ianys 8th conference report

8/6/2019 IANYS 8th Conference Report

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N a t i o N a l Y o u t h S e r v i c e :

a N i d e a W h o S e t i m e h a S c o m e

The International Association for National Youth Service (IANYS)

Proceedings of the

8 glal c

Held in Paris, France, November 19-22, 2008


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2 I n t e r n a t i o n a l A s s o c i a t i o n o r N a t i o n a l Y o u t h S e r v i c e s

Acknowledgements ........ 2

Preace ........ 3

About IANYS ........ 45 Origins

5 IANYS today

8th Global Conerence

on National Youth Service ........ 5

Participating Countries ........ 8

Summary o Conerence Proceedings ........ 10

IntroductIon........ 10

10 Youth service, democracy and peace

10 Widening youth service in Europe

11 Youth civic engagement

11 Building young leaders or change and peace

natIonalYouth ServIce PolIcY

and Program develoPment ........12

12 Introducing National Youth Service

13 Some approaches to National Youth Service

Building youth service in France

National Youth Service in Israel:

Sustaining citizenship

Italy: Running national youth

service at home and abroad

14 Designing Youth Service Policy

and Programs or Dierent Purposes

14 National Youth Service in support

o the non-prot sector

15 National Youth Service or development

15 National Youth Service as a oundation

or training and employment

16 Fostering cooperation between government

and civil society through youth service

16 Scaling up National Youth Service rom local

to national levels

meaSurIngthe ImPactof natIonal

Youth ServIce ProgramSonPartIcIPantS

andonthe communItY ........18

18 Demonstrating the value o investing

in National Youth Service

18 Strengthening program quality

through monitoring and evaluation

19 Measuring youth service impact

against national data

19 The importance o rigorous evidence

o youth service impact

20 Developing the youth service research eld

c


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P r o c e e d i n g s o t h e 8 t h G l o b a l C o n e r e n c e 1

examInIngthe PublIc coStand fundIng

for natIonalYouth ServIce ........21

21 Public and private unding required

to renew Kenyan National Youth Service

22 The social costs o not unding National

Youth Service in Jamaica

22 Reducing the visibility o government in

UK youth service programs

23 Using youth service to strengthen

livelihoods and support peace Aghanistan

23 Public-private partnerships drive

youth service unding in Italy

24 Conclusion

StImulatIngPrIvate Sector

InveStmentInnatIonalYouth ServIce ........25

25 Productive partnerships are mutually

benecial

26 Helping young people access employment

and business skills

26 Developing youth leadership or youth

service internationally

27 Building strong organizations and programs

to improve the lives o young people

natIonalYouth ServIceaS

a StrategYfor SocIalIncluSIon ........28

28 Restoring the tradition o service

through youth

28 Overcoming discrimination in schools

29 Promoting social cohesion through service

IdentIfYIngand meetIng

communItYand natIonalneedS

through natIonalYouth ServIce ........30

WhereISthe learnIng

InnatIonalYouth ServIce? ........32

32 Youth service in educational settings

33 The pedagogy o service-learning

develoPIngregIonalnetWorkS

for Youth ServIce ........34

PeacebuIldIngand ServIce ........36

36 Youth as agents o peace

37 Developing a commitment to the

value o service

Youth ServIceand mIllennIum

develoPment goalS ........38

Outcomes o the

IANYS General Meeting ........39

Building a Network to Support

and Advance the Field o

National Youth Service: Outcomes

o the 8th Global Conerence ........40

41 Building on the Momentum

Appendices

41 A. List o Participants

45 B. Conerence Program and Speakers

50 C. IANYS Global Council

51 D. Sponsors

52 E. Credits


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On behalf of the IANYS Global Council, I wish to thank and congratulate our

conference organizers:

Innovations in Civic Participation (ICP)

Unis-Cit

and the Association o Voluntary

Service Organizations (AVSO)

for their tremendous effort in hosting the 8th Global Conference

on National Youth Service.

We also would like to thank the generous sponsors of the conference who made this

successful event possible: the European Commission, the Shinnyo-en Foundation, the

French Ministry of Youth, UN Volunteers, Benoit Foundation, and the University of

Minnesota. We are also grateful to the US Embassy in Paris for their logistical support,

including the donation of the conference space at the Fondation des Etats-Unis, and we

thank the staff of the Fondation for their involvement and support.

We thank all of the speakers, presenters, facilitators and attendees for your participation,

input and dialogue to advance and strengthen National Youth Service around the world.

Elisabeth Hoodless, DBE, Chairman, IANYS Global Council

This report was written by Jean Manney, Innovations in Civic Participation; Helene

Perold, Volunteer and Service Enquiry Southern Arica; and Sarah Tucker,

Innovations in Civic Participation

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Pa

The 8th Global Conerence on National Youth Service (NYS) was a turning point or

IANYS and or the entire eld o youth civic engagement globally. Participation in

the conerence ar exceeded our expectations, drawing the largest single gathering o

participants and most diverse representation o countries in IANYS history, with more

than 120 participants rom approximately 40 countries.

IANYS is the only association o its kind working to advance and promote NYS in countries around the

world. The response to the 8th Global Conerence demonstrates that there is a real need or an association

that brings together people who are working with youth in dierent contexts around the world. Areas o

common interest include creating high-quality youth service programs, advocating or government support,

undertaking evaluations and research o youth service programs, and providing opportunities or young people

to make a dierence in their communities.

Worldwide, civic engagement is becoming more widely acknowledged as being integral to democratic

development and the momentum or service has grown enormously. Furthermore, it is clear that there is a

growing interest not only in developing youth civic engagement programs and policy, but also in participating

in global networks to share models, ideas and good practice. This growing interest in national youth service is

accompanied by a range o needs rom proessionals in the eld o youth development around the world.

Given these developments in dierent parts o the world, the time is right to pull together NYS resources,

expertise, models and practices, and to provide countries with the support they need to invest in and

implement, or improve and scale up national youth service policies and programs. We believe that the

IANYS network has the momentum, expertise and capacity to be the vehicle to produce and disseminate this

support. The groundbreaking 8th Global Conerence was just the beginning o a new era that could see the

transormation o youth civic engagement worldwide.

As the permanent Secretariat or IANYS, ICP is committed to responding to the needs o the eld. We are

working to create a more robust international network that signicantly expands the number o proessionals

involved in IANYS activities; acilitates the exchange o inormation about youth civic engagement; and

oers technical assistance to governments and international organizations in the design, implementation and

evaluation o youth civic engagement policies and programs.

Please join us in our eorts to scale up IANYS to meet the rising interest and needs o the National Youth

Service eld and help us engage the largest youth generation in history to work or change through service to

communities around the world.

Susan Stroud

Director, IANYS



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The International Association or National Youth Service (IANYS) is a unique global

network o practitioners, policymakers, researchers, and other proessionals in the

eld o national youth service. IANYS was ormed in 1996 and has grown to include

members rom 48 countries on six continents. IANYS is the only network o its

kind actively working to encourage every country to consider the implementation o

policies and programs that support youth civic engagement.

