Education for Citizenship and International Solidarity

ECIS embodies values that are essential for the resilience of our societies: solidarity and citizenship. They promote cohesion among people from different countries and are a prerequisite for making the transition towards a fairer and more sustainable world. 

ECIS stakeholders carry out many awareness-raising activities on the environment, inequalities and human rights. ECIS addresses schools and teachers, students, rural dwellers, adults from all walks of life, organizations and institutions. These activities improve understanding between generations and cultures and promote civic engagement for sustainable development. To disseminate ECIS values, CSOs develop innovative tools for education stakeholders and citizen mobilization. 

Associations, collectives and universities involved in international cooperation mobilize citizens for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and strengthen solidarity between territories. They promote meetings and exchanges between territories, especially between young people, with the aim of increasing their ability take action and fight against inequalities. 

ECIS also aims to raise awareness of the potential damage done by certain environmental, production and consumption patterns. When they are well informed of these issues - and the alternatives - they can change their consumption patterns and buy from channels that operate with more solidarity and respect for human rights and the environment.

These activities also defend the rights of women workers and human rights in production chains, value the work of people who respect these values and promote local consumption. 

While providing the public with information about their energy consumption, the use of scarce resources, waste production and management, ECIS also offers alternative models of equitable and solidarity-based tourism and solidarity-based finance to address the current climate and social challenges.

Meetings and exchanges around the world laud the merits of active citizenship, deconstruct prejudices and offer individual or collective ways to get involved.

Skills-based volunteering or jobs at FONJEP (Youth and Popular Education Cooperation Fund), which are supported by AFD, also increase the capacity for CSO action in the field of ECIS.

Civil Society Organizations have initiated key annual events to promote the values of Education for Citizenship and International Solidarity. AFD supports them in these citizen mobilization missions targeting the general public.

These convivial events, gathering voluntary, sociocultural, economic and school stakeholders, are organized to mobilize the commitment of citizens of all ages for a fairer, more inclusive and more responsible world. Gathered for a week-end of concerts at the Solidays Festival, supported by AFD, participants also contribute to the fight against AIDS and have the opportunity to discuss international solidarity issues.

We also support thematic festivals to raise awareness of global food issues (Alimenterre Festival) and fight against discrimination (Migrant’Scène Festival).