CALGARY – The Honourable Marie-Claude Bibeau, Minister of International Development and La Francophonie, marked the beginning of International Development Week by announcing that a Bow Valley College collaboration with British Columbia’s College of the Rockies and Selkirk College will be receiving up to $1.5 million over three years from Global Affairs Canada, as one of the successful International Youth Internship Program (IYIP) project proposals of 2017.

Under the IYIP, Bow Valley College is one of 12 organizations, and one of only two educational institutions, that will receive federal funding to enable Canadian youth to participate in international internships, many of which include a focus on women and girls in the following developing countries: Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Ethiopia, Guatemala, Jamaica, Kenya, Peru, Rwanda and Tanzania.

Bow Valley College is leading the partnership to send 84 interns to work with 13 local partners in these nine different countries, to help support economic growth, democracy and the education of children and youth by working closely with local organizations.

The IYIP is open to Canadian post-secondary graduates between the ages of 19 and 30.

“Participating in a mobility program like IYIP continues Bow Valley College’s long history of internationalization efforts, along with supporting learners in a global economy,” said Director, International Education, Mark Butler.

The theme for International Development Week 2018, Partners for a Better World, encourages all Canadians to be partners in building a more peaceful, inclusive and prosperous world.

"Bow Valley College is proud to lead a broad partnership to strengthen international connections and provide opportunities for Canadian youth to explore global employability and enhance their understanding of international development,” says Laura Jo Gunter, President and CEO of Bow Valley College.

“I thank the Government of Canada for recognizing the need and enabling Canadian youth to access international internships.”

Internship positions will be announced online within the next month. 

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Editor’s Notes:
For a list of the internship positions please visit here. 

Alberta Council for Global Cooperation collaboration
Through its membership with the Alberta Council for Global Cooperation, the College has established working relationships with Nafasi Opportunity Society (Tanzania) and Light Up the World (Peru). The College will also be working with Rift Valley Technical Training Institute (Kenya), a member of UNEVOC and Morogoro Vocational Teachers Training College through its Improving Skills Training for Employment Program international development project (Tanzania). The College is also collaborating with the University of West Indies Open Campus Caribbean Child Development Centres (Jamaica) on a research project about early childhood education.

Local Partners the consortium will work with in nine countries:            
University of the West Indies Open Campus Caribbean Child Development Centres  
Nafasi Opportunity Society
Light Up The World
Morogoro Vocational Teachers Training College
Rift Valley Technical Training Institute
Dedan Kmathi University of Technology
Catering and Tourism Training Institute              
Mwanza Regional Vocational Training & Service Centre
Dominica State College
Women’s Resource and Outreach Centre
Cooperative of Nueveo Horizonte
Workforce Development Authority-Ecole D’Arts De Nyundo
Kenya Education for Employment

For more information, please contact:    

Leigh MacKenzie
Senior Communication Specialist
Bow Valley College
Office: 587-393-2628
Mobile: 403-888-6946
lmackenzie@bowvalleycollege.ca

About Bow Valley College
Bow Valley College - Calgary and region's only Comprehensive Community College - with more than 15,000 full- and part-time students, is a leader in business and health career training, community studies, creative technologies, adult upgrading, and English Language Learning.