Partner universities

January , Prague,
15th IYLC
For 91 selected university students from 35 different countries worldwide the year 2008 started with the 15th International Youth Leadership Conference. The event, held in Prague, Czech Republic, has inspired the participants to start this year with higher aspirations and motivated them to work hard to achieve their academic and professional goals.

The 15th IYLC was one of the most successful conferences that adopted the best practices of the previous endeavors, under the heedful guidance of Katarina Olsova, the Conference Director.

The 15th IYLC conference agenda has reached a unique balance between the cultural and academic activities, leaving the participants not only with new knowledge and experience but also with many good friends from around the globe. It helped many of them to discover their hidden potentials, improve leadership skills and develop new useful skills.

On behalf of all the 15th IYLC participants, Civic Concepts International would like to thank all the speakers, diplomats, partners and sponsoring institutions for making the 15th IYLC a reality that has touched the lives of almost 100 people from across the world.

July 2007 , Prague,
14th IYLC
Civic Concepts International is proud to announce that the 14th International Youth Leadership Conference held in Prague, Czech Republic, on July 22nd – 27th, 2007 was a huge success.

This summer we have welcomed 96 participants from 36 countries, including: Armenia, Australia, Canada, China, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Korea, Malaysia, Mauritius, New Zealand, Nigeria, Pakistan, Palestine, Peru, Puerto Rico, Qatar, Russian Federation, Serbia, Singapore, Slovak Republic, South Africa, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Uganda, United Kingdom, United States, Vietnam.

The diversity of the student participants contributed to an even representation of all the continents with their unique cultures, traditions and viewpoints. Such a variety of standpoints created a ground for a challenging, yet educational, discussion on the issues of global concern and importance. The multiplicity of the students was a valuable asset that ensured an unprejudiced and balanced debate on all the issues raised in the framework of the conference.

The key activities of the 14th IYLC touched the most pressing issues that trouble the global community today:
- The UN Security Council Crisis Meeting simulation dealt with the problem of Nuclear Proliferation, namely with a long-dated controversy between Iran and the United Nations;
- In the International Criminal Court simulation, the participants tried Thomas Lubanga Dyilo of Democratic Republic of Congo against war crime charges;
- The European Parliament simulation was deeply involved with the environmental issues, concentrating on the EU Directive on establishing a scheme for greenhouse gas emission allowance trading.

As the issue was mentioned on numerous occasions in the students' application essays, the 14th IYLC placed a strong emphasis, among others, on issues relating to the environment. Along with the European Parliament simulation, which was fully devoted to this issue, the conference participants attended a panel discussion on climate change with such prominent speakers as Michal Broža, Officer-in-Charge, UN Information Centre Prague, Katerina Konecná & Zuzana Wicherová, Ministry of Environment of the Czech Republic, Climate Change Department, Jirí Jerábek, Centre for Transport and Energy, Climate Protection program.

The conference participants were also challenged with an inspirational presentation by Šimon Pánek, the Executive Director of the People in Need Foundation, an organization that has implemented relief and development projects in crisis regions around the globe and has supported human rights and democracy in countries repressed by totalitarian regimes over its twelve-year history.

Conference site visits provided a unique opportunity for students to visit both chambers of the Parliament of the Czech Republic and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, meet the Ambassadors of Serbia, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Cyprus to the Czech Republic, and other high-ranking officials of the Canadian, German and Japanese embassies.

The reception held at the PricewaterhouseCoopers Business Community Centre received a number respected guests, including the representatives of the embassies of Germany, Russian Federation, United States, Japan, and Pakistan.

The conference has also exposed the participant to the issue of media and free press around the world through a visit to the Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty headquarters in Prague. Media experts, including Jeffrey Gedmin, the Director of RFE/RL, addressed a number of issues pertaining to the freedom of expression, free press, media development with a particular emphasis on Iran, Iraq and Afghanistan.

On behalf of all the 14th IYLC participants, Civic Concepts International would like to thank all the speakers, diplomats, partners and sponsors for making the 14th IYLC a reality that has touched the lives of almost 100 people from across the world.

February 2007, Prague,
1st IYLA
Civic Concepts International has recently concluded the first ever International Youth Leadership Africa conference in Cape Town, South Africa. The 1st IYLA delegates included representatives of 12 countries of Africa, Europe, the United States, Australia, and the Caribbean. We were proud to welcome these 21 conference founders to Cape Town to focus on issues of particular concern of the African continent, as well as to empower them with the knowledge that they can affect change in Africa.

Over the course of the week, students experienced some of the history and socio-political context of South Africa, by visiting the Robben Island political prison and the Langa Township. Additionally, students participated in several different simulations, including a NEPAD (New Partnership for Africaa?™s Development) Session, an African Commission for Human and Peoplesa?™ Rights simulation, and the Pan-African Model Parliament; as well as panel discussions on the issues of HIV/AIDS and corruption in government.

A major highlight for students and staff of the IYLA was a presentation by our keynote speaker, Mr. Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of the opposition party Movement for Democratic Change in Zimbabwe.