The goals o IANYS are to stimulate and acilitate the exchange o inormation

about national youth service (NYS), to advocate or strong youth policy, and to

oer assistance to nations wishing to consider the introduction o NYS or to reshape

current NYS programs.

The central activity o IANYS is a biennial Global Conerence that provides youth

service practitioners and policymakers rom around the world with a stimulating orum

to share inormation and current developments in the eld, nurture connections or

developing uture projects, and discuss the potential or scaling up national youth service

or greater impact on community and youth development. Past conerences have been

held in the US, Nigeria, Papua New Guinea, the UK, Israel, Argentina, and Ghana.

Au iAnYs

What is National Youth Service?National Youth Service (NYS) is an organized activity in which young people serve others and the environment in ways

that contribute positively to society. NYS participants normally serve ull-time or a period o six months to two years

and receive support whether rom NGOs or government sucient to enable them to serve. Major areas o service

are health, education, environmental conservation and care or the very old and the very young.

NYS also embraces service learning, where students utilize their education to serve others and then refect on their

service experiences to inorm their learning. Service learning is a graduation requirement in many universities around

the world. Service learning in secondary schools and universities is oten a prelude to ull-time NYS.

Countries initiate NYS programs or varied reasons, including delivering social and environmental services, alleviat-

ing youth unemployment, providing alternatives to required military service, experientially complementing classroom

education, and engaging youth in nation-building.

The outcomes o national youth service programs depend on the goals or which programs are designed, the experi-

ence young people bring to the service, and the support o the community. Almost all evaluations to date have shown

that the value o services rendered by national youth service participants is equal to or greater than the cost o the pro-

gram. In addition, participants benet rom work experience, career exploration, increased sel esteem, and increased

awareness o the needs o others. Many national youth service participants acquire new skills, good work habits,

decision-making ability, social maturity, and a new understanding between races, ages and aiths.

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Origins

IANYS was ounded in 1996 through the work o Donald Eberly, who began exploring civilian programs

ocused on peace building, civic service and alternatives to military conscription. As Mr. Eberly began

writing his own ideas or National Youth Service, he joined with others around the world to document global

developments in NYS.

As interest grew and a collective o proessionals in the NYS eld began

to orm, the idea to have an international meeting on NYS developed.

At the third biennial Global Conerence on NYS in Papua New Guinea

in 1996, participants ormally established IANYS.

IANYS today

The Global Council, the governing body o IANYS, is made up o

experts in the eld o youth service rom around the world. Currently

13 countries are represented on the Global Council. Dame Elisabeth

Hoodless, Director o the UKs Community Service Volunteers and

organizer o the 4th Global Conerence, serves as the Global Council

Chairman. Innovations in Civic Participation (ICP) serves as the

Secretariat o IANYS and Susan Stroud (ICPs Executive Director) is

the Director o IANYS.

Given ICPs experience and expertise in ostering innovative opportunities and supporting the development o

the youth civic engagement eld, ICP was selected to serve as the permanent secretariat or IANYS in 2007.

Previously, secretariat responsibilities had resided with the country which hosted a global NYS conerence, and

were handed over to the host o the succeeding global conerence, though the Charter included the possibility

o creating a permanent secretariat.

As the permanent secretariat, ICP has expanded the IANYS network and is working to strengthen the

capacity o IANYS to support youth service proessionals to increase and improve opportunities or young

people to help meet critical national and community needs while building essential skills or uture success.

IANYS provides the ramework

where all these diverse experiences and dierent

orms o voluntary service can come together and

be shared by members, ideas can be changed, and

eectiveness can be compared and evaluated in a

better way.

Reuven Gal, Head, The Authority or National Civic

Service, Israel



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8 glal c

naal Yu s

PAris, frAnce, november 2008

In partnership with the Association o Voluntary Service Organizations (AVSO) and

Unis-Cit, ICP organized and held the IANYS 8th Global Conerence on National

Youth Service at the Fondation des Etats-Unis in Paris, France, in November 2008.

The 8th Global Conerence provided youth service practitioners, policymakers and other proessionals

rom around the world with an exciting opportunity to exchange ideas and program models, discuss pressing

issues in the eld o NYS and network with their peers. As the rst Global Conerence coordinated by the

new permanent Secretariat, ICP, and the rst in our years rather than the normal two years, the organizers

aimed to scale up the reach o the Conerence and to diversiy and increase participation. They also aimed to

strengthen proessional and eld development by organizing sessions around key themes.

The our days o the Conerence included a training session on national youth service (NYS) policy and

program development, roundtable presentations, smaller workshops, and site visits to volunteer-hosting

organizations. Sessions ocused on examining current NYS policies and programs, scaling up NYS programs,

measuring the impact o NYS on youth and communities, analyzing youth service and social inclusion, and

examining private and public investment in NYS. Workshops explored youth service and the UN Millennium

Development Goals, peace-building, service-learning, and developing regional networks. Unis-Cit organized

site visits to local community organizations where Unis-Cit volunteers have been involved in service projects

and acilitated a refection session to engage participants in an interesting dialogue on youth service rom

diverse cultural perspectives and contexts.

Expectations or the number o participants were greatly surpassed as the registration list continued to

grow even in the days leading up the conerence. The 8th Global Conerence saw the largest single

gathering o participants and the most diverse representation o countries in IANYS history, with more

than 120 participants attending rom approximately 40 countries. In addition to substantial participation

rom European countries, participants came rom China, Vietnam, Singapore, Brunei, India, Kazakhstan,

Aghanistan, Egypt, Israel, Kuwait, Algeria, Sudan, Burkina Faso, South Arica, Ghana, Sierra Leone,

Kenya, Argentina, Jamaica, Barbados, the USA, and more. A number o participants rom several countries

were unable to come as a result o not getting visas. Many government ocials attended, including Deputy

Ministers and Directors o National Youth Service, along with NGO and university representatives. IANYS

Global Council members in attendance included Susan Stroud (USA), Licio Palazzini (Italy), Reuven Gal

(Israel), Jim Kielsmeier (USA), Marie Trellu (France) and Agnes Uhereczky (Belgium).

The 8th Global Conerence was successul in large part due to generous sponsors including the European

Commission, the Shinnyo-en Foundation, the French Ministry o Youth, UN Volunteers, Benoit Foundation,

and the University o Minnesota. IANYS also received logistical support rom the US Embassy in Paris,

including the donation o the conerence space at the Fondation des Etats-Unis.

6 I n t e r n a t i o n a l A s s o c i a t i o n o r N a t i o n a l Y o u t h S e r v i c e s


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8


iAnYs 8 glal c

Papa cu

Aghanistan

Algeria

Argentina

Australia

Barbados

Belgium

Bosnia Herzegovina

Brazil

Brunei

Bulgaria

Burkina Faso

Cambodia

China

Croatia

Egypt

Estonia

France

Germany

Ghana

Hungary

India

Ireland

Israel

Italy

Jamaica

Kazakhstan

Kenya

Kuwait

Lithuania

Portugal

Romania

Sierra Leone

Singapore

South Arica

Spain

Sudan

The Netherlands

UK

US

Vietnam

The chance to talk to other persons,

especially inormally, outside o ormal settings,

has been especially important or me. To hear that

persons inputs as to their personal experience, it is

critical.

