisational development. CCIVS is spending cc. 2/3 of its resources for projects where members can benefit in various ways. We have just finished a KA2 Capacity Building project (and have started the new one STEP to the Future), where experts supported member organisations in 4 continents to develop their organisations by delivering high quality training for them and then going for field visits and working with member organisations to see where and how to change in order to grow. STEP to the Future expands on this and seeks to expand training competences and organisational management around the world. Another good example is the direct support CCIVS can provide through its projects. If you are interested in hosting international projects, trainings, meetings there is a lot of possibility to do so in these projects.
Impact measurement. CCIVS is developing an impact measurement procedure together with the University of Illinois in the USA. It has been developed to academic level. Impact measurement is one of the most essential parts of our work if we want to improve visibility, recognition and fundraising and through this directly increase the number of volunteers participating in workcamps.
As CCIVS is located in Paris in UNESCO House, the more members joining, the stronger voice and position we have to advocate in UN systems at the European Commission, Council of Europe and at other stakeholders. This is one of the primary priority for CCIVS to increase visibility and create common programmes with these stakeholders. Members when they visit the CCIVS office, can also visit together with the Secretariat, the representatives of their Member states in order to highlight their work or to bring up specific issues.
World Heritage. CCIVS is the coordinator of the UNESCO WHV programme. If you have volunteers who are interested to go to heritage related project this might be of your interest. There are further plans in place to develop UN cooperation projects.
IVS for Climate Justice and Raising Peace Campaigns. CCIVS is coordinating these two global campaigns, if you have environmental or peace related projects CCIVS will give them an extra visibility and promotion, you can reach out directly volunteers who are specifically interested in these topics.
Reliable partnerships. Within CCIVS you do not only have reliable partners from around the whole world. In CCIVS meeting there is always chance to meet face to face with all these partners and discuss new projects or evaluate previous ones.
Dynamic growth. We are committed to understanding the member’s needs and based on members proposals and feedback from the GA create programmes and projects which support the needs of the members.
This is the case with many of our members. It is important to have different types of members, local/grassroot organisations, national-regional-international networks because all stakeholders have their own unique point of view, knowledge and resource to share which is essential to make decisions which will support the interest of the IVS movement as a whole and also its members.
You can choose your degree of involvement in the network. Of course, it is encouraged to participate actively in the network by participating in the General Assembly (full members have the right to vote) and to engage in the different activities proposed, but there are no specific requirements concerning this. Members however, must pay the membership fees (according to the constitution) and should provide activity reports and statistics each year to the Secretariat following a format provided by us.
If you have any further questions or doubts, please do not hesitate to contact us!