The 1st IYLA delegates had many positive comments about the conference, such as:

a??The IYLA has allowed me to make lifelong friends, whom I now consider partners as we work together in making the continent of Africa and more so the world a better place to live. I too will join with the writer that a??The journey of a thousand miles begin with a single stepa?™.a??

a??I would like to thank you for a life time experience that I received from International Youth Leadership Conference Africa. I was moved by everything that happened there, I come out a different person, full of confident, knowledge and attitudes, the conference could not only chance me but my community too, it was amazing and has open a new page in my life. I hope every youth should not miss the ever coming ones since its a pathway that no one will ever regret passing through.a??

a??My name is Etonde Martin. I am concerned about the future of Africa, the poverty levels and very unfair conditions that some of our peoples live under. This passion for this continent pushed me to attend the first ever international youth leadership conference in Africa. This conference taught me a lot. I just wish I could spend the rest of my life doing this. IYLA conference was one of the best weeks of my life and I wish I could do it all over again. We are all so young but our ideas are so brilliant. Africa needs only a few determined minds like these and in only a few years AFRICA will be THAT place everyone wants to visit and settle in for the rest of their lives. Long live IYLA.a??

CCI is eagerly anticipating the next IYLA in 2008, and to growing this conference into an even greater forum for both African and international youth.

January 2007, Prague,
12th IYLC
The 12th International Youth Leadership Conference was a great success and we are proud that we have been able to welcome 107 top university students from 35 different countries here in Prague! It was a truly international gathering of future leaders where many pressing global issues, such as Nuclear Proliferation Crisis in Iran, Breach of Human Rights in Congo, status of refugees in the world etc have been discussed. The participants were taken care of by our young international team of facilitators and CCI stuff. For more information on the 12th IYLC team view Project Team.

Apart from visiting the Czech Senate, speaking to representatives of the Czech MFA and UNHCR, the participants visited Radio Free Europe, where they discussed the role of media in todaya?™s global affairs with the media specialists from RFE. They also visited Embassies of Canada, India, Iran, Ireland, Kazakhstan, Philippines and Turkey where they had an opportunity to talk to respective Ambassadors. One of the highlights of the week was a presentation by Mr. A imon PA?nek, the Executive Director of People in Need Foundation.

When asked about the IYLC conference, participants of 12th IYLC said:

a??IYLC was greatly an overwhelming experience, very different to other conferences and educational programs I took part in. I have never been in one room with almost 40 nationalities at the same time. The most important thing I learned was that there are people from countries I had barely heard of, but share many feelings and problems - people who I would have been unlikely to ever meet in my (foreseen) future interactions and travels. This was immensely rewarding for me and I have learnt a lot from the personal communication with the participants.a??

a??The most rewarding part of IYLC for me was to step out of the classroom and away from books and actually experience what I have read and studied for the past two years. I learnt a lot from the healthy discussions and debates. It surely equipped me with great speaking skills and confidence.a??

a†’ We at Civic Concepts International are now preparing for the upcoming 14th International Youth Leadership Conference, which is to be held in July 22-27th, 2007 in Prague. We have already received applications from more than 28 countries and we are looking forward to hosting the summer session.

December 2006, Prague,
A Truly International Conference
The International Youth Leadership Conference is not international just by its name, it truly is an international forum for young future leaders. The 12th IYLC is expecting about 120 participants from around the world and we have already received applications from 59 different countries:
Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Botswana, Bulgaria, Cameroon, Canada, China, Colombia, Cyprus, Dominican Republic, East Timor, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Haiti, Hong Kong, Iceland, India, Iran, Ireland, Italy, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kosovo, Kyrgyzstan, Macedonia, Malaysia, Morocco, Namibia, Nepal, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Pakistan, Palestine, Philippines, Poland, Romania, Russian Federation, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Slovakia, South Africa, South Korea, Switzerland, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Turkmenistan, Uganda, UK, USA, Uzbekistan, Zimbabwe.

September 2006, Ireland,
The University College Cork is the newest IYLN Partner University! For the very first time, we will be welcoming students from UCC at the 12th International Youth Leadership Conference. UCC College of Arts, Celtic Studies and Social Sciences is sponsoring two top selected students, and they will be joining 110 other university students from all around the world at the 12th IYLC in January 2007 in Prague, the Czech Republic.

August, 2006, Central Asia
Katarina Olsova, Conference Director for the 12th International Youth Leadership Conference, had the opportunity to visit some of the IYLN Asian Partner Universities while traveling across Central Asia. OlA?ovA? met with representatives of the two top educational institutions in the region, American University in Central Asia in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan & the Kazakhstan Institute for Management, Economics, and Strategic Research (KIMEP) in Almaty, Kazakhstan. American University in Central Asia has been a Partner University for more than two years now and we are happy that we are able to welcome a delegation of top AUCA students at every IYLC conference. KIMEP is a new partner and Civic Concepts International is proud that we will be welcoming a delegation of Kazakh students from KIMEP at the upcoming 12th IYLC