In this type o conerence, not everyone has a

chance to talk about their own experiences because

there is not enough time. So, to have that inormal

setting to talk to people has been very positive.

Therese James, Director, Barbados Youth Service


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Even though we can read about

programs in dierent countries, its dierent to he

the rationale and justifcations and what issues

that they ace on the ground. When you hear the

programs being described and hear the issues bei

discussed, you can understand a lot more what

drives them and gets them going day to day, what

sort o considerations they have that isnt put dowin the oundations or the structure o the program

I really get a sense o the realities that ace Youth

Service on the ground.

Justin Tan, National Education Ofcer, Ministry o

Education, Singapore


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1 0

I n t e r n a t i o n a l A s s o c i a t i o n o r N a t i o n a l Yo u t h S e r v i c e s

Youth service, democracy and peace

In a video address to the opening session o the Conerence, the P La,

ell J-sla, stressed that young people are indispensable to democracy

and peace: Young people can and must play a critical role in building democracy

and peace. Liberia makes youth civic engagement a top priority in new developmentlegislation, because no nation, especially ater periods o violence, can develop

without youth service.

President Johnson-Sirlea argued that youth are a pivotal actor in a nations recovery

rom violence and its transition into peace, because many young people were strongly

impacted by violence and war. Youth service gives them a chance to direct the

emotions and memories let by violence towards reconstruction and building peace, allowing youth to pave

the way to ensuring that the same mistakes that led to violence in the past are not repeated. According to

the Liberian President, a national youth service corps is an integral part o the Liberian development strategy,

and she welcomed a partnership with IANYS to support her administration in developing a policy ramework

or National Youth Service.

Widening youth service in Europe

A message rom ba Lap, French Minister o Youth, expressed his enthusiasm or IANYS and

indicated that new legislation regarding youth service is being discussed in France and in the European Union.

The new legislation recommends the improvement o existing inormation systems or evaluating youth

service and the creation o a trans-national youth volunteer network or young Europeans, he said. The

project is designed to acilitate youth volunteering and to improve national systems o volunteering. Polls that

showed massive youth enthusiasm or service and international travel served as a catalyst or the legislation

and inspired its orm.

Mr. Laporte indicated that the President o France hopes that the new models will encourage more young

people to get involved in service and to sustain their engagement in civil society ollowing the time they spend

in service. He sees the program as having the ability to strengthen ties within society and to bind citizens more

closely together. Getting this project o the ground is an ambitious endeavor that will require support rom

governments as well as other youth service groups.

There is an inextricable link between service, youth empowerment, national development and

increased civic engagement by young people. This was the message rom a number o global leaders

who lent support to the IANYS 8th Global Conerence, stressing the importance o national youth

service or young people worldwide.

iu


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P r o c e e d i n g s o t h e 8 t h G l o b a l C o n e r e n c e 1 1

Youth civic engagement

Paal LJu, Head o the Youth In Action Programme Unit at the European Commission, outlined how

youth civic engagement increases awareness about political issues and osters participation by young people in

politics. In this way, youth service becomes critical to poverty alleviation. Through service, young people gain

valuable experiences, meet other youth rom diverse backgrounds and provide valuable services to those in

need. Now that youth service is well established in many developed countries, said LeJeune, stronger eorts

are being made to encourage young people rom under-privileged backgrounds to participate in NYS. This is

because volunteerism helps young people to access job training and increases their political participation actors that both shape the uture o youth.

Building young leaders or change and peace

Speaking at the closing ceremony, Ku na, Honorary President o CIVICUS,

anti-apartheid activist rom South Arica and the incumbent Greenpeace CEO,

stressed that young people, just like all members o society, are potential leaders

capable o addressing the challenges acing the world today. We must not see youth

as hal-empty, but rather look at their

strengths, knowledge and potential. We must

look beyond the challenges that they ace

to see them as having the power to createchange.

Naidoo pointed out that investing in the power o youth would take

only a raction o the money needed to bail out the global market rom

the economic crisis, and would produce signicantly greater returns.

Reerring to Obamas victory in the US and his popularity with young

people around the world, he demonstrated that youth are yearning

to have a greater impact on their communities and to move towards

peace and stability. He believes that young people are innovators who

see their communities rom a perspective not constrained by prior

experience or preconceptions, and who are able to understand concepts

such as climate change and internet technology much better than theirparents generation. Harnessing the power and knowledge o youth is

the key to solving imminent problems and creating a better world, said Naidoo.

hy Lza, d exal Aa a sy- fua, closed the Conerence with an

inspiring speech about the impact that people have on each other every day and the value o building mutual

respect and peace between individuals. He called on IANYS members to be eective leaders by believing in

their ability to advance nations o service, create a positive dierence in peoples lives, and make a dierence

to what it means to be a member o the planet Earth. Youth service is more than just programs and events:

it is determining the ate o the globe, said Lozano. Leaders o youth service play a crucial role in creating

peace through inspiring and empowering both the leaders o today and tomorrow.

All the speakers stressed that the work o IANYS is undamentally important in that it gives young people a

chance to rise and meet global challenges. IANYSs services will be needed in the coming years more thanever beore.

IANYS provides the opportunity

to get a conscious understanding o the global

atmosphere o youth service. Sometimes we get

quite captured in our own countries, not bearing

a clear understanding o value added in other

countries.

Henry Lozano, Director o External Aairs,

the Shinnyo-en Foundation


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1 2


On the rst day, the Conerence ocused on NYS policy and program design to meet the interests o

policymakers, government representatives and practitioners new to the eld o NYS and service learning.

It provided participants with an in-depth understanding o the concepts o NYS and service learning, gave

them an opportunity to learn about successul NYS and service learning program models, and provided

some o the tools necessary to begin developing a NYS policy or program in their home countries.

naal Yu s Ply

a Pa dlp

Introducing National Youth Service

Given that there are over 1 billion young people in the

world today, representing up to 50% o the population in

developing countries, there is a growing need to endow these

youth with lie-skills,

a sense o citizenship,

positive attitudes, and

job training to help them

better themselves and their

communities. Through

National Youth Service,

young people can address issues such as climate change, nation building and

post-confict reconciliation in positive and constructive ways. Service is

an important means o mobilizing young people to participate in society by

creatively using their energy to solve social problems.

Susan Stroud, Executive Director oia c Papa and

Director o IANYS, provided an overview o denitions and key concepts

o youth service, as well as an overview o the dierent types o models

which have seen successul implementation throughout the world.

There are many dierent types and models o national youth service with

varying amounts o government involvement, sources o unding, and

structures. It is important to provide insight and inrastructure to help new

programs grow, and to have a diversity o approaches to accommodate allthe dierent types o NYS.

The primary objective o service is to make a dierence in the local

community. The secondary objective is to create a positive experience or the

participants and the third is to bring people together and give young people

a sense o ecacy. Keeping these three objectives in balance can prove a

challenge or program design and implementation.

