This project is part of CIDA’s International Aboriginal Youth Internships (IAYI) initiative. The internships focus on increasing the awareness, engagement, and participation of Aboriginal youth in international development, while providing them with opportunities to expand their employment skills. CIDA provides up to $15,000 per internship to Canadian organizations that manage the internships and recruit interns. The IAYI initiative is part of CIDA’s Global Citizens Program that seeks to raise awareness, increase knowledge and provide opportunities for youth to participate in international development.
Results achieved as of the end of the project include: Since August 2011, five interns have shown an increase of 80% in their capacity to contribute to the development results of local hosts’ projects through activities such as : developing case studies for local partners, creating blogs and facilitating workshops on how to blog, conducting monitoring field visits, developing policies and procedures, assisting with grant and proposal writing, organizing events, developing press releases, creating research databases and creating documentaries and videos. The interns have learned to work with small NGOs and have increased their knowledge of HIV/AIDS issues, including those related to stigma, discrimination and HIV prevention, and care and support services. Interns improved their employability by strengthening their ability to work both in a team setting and independently, and to work with other cultures. By working with Canadian and overseas non-profit organizations that focus on health and development issues they acquired knowledge and skills related to project and financial management, community engagement activities and project implementation. Interns also gained valuable skills in the areas of budgeting, social media, web design, writing, research and documentation, interviewing, facilitation, public speaking, communication and computer and video production. Interns contributed to public engagement in development through videos posted to You Tube, and presentations and newspaper articles that raised awareness about international development and HIV/AIDS issues. Interns in Jamaica worked on projects that focused on women’s issues, for example, facilitating a workshop for women on how to blog and providing research assistance to a women’s advocacy group.
