With their return home, YCI volunteers bring a unique global experience and an informed perspective that can have a significant impact on Canadian society. The Volunteer Action Network (VAN) allows returned alumni and other youth to address how our own actions affect both our global and local communities.

With support from the Volunteer Advisory Council (VAC), action teams generate ideas, conduct research, raise awareness and engage the general public on global issues. This substantive leadership opportunity provides volunteers with access to financial and material resources and significant networking opportunities, as well as the ability to move from opinion to informed action through the development of local projects.

The CIDA-funded Global Youth Leadership (GYL) program, under which the VAN was funded, ended on March 31, 2010. YCI has submitted a CIDA proposal for a new program, Global Youth Partnerships, which will be an opportunity to continue evolving the VAN as a means of engaging youth in development issues within a domestic context. In the coming months, YCI will undertake a participatory design process to grow and improve the existing VAN/VAC, tailoring it to the new CIDA program. We aim to introduce the updated program by August 2010.