Key TermsNational Youth Service: Organized period o

substantial engagement that contributes to

the communitys development, is mandated

and supported by the national government,

and or which the volunteer receives mini-

mal monetary compensation.

National Youth Service Policy:Government

legislation to create rameworks and policy

or National Youth Service under which proj-

ects can operate and be unded, and makes

it possible to operate on a large scale, as

well as to justiy private investment. Policy

is imperative or orming relationships be-

tween civil society, government and private

sector, and should ensure that youth service

reaches the populations most in need,

meets critical public interests, is suciently

unded, and has a clear purpose and goal.

Service Learning:Service with intentional

learning component and refection that

is based in education institutions, com-

munity organizations, and/or ormalized in

classroom instruction, and serves as a way

o approaching learning that involves com-

munity service.

NYS Models

Large scale mandatory programs run by

government,requiring participation by

specic youth populations.

Large scale voluntary programs run by

government.

Large scale NGO programs run with

government unding.


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Eective youth service programs engage young people in valuable service work. They train and supervise

participants, encourage diversity o participation and recognize the contributions o participants and

organizations to the community. They also engage quality local leadership and are held to high standards

o accountability.

Some approaches to National Youth Service

Building youth service in FranceThe Voluntary Civil Service was launched in France

ater government aced a number o crises with inner

city young people in 2005. Its goal was to promote

social cohesion and peace. Ater President Sarkozys

election in 2007, there was a move to reorm the

system o civil service and to scale up youth service

projects, but how was this to be achieved?

Ever since the suspension o the military drat in

France, the question has been whether or not tomake national youth service mandatory. The French

experience showed that there are many obstacles

to mandatory youth service: most young people

eel that service should be voluntary; the cost o

mandatory service is very high; and it is very complex

to implement. For these reasons, France adopted a

model o voluntary civil service as its best option.

Goals were established or the numbers o young

people to be involved, a budget was developed and a

government body was put in charge o implementing

the civil service program.

Overall, the most successul aspects o the French

youth service program have been communication

through inormation campaigns and online network-

ing, the development o the program and its evalua-

tion via post-service questionnaires. Through national

service young people have gained job skills and have

received monetary compensation, both o which

help to alleviate poverty and open up new opportuni-

ties or individuals. Young people are developing a

positive view o the private sector, which is actively

involved with NYS, providing work experience op-

portunities and other support such as unding youth

service abroad.

Presented by Amiral Alain Bereau, a member o the

French Society Analysis Council, speaking on the

fndings o his report on the uture o civic service

in France.

NYS in Israel: Sustaining citizenshipMilitary service is compulsory in Israel, except or the

Arab minority, Jewish women and ultra-orthodox men

and women. Civic service was originally created just

or ultra-orthodox Jewish women, but was expanded

in 2008 to include all women, Arabs, ultra-orthodox

Jews, and conscientious objectors.

While service programs had existed in Israel or 40

years beorehand, there had never been a uniorm

law by which they were governed. The basic tenet othe Israeli program is to promote equality between

social groups. It ollows government guidelines and is

independent rom deense establishments. Volunteers

receive compensation and volunteer within their own

communities, and the whole endeavor is monitored

by a public advisory board.

Most volunteers are serving in the education eld,

with the next most popular elds being health and

welare. Through the program youth learn condence,

patriotism and citizenship, which develops into a type

o cyclical citizenship: ater spending time in the

national youth service program, young people inter-

nalize the concept o citizenship and are motivated to

serve their country consistently.

The government is oten very unwilling to support

NYS because it means one more project or them,

but they must understand that in the long run, these

programs are important or strengthening the nation.

Presented by Reuven Gal, Head o the Authority or

National Civic Service and Lior Shohat, Manager o

Public Aairs, Authority or National Civic Service.


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1 4 I n t e r n a t i o n a l A s s o c i a t i o n o r N a t i o n a l Yo u t h S e r v i c e s

Designing Youth Service Policy and Programs or Dierent Purposes

A range o youth service program models are used in dierent countries, demonstrating how service can

help achieve a number o dierent goals. These include developing youth service to strengthen non-protorganizations, using national youth service to support development, using national youth service as a

oundation or training and employment, and ostering cooperation between government and civil society

through youth service.

National youth service in support o the non-proft sector

The Voluntary Social Year and Voluntary Ecological year are two national youth service programs in

Germany that were initiated in 1959 and consolidated in 1964 by the Volunteering or Youth Act. Sterenn

Coudray, Secretary General o the EFYSO in Germany, described how by the 1990s, these programs were open

to all European countries and by 2002 they had emerged as an alternative to conscription.

Most volunteers work in public schools and other institutions o public education. There are also opportunities

or young people to work in hospitals or nursing homes, in organizations ocused on preserving culture, or to

work or a political party. Service programs abroad are an alternative to conscription and are subsidized by the

government.

The program is supported by the Federal Ministry or Families, Seniors, Women and Youth, which provides

a legislative ramework, makes available grants or programs supporting education in Germany, and sets

up the arrangements with supporting organizations. Specic regions o Germany provide nancial support

and acilitate the working relationships with partner organizations. The program depends on intermediary

organizations that advocate or NYS programs, nd participants and provide training. A undamental rule or

partner organizations is that they must not replace a worker or a job with a volunteer or a service program, so

that employment does not suer as a result o the National Youth Service.

According to Hinrich Goos, Project Leader or the Voluntary Ecological Year in Germany, both theVoluntary Social Year and Voluntary Ecological year are unded largely by the government, with the Ecological

Year receiving much more state unding than the Social Year.

The government is ocused on the proven benets o national youth service and tracks how many young

people keep working in the non-prot sector as a result o their participation in Voluntary Ecological Year.

Surveys were conducted to measure the eectiveness o the program, taking note o how many participants

continued working in it (with or without pay) and how many continued working in the nonprot sector more

Italy: Running national youth service at home and abroadThe national youth service in Italy was ounded in 2001, though Italy has had a national service program or conscien-

tious objectors since 1972. A strong demand to provide opportunities or service both inside the country and abroad

helped to push or the creation o both international and national service programs in Italy.

The main elds o the Italian National Civic Service are human needs, emergency relie, environmental protection,

international service abroad, culture and education. To participate in national youth service, young people rst present

projects and apply or one project rom the NYS program. Local NGOs then accept them into their respective programs.

The purposes o the Italian National Civic Service are the unarmed deense o the nation, promotion o solidarity,

protection o the environment and Italys unique artistic heritage, and the civic, cultural and vocational development

o the young people. The programs are largely evaluated by the NGOs because they have the best tools to assess the

programs and the records o money spent.

Presented by Licio Palazzini, President o Arci Servizio Civile.


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generally. The survey ound that the great majority o participants would like to continue working with the

Voluntary Ecological Year program, but are unable to do so because they cannot support themselves without

compensation. At the same time, it was ound that many NGOs were ounded by people who had participated

in the program and many o these are project leaders or voluntary service.

