For the 25th anniversary of International Development Week (IDW), the national theme of “We Are Making a Difference” was taken to heart with a series of events taking place throughout the province focusing on one of the biggest global issues in the last year, the Ebola Crisis.
Entitled “Re-Thinking the Ebola Crisis”, IDW 2015 invited British Columbians to shift their perspectives, identify challenges, and ask critical questions on how we can further engage with the world as global citizens.
The BCCIC team travelled 3212 kilometres and spent 10 days connecting with 4 communities. In each community, BCCIC partnered with the existing regional networks and community groups. The Prince George events were put on in collaboration with the Global Neighbourhood Network, the Castlegar events with the West Kootenay Global Awareness Network, and the Kamloops events with the Kamloops Global Awareness Network. BCCIC does not have a network in Kelowna, but was able to partner with local group, Global Citizen Kelowna.
Each event included a featured speaker brought in by BCCIC, a local speaker when possible, and a special artistic presentation.
BCCIC collaborated with Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF) and Samaritan’s Purse Canada to source speakers for the public events held around the province.