Atlantic Council for International Cooperation

09/01/2026

We wrote a book!

Over the last few months, we’ve been putting the finishing touches on I Am From: A PhotoVoice Project.

The book brings together submissions from the past five years of ACIC’s PhotoVoices program, featuring young people from Atlantic Canada, Ghana, Nigeria, Malawi, The Gambia, Cameroon, Guyana and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Through photography and storytelling, participants explore themes including gender equity, environmental sustainability, social advocacy and identity, sharing experiences that reveal how much connects us across continents and oceans.

We have hardcover copies at the ACIC office, and you can also read the book online through the link in our bio!

A huge thank you to Carmahn M.♡ for the beautiful illustrations and the design of the book, to Tedi and Charis for their help with the writing, and to Jackie, who leads our PhotoVoices program and made this project possible in the first place.

08/19/2026

This summer was Charis’ first time at our Global Citizenship Youth Conference, and she jumped right in as one of our conference leaders! In our latest blog, she shares what it was like helping bring the weekend together, watching the participants make every workshop their own, and realizing that leadership is not always about having the answers. Sometimes it is about making space for others to find theirs.

A big shoutout to Charis, our amazing team of leaders, and all the participants who made the weekend what it was!

Read Charis' blog here:

After weeks of planning and spreadsheets, July 10-13th was finally time for the ACIC Global Citizenship Youth Conference! As a first time attendee and leader at that, I was quite nervous going in. I did not know exactly what to expect, and I felt the opportunity was a great responsibility. I was thi...

08/18/2026

We’re so excited to congratulate Dr. Barb Hamilton-Hinch of Connecting to Africa and Dr. Shelly Whitman of the Dallaire Institute for Children, Peace and Security on their appointments to the Order of Nova Scotia!

Both Barb and Shelly have made an incredible impact through organizations in the ACIC network, creating opportunities for young people, strengthening communities, and advancing equity, peace, and human rights in Nova Scotia and around the world. We’re very proud to see their leadership recognized with the province’s highest honour.

Dr. Barb Hamilton-Hinch established Connecting to Africa in 1998 to help Black and African Nova Scotian youth connect with their ancestry through cultural learning and travel. Through Connecting to Africa and her broader community leadership, Barb has created meaningful opportunities for young people while advancing education, health equity, and social justice for Black and African Nova Scotian communities.

As Executive Director of the Dallaire Institute for Children, Peace and Security, Dr. Shelly Whitman has worked to change how the international community understands and responds to the recruitment and use of children in armed violence, helping ensure that prevention is at the centre of those efforts. Her leadership has helped position the Dallaire Institute as a global leader in protecting children and building more peaceful communities.

Congratulations, Barb and Shelly! This recognition is so well deserved, and we’re grateful to have Connecting to Africa and the Dallaire Institute as part of the ACIC community.

08/12/2026

ACIC extends its condolences to the loved ones and community of Marie Burge, who passed on 10 August 2026 in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island.

Marie exemplifies everything the not-for-profit sector works and inspires towards: passionate, engaged, dynamic, and above all, caring and fair. Marie’s enthusiasm for her community and her love of justice took her to volunteer and advocacy work in food sovereignty, energy sovereignty, environmental rights, reproductive justice, women’s rights, migrant workers’ rights, universal basic income, proportional representation and democratic structuring, and so much more through her work with the Cooper Institute, the Latin American Mission Program, the Working Group for a Livable Income, the Coalition for the Protection of PEI Lands, Save Our Seas and Shores, Islanders for Proportional Representation, and many others.

She bettered the lives of not just her friends and family, but all who live on PEI. But her scope goes so much further: Marie Burge was one of ACIC’s founding members fifty years ago, and her ground work set our course for the five decades since. The not-for-profit sector of Atlantic Canada wouldn’t be what it is without her work, and all she has done reverberates on the national and international stage.

Marie has been recognized several times over, including the 1998 Medal of Merit from the Order of PEI, the Leo Cheverie Lifetime Achievement Award from the Voluntary Resource Council in 2025, and also received the King Charles III Coronation Medal from the Governor General of Canada in 2025.

We extend our condolences to all of Marie Burge’s loved ones and with the PEI not-for-profit community.