It has been recommended that tax reorm is necessary to make work in the non-prot sector a viable and

sustainable career. This will help to promote youth volunteerism and participation in the non-prot sector,

and will ensure the continued development o much-needed NGOs.

National Youth Service or development

The National Volunteer Service in Burkina Faso was established in 2001, the International Year o the

Volunteer, as a result o increased political willpower, which was combined with a movement to improve

employment in the nation and the eorts o a number o NGOs. According to Helene Agnelli, a urther

project was launched in 2006 to bring volunteer groups together and with the adoption o a new law, the

National Volunteer Corps was established in Burkina Faso.

Six well-known NGOs were selected as regional volunteer centers to create strong program structures, to

train and support volunteers, to manage them administratively and nancially, review applications, promote

volunteering, and raise unds. Groupement dInteret Public was created to manage volunteers, make laws, and

campaign or support or the programs. The ounding members o this institution were states represented byministers, the Regional and Municipal Association o Burkina Faso, the National Service or Development,

and others.

Burkina Fasos national voluntary program aims to ght poverty, work towards the achievement o the

Millennium Development Goals, promote good governance by maximizing voluntary engagement and civil

society participation in politics, and to uniy the citizenry. Volunteer sectors include education, health,

environment, anti-desertication, economic development and community development. Programs are

primarily nanced by the government, but other partners are being sought.

National Youth Service as a oundation or training and employment

Two examples were provided o how National Youth Service can link with youth employment objectives

one rom Kenya and the other rom Jamaica.

Japheth Mwania, Director oNational Youth Service in Kenya, explained that the vision o NYS Kenya is to

be a world class institution in training and imparting skills, knowledge and attitude to young people, as well as

creating an environment where youth can learn and integrate into society.

Young people undertake economically valuable projects such as the construction o houses and dams, amine

and disaster relie, environmental preservation, working in public schools and hospitals, and providing military

support.

There are three options or vocational training: artisan, crat and diploma training. Young people have the

opportunity to gain hands-on job training by working on projects that are real, relevant and important to

Kenyas development. With this training, youth have better chances at success in the job market, an improved

sense o citizenship, and a commitment to service. The ocus o the program is direct service; sel discoveryand integration come as byproducts o engagement in the NYS program, and its secondary mission is the

involvement o youth in social programs o the government, and the development o citizenship.

In Jamaica the NYS began in 1973 as a mandatory part o the secondary education system. It was part o the

social sector o the government and though it was discontinued in 1983, by 1998 National Youth Service was

established permanently by law.


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1 6 I n t e r n a t i o n a l A s s o c i a t i o n o r N a t i o n a l Y o u t h S e r v i c e s

According to Adinhair Jones, Executive Director o Jamaicas National Youth Service, the program has three

missions: to help youth gain work experience; to encourage a sense o responsibility, sel respect and service;

and to promote discipline, democracy, citizenship and cooperation among participants. Jamaica has a large

problem with youth delinquency, which is driven by unrealistic expectations o youth by society, most notably

in the pre-occupation with achieving employment. National Youth Service gives young people a pathway or

getting job training and nding alternatives to crime or making a living.. Challenges aced in Jamaica include

orging partnerships between organizations, collecting evidence o the eectiveness o the NYS, processing

inormation and expanding the youth service within the constraints o limited acilities.

Fostering cooperation between government and civil society through youth service

Susan Stroud, Executive Director o ICP and a ounding member o the US youth service program,

AmeriCorps, described its design and implementation as a voluntary program that is unded by Congress to

meet public needs in education, saety, health and the environment.

Administered by the Corporation or National and Community Service, a government department which runs

the program, the ederal government works closely with states, which in turn work closely with local non-

prot organizations and NGOs to orm partnerships or youth volunteering.

There are three branches o AmeriCorps: First, the State and National Branch works towards education,

environment, health, housing, and disaster response needs and is sponsored by thousands o local and nationalnon-prot organizations such as Habitat or Humanity and City Year. Second, AmeriCorps VISTA is the

poverty-ghting arm o AmeriCorps, working with low-income individuals and communities to alleviate

poverty. Third, the NCCC is a residential program that works on ve campuses around the country to provide

disaster relie, reghters and food relie.

The objectives o AmeriCorps are to impact on communities and participants, and bring communities

together. With President Obamas new National Service plan, AmeriCorps hopes to expand to create many

more opportunities, include more participants, and engage a wider range o ages in the program.

Scaling up NYS rom local to national levels

While some NYS programs begin as

government initiatives, others begin throughNGOs that then try to get government

unding to scale up the programs. Attracting

both public and private unding is a

common important element to expanding

and sustaining NYS programs. Even when

governments have committed unds, it is

necessary to convince them to keep unding

NYS by showing its eectiveness. Also

crucial to scaling up is the need to creative

positive attitudes towards service and oster

the recognition o youth service as a strategy

or nation-building and development.

Licio Palazzini, President oArci Servizio Civilein Italy, described how NYS in Italy is currently an optional

investment by the national government. In times o economic crisis, unding may be cut, making it dicult to

develop long-term and concrete plans or the development o the NYS. What the Italian NYS needs in order

to scale up is to ensure that unding does not decrease in the coming years despite the economic crisis. This it

hopes to achieve by encouraging private investment. There is also a need to shit the ocus rom the regions to


19/55


the centre without losing sight o dened goals. Lastly, Italy seeks to nd a way to encourage youth to continue

serving ater their initial project is over, and to make service a pillar o society. One aspect o this eort is to

encourage young people to develop their own projects in order to build a unied and strong sense o Italian

and European citizenship.

In Cambodia, three actors combined to launch YouthStar Cambodia: the need or a higher appreciation or

volunteerism, the need or a stronger education system, and the need to nd a way o engaging and mobilizing

the majority youth population in Cambodia. According to Catherine Cecil, Communications and Policy

Advisor or YouthStar Cambodia, the program goals are to build social capital, develop young leaders, provide

resources to meet critical needs, promote voluntary service as a nation-building strategy, and to implement

innovative programs.

With 72 volunteers to date, YouthStar Cambodia is a young and relatively small program that aces challenges

with unding, program evaluation, gaining recognition or the work

o the volunteers, and recruitment in a society where service is

misunderstood and undervalued. To scale up its eorts, YouthStar has

added branches in every province in Cambodia, and is now working

with the government to develop the nations rst youth policy which

includes national youth service. There is no plan yet or becoming a

national program, but YouthStar and the national government are

working together towards developing Cambodia. A crucial part othe scaling up eorts is creating a positive attitude towards service

by developing a national context to underline the importance o

service programs and the value o volunteering or everyone involved.

YouthStars ultimate goal is the creation o an active youth citizenry

that is involved in policy, decision making, and development.

In South Arica, the NYS began through a small NGO in 2002 to

address unemployment issues, and then began pursuing government

unding in 2005 because o the increase in volunteer numbers.

According to Nthuseng Mphahlele, Head o the National Youth

Service Unit, this coincided with a change in policy which was marked

by a ocus on leadership, and youth service was recognized as a criticalvehicle or the development o leadership.

