Vaccine inequity, global migration, and social and ecological justice issues are tackled in an online Youth for Others (Y4O) advocacy symposium hosted by the Canadian Jesuits International (CJI) on 23 to 24 October 2021 with the theme “Solidarity in a COVID-19 world.”
This year’s Y4O symposium focuses on four sub-themes: the pandemic and its impact on forcible displacement and migration, resource extraction and human rights, ecological justice and integral ecology, and inequality and COVID-19.
Speakers include youth leaders, CJI’s partners from the Global South, Jesuits, and leaders of Indigenous communities. The event also provides participants an opportunity to learn, network, and build relationships with one another. In addition, the attendees can learn about the work of CJI and its partners through online booths, videos, and interactive displays.
Contributing to the ecological discussions are Ismael Moreno SJ on international mining as a Canadian problem, Jacques Nzumbu SJ on green technology and that it isn’t what it’s made out to be, John McCarthy SJ and Indigenous rights activist and Innu Elder Elizabeth Penashue on speaking for the land and their boreal forest dream, Ecojesuit network member Brex Arevalo on participatory climate action and integral ecology, and Uitota community leader Anitalia Pijachi and Alex Neufeldt on ecological justice.
The Y4O Advocacy Symposium is the school outreach program of CJI for secondary and post-secondary students and aims to inform them about their rich heritage of social justice and also the responsibility it carries, to engage them in justice issues, and to establish committed partnerships with people in Africa, Asia, and Latin America.
This year’s event is the second hosted by CJI with the first one held in February 2020, and titled JUST Change, an advocacy symposium where students learned about the deep connections between faith, justice, and advocacy.
For more information on the symposium and to register, please go to Canadian Jesuits International.
