Public Engagement at CESO
Get Involved
You can get involved in Public Engagement at CESO in a number of different ways. Review the Activities and the Tips and Resources lists for ideas and resources you can use to help inform your community about issues in international development. If you would like to share ideas for activities, or to create tools and tips for use by other CESO volunteers or staff, please send a submission to publiceng@ceso-saco.com
Activities
> Learn about the issues: Find out more about the Make Poverty History campaign and the UN Millennium Development Goals by referring to the following links:
> Sign the Make Poverty History petition: To date, hundreds of thousands of people have signed the Make Poverty History petition. Signing on signifies your commitment to poverty eradication, and that you want to help achieve the following:
- More and better aid
- Trade justice
- Canceling the debt
- Ending child poverty in Canada
Signing the petition also lets world leaders—including Stephen Harper—know that you support Canada's responsibility toward helping to achieve the UN Millenium Development Goals. To sign the electronic petition, visit the Make Poverty History website.
> Inform and mobilize others: Do you participate in any of the following activities?:
- communicate to other Canadians or media about your work abroad?
- help organize or participate in community events related to international development issues?
- speak at conventions, seminars or forums about your volunteer work?
- write op-ed pieces or articles regarding your work as a CESO volunteer or on international development topics?
- write to politicians (MPs, the federal government, etc.) about international development issues of importance to you?
- speak to parent/teacher organizations, Rotary clubs, Lions clubs, YMCAs or other school, service or neighborhood associations regarding your work as a CESO volunteer or about international development issues?
- speak to churches, temples, mosques, or other faith-based groups about your work abroad or about international development issues?
If you do participate in such public engagement activities, let us know! If you would like to participate in the above-listed activities, but don't know where to start, contact us and we can help advise you on Public Engagement opportunities in your community. Also, if you need tools (speech templates, development data, information about CESO), please see the Tools and Resources section below.
> Write an email or letter to your MP: Tell your MP about your experiences as a volunteer and share your opinion about volunteering and Canadian international development policy and programs. If you need your MP's postal or email address, or if you're not sure who your MP is, refer to this list of current members of parliament. Refer to the alphabetical list of provinces and constituencies to find your MP.
> Write an email or letter to Prime Minister Stephen Harper: As above, tell Prime Minister Harper about your experiences as a volunteer (make sure to include where and when you did volunteer work abroad) and share your opinion about Canadian international development policy and programs. For Prime Minister Harper's contact information, refer to the Prime Minister's contact webpage.
> Contact your local newspaper or radio station: If you think your volunteer story might be of interest to local media, pitch your story. Again, see the Tools and Resources section below.
Tips and Resources
Below are tips and resources you can use to get involved in Public Engagement. Click on the links and a Microsoft Word document will open in a separate window. You can save the document by selecting "File" and then "Save as." If in the course of your own activities, you think of or create tools that other returned volunteers might be able to use, please feel free to share them. Send your ideas to publiceng@ceso-saco.com.
How to Prepare to Give a Speech - by CESO VA Penny Williams
How to Influence Your MP - by Anonymous
How to Write a Letter to the Editor - by Public Engagement Officer Patrick Lohier
Support Make Poverty History Email Template - by Anonymous
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