SJ Vietnam is a member of CCIVS since 2010. CCIVS is an International Non Governmental Organisation (INGO) engaged in the field of International Voluntary Service (IVS). CCIVS’s main focus is the quest to achieve “change in the minds of men” by bringing together people of different backgrounds.
It supports and develops projects based on the idea that working together on a concrete task is the most effective way of creating international friendship and understanding. The projects serve as a catalyst for dialogue as they provide an opportunity to work together according to each person’s ability and to practice living together. In such situations national and international volunteers experience a new reality which can challenge their habits and convictions as well as those of the local community.
CCIVS is inter-disciplinary: its members are self-regulating and involved in a wide variety of types of activity. With its secretariat based at UNESCO headquarters in Paris, CCIVS has always worked closely with the UN organisation and complements UNESCO intellectual activity and goals in the fields of Education, Culture, Sciences and Communication through a hands-on, non-formal education approach transforming societies at the grassroots level.
The objectives of CCIVS are:
–> The promotion and development of the voluntary service movement on the national, regional and international levels in the contemporary world :
- Towards peace, international understanding, friendship and co-operation among the people of the world, particularly youth;
- Towards the development and the furthering of efforts in sustainable development and protection of the environment, the recognition of all cultures and their diversity, and the importance of the world’s cultural heritage;
- For the benefit of people affected by all forms of social, cultural, political and economic exploitation, unemployment and bad working conditions, and the promotion of awareness and action against these forms of degradation.
- For the benefit of a fruitful co-ordination of the activities of the CCIVS members and for the benefit of their individual work and their co-operation regarding the common interests on a national regional, and international level.
–> The propagation and development of the aims of voluntary service and its educational impact both on the volunteers and the community in which they work, mutual understanding, respect, personal responsibility and commitment.
–> The promotion and development of relations and co-operation with other voluntary service organisations, with Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs), with youth and student organisations and movements on a broad political, religious and social spectrum, which are dedicated and committed to contributing to the objectives of the voluntary service movement.
–> The support of the United Nations Principles : co-operation and contribution to the implementation of the programmes and the initiatives of the United Nations and its bodies on the question of common interest, especially to develop co-operation on a broader scale with UNESCO, striving for the realisation of common initiatives and the contribution to each others programmes.