The National Youth Service Units (NYSU) rameworks are aligned with government organizations and it has

succeeded in gaining recognition or youth service as a critical problem-solving and nation-building strategy.

The NYS ocus areas are youth job training, higher education volunteering and programs that involve all

youth and adults. NYS has already been recognized by the government as a critical player in development, and

the NYSU plans to target the government anti-poverty initiative in upcoming eorts.

Nthuseng Mphahlele describes the key to scaling up as ensuring that higher education programs integrate

service and service learning, scaling up fagship projects, and spreading projects to more areas o the country.

Direct unding rom the national treasury as well as increased unding rom private sector partnerships will

allow or the creation o wage subsidies and stipends, making service a easible option or more South Aricans.

The NYSU also hopes to cover a wider range o issues with its projects, such as anti-poverty, working with

disabled people, and implementing programs in correctional institutions. However, its current unding model

inhibits growth because government departments are implementing the NYS programs, and this limits the

NYSUs ability to oversee and manage projects.

The Conerence has been very

inormative, because the government o Barbados

is going to develop a NYS program, so were

looking at best practices and models that exist in

other countries so that we can learn rom others

experiences. Coming out o this conerence,

I have better inormation to advise the

government o Barbados to implement a national

youth service program.

Hally Hanes, Director o Youth, Ministry o Family,

Youth, Sports and Environment, Barbados


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1 8


Demonstrating the value o investing in NYS

Since the end o mandatory service in France, the country has been unable to create an eective and all-

inclusive program that runs on a voluntary basis. Because youth service programs tend to be ragile and

unstable, Unis-Cit works with business and public ocials to amiliarize them with NYS organizations and to

ensure that these are supported to unction eectively. In order to prove the worth o NYS, a research program

was carried out o the Unis-Cit youth service program to demonstrate that it is worthy o the investment o

public time and money.

Valerie Bequet o the Universit de Cergy/Pontoise in France was the evaluator o Unis-Cit and described

how the study took place in two parts: surveys were conducted o individual participants and surveys were also

conducted with organizations that were hosting the young servers. The individual volunteer component was alongitudinal study that surveyed youth at the start o their voluntary service, at the end, and six months later.

The organization component involved a qualitative study that measured the impacts o programs, analyzed the

data, and examined how unds are spent. The data were used to persuade policy makers that NYS is a valuable

and productive experience, and to evaluate how public unds should be allocated.

Strengthening program quality through monitoring and evaluation

A dierent evaluation model was developed by Students Partnerships Worldwide (SPW), which is a

collection o organizations in eight countries in Sub-Saharan Arica, South Asia, the United Kingdom, the

United States, and Australia.

According to James Foanah, Monitoring and Evaluation Coordinator or Students Partnerships WorldwideSierra Leone, the primary objective o SPW programs is peer reproductive health education. Perormance

is measured against goals that are established and communicated to each regional oce, with individual

programs being accountable or producing results. Daily, weekly and monthly progress reports and reporting

orms are completed. In addition, structured surveys are conducted as well as ocus groups and long-term case

studies, to gather inormation that is evaluated, discussed and disseminated.

More and more, National Youth Service programs are being challenged to provide evidence o their impact

on young people and on the wellbeing o the countries in which they operate. Dierent evaluation modelscan be used to measure the impact o NYS programs, both on participants and on the community. At least

six examples o NYS evaluation approaches were presented at the Conerence. Participants learned about

the outcomes o various impact assessments and discussed the implications or their own NYS programs as

well as or the eld o NYS as a whole.

mau ipa naal Yu s Pa

Papa a cuy


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The reporting ramework involves an

intricate network o local, regional,

national, and international oces

that compile their individual reports

into an annual report o consolidated

inormation about the programs status

and progress. This orm o evaluation

takes commitment, time and eort at alllevels to compile, review and consolidate

reports.

SPWs experience is that it can be dicult

to obtain consistent nancial support rom

donors to invest in young people leading,

measuring and evaluating perormance.

These challenges make it dicult to

implement thorough monitoring and

evaluation systems on a regular basis,

but by advocating or investment in

evaluation and integrating evaluation into the bers o its program system, SPW has succeeded in developing

a comprehensive evaluation method or the program overall.

Measuring youth service impact against national data

The loveLie groundBREAKER youth service program in South Arica ocuses on HIV/AIDS awareness and

prevention through youth-ocused campaigns and peer education. In 2006, loveLie commissioned a study

to determine whether graduates o the program went on to study or nd jobs, whether they retained their

commitment to community service and leadership, and what they perceived the value o the program to be.

The study involved a survey o a representative sample o young people who had participated in the

groundBREAKER program. According to Helene Perold, Executive Director oVolunteer and Service

Enquiry Southern Arica (VOSESA), which carried out the study, the challenge was that loveLie had no

baseline data against which the impact o the program could be measured. A comparison prole was thus setup or the study, using comparable national data drawn rom other studies. The quantitative nature o the data

rom loveLie study made it possible to compare those results with other statistical data relevant to the general

South Arican youth population.

These strategies produced a sel-assessed impact study that could be compared with national data to evaluate

program success. It ound that these youth service program graduates went on to study urther than the

national average, had better employment prospects and were more involved in voluntary service at community

level in the long term.

The experience underscores the importance o gathering baseline data at the start o youth service programs. It

was also pointed out that the measurements taken by loveLie demonstrate the attitudes o the youth themselves,

but do not address the cost-eectiveness questions that investors and policy makers will be likely to ask.

The importance o rigorous evidence o youth service impact

Steve Powell, the Director oProMENTE in Bosnia Herzegovina reported on a study conducted or the

Association o Voluntary Service Organisations (AVSO) in which ProMENTE collected and analyzed 300

report documents, only 50 o which provided evaluation o the impact o long-term voluntary service. He

noted that impact studies very oten do not have the methodological teeth to demonstrate that voluntary


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service is eective and worthwhile.

It is not enough to have a good

website and happy volunteers:

there needs to be concrete

demonstration o the impacts o

voluntary service.

Steve Powell argued that it is

not sucient to ask volunteers

i they eel they benetted rom

the program or i they would like

to continue volunteering. Real

evidence depends on identiying

the most signicant changes

achieved by the program, mapping

outcomes, conducting qualitative

studies, and calculating direct

estimates o economic benet

and benets to the served. The

World Bank holds that service is

promising but not proven, and is looking or proo not just that youth are better o ater the program, but that

it was the service that had the positive eect. Thereore, in addition to pre- and post-service comparison, it is

also necessary to compare youth who participated in the service program with a sample o their peers who did

not. It is important to measure actors such as how the program aects the employability o youth, their lie

skills, knowledge o issues, independence and leadership, in comparison with peers who did not participate.

Such comparative data can provide solid evidence or program eectiveness.

To assist others in the more rigorous assessment o youth service program impact, AVSO provides

denitions o key terms and a volunteerism impact measurement portal via its website. The measurement

portal is ree to service and voluntarism organizations, and includes a tool pool o questionnaires and

methods available to all.

