ICO’s Youth Council is an opportunity for young people to share their experiences, develop their ideas and contribute to an array of issues in conflict affected areas.

Young people have the opportunity to meet, collaborate with one another and submit their work on topics relating to ICO’s activities globally.

More importantly, young people are enabled to offer ideas to specific problems and influence the strategic direction of projects with marginalised communities - directly supporting ICO’s work in peace-building, conflict transformation, and minority rights protection.

Isabelle Matthews

I have been able to learn more about the work of ICO and also of the Forum for Cities in Transition initiative. Working on two of the cities, Kirkurk and London-Derry, really made me feel like I was contributing to ICO’s mission of amplifying locally born initiatives that improve communities’ responses to conflict, positively impacting community resilience.

Sian Aitken

I have really enjoyed working with the ICO this past year and am appreciative for the trust and responsibility I was given to work on projects that have been implemented across the world. There are very few experiences for young adults to be involved with such empowering and useful work and I have massively enjoyed getting involved with such an organisation.

Sara Pereda

Working at the ICO has been an incredible opportunity, both for personal and professional development. It is refreshing to see a youth council that is eager to engage young women and trust in their creative abilities. I look forward to continuing with ICO in the future.

ICO’s youth council is an opportunity for young people to share their experiences, develop their ideas and contribute to an array of issues in conflict affected areas. Young people will have the opportunity to meet, collaborate with one another and submit their work on topics relating to ICO’s activities globally. More importantly, young people will be able to offer ideas to specific problems and influence the strategic direction of projects being delivered that seek to support marginalised communities.