08/04/2026

A few weeks ago, young people from across Atlantic Canada gathered at Mount Allison University in Sackville, New Brunswick, for ACIC’s 2026 Global Citizenship Conference!

Together, participants explored what it means to be a global citizen through conversations about the Sustainable Development Goals, interactive advocacy workshops, and opportunities to connect, learn, and share ideas. Young people are not just tomorrow’s leaders. They are already leading, advocating, and creating change in their communities today.

Thank you to everyone who joined us and helped make this years’ conference such a memorable experience!

07/30/2026

Our next cohort of IYIP interns are at Coady Institute this week for their pre-departure training!

We are wishing them all the best during the course of their internships as they gear up for their journeys to their placement countries!

Applications for Cohort 5 of the International Youth Internship Program open on August 10th. To learn more about IYIP, visit our website at www.acic-caci.org/internships

ACIC and our partner organizations are hosting 16 interns during Cohort 4!

Huge thanks to our partners for hosting our ACIC IYIP interns:
Coady Institute (Coady Institute)
Maritimes-Guatemala Breaking The Silence Network (BTS Maritimes-Guatemala)
Women’s Fund Fiji (Women's Fund Fiji)
Connecting To Africa
Nova Scotia-Gambia Association (Nova Scotia-Gambia Association)

Team Gambia 🇬🇲

Team India 🇮🇳

Team Ghana 🇬🇭

Team Guatemala 🇬🇹

Team Fiji 🇫🇯

The Marine Institute, Memorial University is hosting 19 IYIP interns during Cohort 4, across five placement countries!

Team Indonesia 🇮🇩

Team Grenada 🇬🇩

Team Kenya 🇰🇪

Team Vietnam 🇻🇳

Team St. Lucia 🇱🇨

Huge thanks to our IYIP staff teams from ACIC and the Marine Institute!

06/04/2026

We’re hiring!

ACIC is looking for an Internships Program Manager to help deliver the International Youth Internship Program (IYIP), supporting young people as they build skills, gain international experience, and engage in meaningful global learning opportunities.

This is a full-time, one-year contract based in Atlantic Canada.

If you’re passionate about youth leadership, international cooperation, and creating accessible pathways for young people, we’d love to hear from you.

Applications are being accepted on a rolling basis until June 24.

Learn more at www.acic-caci.org/jobs

06/03/2026

Join us on June 13 in Halifax for the Global Roundtable!

The Global Roundtable is a free community gathering bringing together International Youth Internship Program (IYIP) alumni, youth, and community members for an evening of stories, conversation, creative activities, and local cuisine. Together, we’ll explore themes of global citizenship, solidarity, climate justice, and the lessons we carry across borders.

June 13 | 5:00–8:00 PM
2901 Windsor St, Halifax

Register at www.acic-caci.org/events or at the link in bio!

06/03/2026

LGBTQI+ communities around the world are facing growing threats to their rights, safety, and inclusion. At the same time, activists and organizations continue to build powerful movements rooted in solidarity, resilience, and collective action.

Join us for Global Resistance, Local Action: Defending LGBTQI+ Rights Through Solidarity, a panel discussion featuring leaders from diverse global contexts who are advancing human rights and inclusion in their communities.

June 18, 2026
12:00 PM Atlantic
Online via Zoom

Register today at https://www.acic-caci.org/event-details/global-resistance-local-actions or at the link in our bio!

05/29/2026

Since 2019, ACIC has had the privilege of hosting the Inter-Council Network (), the coalition of eight Provincial and Regional Councils for International Cooperation working together to strengthen global cooperation and public engagement across Canada.

Over the past seven years, we’ve had a front row seat to the ICN’s incredible work, from national programs and policy initiatives to international youth delegations, research, advocacy, and countless opportunities to connect and collaborate with partners from coast to coast to coast.

We’re grateful for the opportunity to have hosted the ICN here in Atlantic Canada and for the relationships, learning, and shared experiences that came with it. While we’re excited to see this next chapter begin with the ICN’s move to Ontario with in spring 2026, we’ll certainly miss having the ICN team close by.

Thank you to everyone who has been part of our journey with the ICN!