Developing the youth service research feld

In the discussion that ollowed, Susan Stroud reported that ICP and the World Banks Children and Youth

unit hosted an international experts meeting at the World Bank to identiy gaps in the existing research on

youth service and to develop a research agenda to move youth service rom a promising but unproven to a

proven strategy or development. In ollow-up to that meeting, ICP is working with international experts to

develop tools or high-quality impact evaluation o youth service programs to highlight the impact o youth

service and encourage urther investment in the eld.

The platorm or Belgian Citizen Services has approached economists and is developing workshop or

evaluating the economic benets o NYS, using data that shows the cost o endowing participants with certain

skills or knowledge, and then mapping the economic benets o the participants transormation to society.

Participants indicated that it is also necessary to measure dierent variables within youth service organizations

such as employee training, managers, etc. This way, program ineectiveness that stems rom internal

operational weaknesses are not attributed to the program design, and problems can be addressed at their

source. Separating out the variables helps to distinguish between the need or changes within the organization

versus the organization as a whole.


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Public and private unding required to renew Kenyan NYS

The National Youth Service in Kenya provides various types o job training or participants, contributes to

emergency and disaster operations, and undertakes construction projects that serve various national interests.

The NYS is unded through several sources. The government annual budget covers recurrent and development

expenditures. Income generating activities like construction and electricity services provide a revenue fow

into the organization, but the declining condition o machinery has resulted in a decreased demand or these

services. The service receives external unding rom countries like Japan, Germany, the Netherlands and the

United Kingdom.

GK Somba Kivalya, the Deputy Secretary in the Kenyan Ministry o Youth Aairs, argued that the qualitative

value return o the service is ar more than the government unding would suggest. I all o the service

participants entered the job market to be employed at the national average output per worker, there would

be $475 million USD added to the countrys GDP. Furthermore, the NYS group works more cheaply than

proessionals and could help the government save money.

However, the government does not suciently und the costs o volunteer training, and thus is not getting

its ull return on the volunteers. The NYS aces a lack o appropriate construction and training equipment, a

shortage o sta, low budgetary allocation and a lack o interest rom development partners. Other constraints

are an inadequate policy ramework or the national youth service and a lack o employment opportunities

or program graduates. The program needs more unding to buy essentials like ood and uel, and to build sta

capacity or training and management. The service also requires bilateral technical assistance or capacitybuilding. These needs necessitate the securing o private sector investment in the absence o adequate

government unding.

Funding NYS programs rom the public purse raises a number o issues concerning public costs and unding

strategies. These include questions o sustainability, making sure that the services provided by young peoplemeet public needs, and ensuring that youth service does not revolve around narrow political or economic

interest.

Five examples o public unding strategies or NYS were presented at the Conerence. The examples dier

widely, but all demonstrate that national youth service cannot rely on public unding alone. And while

the question o return on the investment in youth service is pertinent, some speakers questioned the cost

o NOT investing in youth service.

exa Pul c a fu

naal Yu s


24/55


The social costs o not unding NYS in Jamaica

Jamaica has the highest debt-to-GDP ratio in the

world and has experienced only 1% o GDP growth

over the past 30 years. While 16% o the budget goes

towards education, the returns on this investment

are low compared to other Caribbean countries. Both

public sector and private sector income been growing

in Jamaica, and so the NYS is looking or strongerpublic-private partnerships to strengthen its resource

base. The increased government commitment to

NYS indicates the government is willing to play a role

in such a partnership.

Adinhair Jones, Executive Director o the Jamaican

National Youth Service, said that a good cost-

benet analysis o NYS or Jamaica is the cost o

incarceration o youth. The government spends

J$500,000 on inmates, while the cost o NYS in that same timerame is J$130,000. Additionally, according

to a 2003 World Bank report, juvenile crime costs citizens East Caribbean$208,000 per year, and every 1%

increase in crime causes a decrease o one hal to three-quarters o a percent in tourism, one o Jamaicasmain industries. Adinhair Jones argues that the social costs o not unding NYS, such as prison costs, loss in

productivity and industry due to violence, costs o crime, and costs o poverty, translate into economic costs

as well. This act is increasingly being recognized in Jamaica and internationally. Going orward, a loan and a

social grant rom the International Development Bank will provide a combined added contribution o over J$1

billion, which, combined with an increase in government unding by roughly the same amount, will cause a

large boost in Jamaicas NYS.

There are three models in Jamaica or unding NYS: the private sector can pay a participants stipend, the

government or NGO gives the participant assistance, or the placement that the participant receives gives a

guaranteed position to the participant to become a consultant or a mentor to the organization. Jamaica also

has a strong marketing and media campaign or NYS, which has been helpul in garnering public attention,

attracting private sector interest, and drawing government support.

Reducing the visibility o government in UK youth service programs

v in the UK is a youth-led charity. It is designed to implement a new ramework that was developed through

the Russell Commission, a joint eort o the chie o an energy company and the British government. The

program was largely designed around the idea that a government-sponsored service program would be a turn-

o to youth in the UK who do not want to be told what to do by the government.

v is charged with creating a step change in the quality, quantity, and diversity o youth service programs in

the UK. According to Tracy Herald, the Head o Policy and Projects, v is completely youth-led, with its own

youth advisory board and youth on the Board o Trustees. Among vs responsibilities are generating private

sector investment, creating marketing and awareness campaigns, and unding third sector organizations. The

v core grant comes rom the UK government (the Oce o the Third Sector) and unds short-term, part-time,and ull-time youth volunteering activities and projects.

One o the organizations most successul initiatives is the v match und, which matches corporate

contributions with equal v unds. This generates double the money and double the impact by inspiring the

private sector. Other v operations include its website, marketing campaigns, and research and evaluation. So

ar the program has been very eective in increasing service capacity, achieving sustainability, and having a

strong community impact.


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Using youth service to strengthen livelihoods and support peace Aghanistan

The Joint National Youth Service Program (JYNP) in Aghanistan

was born out o the extremely large youth population in that country,

and the need to increase youth participation in governance, civil

society, development, and peace-building. According to Zardasht

Shams, the Director o Planning and External Aairs in the Ministry

o Inormation and Culture in Aghanistan, the our components o the

program are: strengthening governmental capacity to respond to youthneeds; promoting non-ormal education and awareness or developing

skills; promoting volunteerism as a method or peace and development;

and engaging youth in governance, development, social, and political

processes at all political levels.

Funding or the JYNP has nearly doubled since the programs

inception, but comes nearly entirely rom international donors such

as USAID, UNDP, CIDA, UNICEF, UNV and UNESCO. National

partners include the Ministries o Education; Inormation, Culture

and Youth; Labor and Social Aairs; Higher Education; Rural

Rehabilitation and Development; and Womens Aairs, as well as

other civil society groups. The JYNP reaches 20,000 youth per yearwith youth development centers, district level youth councils, and

youth communication and inormation centers equipped with internet

and technological training opportunities.

Zardasht Shams said that while terrorists attempt to recruit youth or

their own eorts, the JYNP seeks to counteract this and provide young

people with alternatives through religious and traditional institutions,

workshops, condence building, building aith in peace, and teamwork.

Public-private partnerships drive youth service unding in Italy

The National Civic Service in Italy is unded by a combination o public and private support. Government

unding or the NYS in Italy comes through the National Oce, under the responsibility o the Prime

Minister. 85% o the government budget or the NYS is or supporting the volunteers, 10% goes to training

activities and 5% is allocated to managing the work o the NYS. However, the government unding makes up

only a percentage o the total budget or NYS projects, which are run by local non-prot organizations.

There are many dierent models o how local organizations run the NYS projects and what percentage o their

budget and unding comes rom the National Oce. For example, an organization such as Caritas has many

programs in addition the NYS project, and the government unding supports only a percentage o their NYS

projects. On the other hand, Licio Palazzini, the President oArci Servizio Civile, explained that all o the

programs o his organization are NYS-related. 85% o their unding comes through local private organizations,

and the only public unding they receive rom the National Oce is to support part o the cost o training

volunteers. For each volunteer, Arci Servizio Civile spends 250 on training, management, support, etc, and

they receive only 90 per volunteer rom the government towards training activities.

NYS volunteers receive a stipend, which is paid directly to the volunteers by the government. This helps

to avoid misallocation o unds. In addition, having the stipends go directly to the volunteers rom the

government also helps to reinorce the public nature o the NYS program and emphasizes that the volunteer is

providing a public service.

Aghanistan has been at war

or thirty years. 60-65% o the population in

Aghanistan are young people. One can create

a national program or youth to augment the

capacity o young people. Here at the conerence,

people get together, get to know each other, and

exchange their cultures I think I will use the idea

o NYS or the young Aghanis to understand what

exactly volunteering means... The NYS idea will help

Aghanistan in many aspects. It is better to send

youth rom one province to another province and

learn what national service is. We do not have too

much money, but it is very important to fnd the

unding or the NYS project. I young people fnd the

idea o NYS interesting, it will encourage them and

help them to learn the value o national service over

personal service.

Zaher Gauss, Deputy Minister, Ministry o Inormation

and Culture, Aghanistan (Translated rom French)


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While research shows that

or every Euro spent on NYS

it produces 1.8 in return,

the government still ails to

consistently allocate large

amounts o unding to the NYS.

Additionally, this model o high

return is only possible i largenumbers o participants can

be included, making the need

or unding in Italy much more

proound.

Conclusion

All these examples demonstrate

the need or more than just

public unding or NYS, whether

it is private additional unding,

revenue-generated unding,or support rom international governments and organizations. This can raise the issue o balance between

dierent unding sources, and whether the NYS program is perceived as a state-run or private program.

The issue o return on investment is also signicant or governments in deciding to und NYS. The cases

o Jamaica and Aghanistan argued the cost o NOT investing in youth through service programs by looking

at the costs associated with crime and incarceration, and the threat o recruitment o youth by terrorist

groups, respectively. The Kenyan case argued the need or governments to invest ully in NYS so as to provide

adequate training and support, otherwise government will not get the ull value rom the young servers.

Finally, although research has shown a return on investment o 1.8 or every Euro spent in on the NYS

in Italy, that program still struggles to persuade government to allocate sucient unds or NYS.


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Productive partnerships are mutually benefcial

City Year is a youth service program that ocuses on educational issues in the United States, addressing

dropout rates, ailing grades, and literacy. Working in cities with low turnouts o high school graduates, City

Year mobilizes a volunteer corps that works to build young peoples skills and condence to succeed in school

and beyond.

City Year has very strong partnerships with private organizations and, according to Robert Gordon, the Senior

Vice President o Civic Leadership at City Year, this is essential to sustain service programs in America. City

Year is a $16 million organization that receives 3% o its unding rom the government via AmeriCorps,

and 70% rom the corporate sector. There are nine national leadership sponsors, namely Timberland, CSX,

Comcast, T-Mobile, and others that contribute to City Years leadership development. Volunteers rom all 156teams wear uniorms provided by Timberland: boots, pants, hats, etc., so they are immediately recognized in

schools and on worksites.

City Year looks or three criteria in corporate partners: dedication to the community; the ability to contribute

intellectual as well as nancial capital; and talented employees. One goal o these partnerships is the

cultivation o a strong relationship where the company invests more than just money. City Year and its

corporate partners are mutually invested in one another. City Year has survived three economic recessions,

largely because philanthropic companies continue to ocus on organizations they believe in, despite the

economic situation.

Patrick Baboin, Vice President o the Timberland Company USA/France, explained that Timberlands

motto o Doing Well, and Doing Good, speaks to the socially conscious aspects o the companys prole.

The relationship between Timberland and City Year began as a donation o a couple hundred pairs o boots

and grew into a major unding program. City Year is deeply engrained in the culture o the company and the

workers. Even when Timberland nearly went bankrupt in 1995, it never stopped unding City Year and even

increased the amount o unding during that time. Baboin said that the nature o the relationship would have

made it criminal to terminate the partnership.

Philanthropic leaders rom private sector organizations demonstrated the innovative ways in which they

have partnered with organizations to support youth civic engagement programs. The panelists discussedtrends in NYS corporate philanthropy and implications or increasing private sector investment in NYS

programs and the youth civic engagement eld.

Four themes emerged in this part o the Conerence: the importance o mutually benecial partnerships,

helping young people access employment and business skills, leadership and program development, and

building strong organizations and programs to improve the lives o young people.

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An important eature o City Years relationship with its corporate partners is that the private sector does

not infuence the type o service that is done. For this reason it is crucial that Timberland trusts and ully

understands the City Year program. One o the key activities that strengthens the partnership is the days

o service, during which employees work with youth involved in service programs. This helps Timberland

employees see the benets o the organization that they are working to und. The two entities become

increasingly tied together and their commitment to one another is solidied. The partnership with City Year

makes Timberland employees proud o what they do, and rearms the mission o the company itsel to provide

socially conscious apparel.

Helping young people access employment and business skills

Chantal Monvois o Fondation VINCI pour la Cit described how Fondation VINCI works to create

links between companies and civic organizations with two objectives in mind: increasing youth access to

employment and creating social connections. The methods or enabling youth to maximize their access to

employment are helping organizations such as those dealing with drug or accident rehabilitation, which help

individuals re-claim their lives; helping organizations that improve literacy; and increasing social mobility

by helping people to escape poverty. The methods used to create social connections involve creating support

groups among the impoverished and the unemployed; increasing access to housing; and aiding Unis-Cit in its

youth civic engagement eorts.

The partnership between Fondation VINCI and Unis-Cit began in 2002, and VINCI has been a consistentnancial supporter o the youth service program. The relevance o Unis-Cits programs in promoting youth

employability and providing direct services to the community makes it an ideal partner or VINCI. A union

between the salaried workers o VINCI and the social actors o Unis-Cit allows or the combination o skills,

manpower and knowledge to create new business ideas, such as ecological car washes. Youth benet rom these

programs through support rom proessionals, working in teams, discovering their career passion, and having

access to a source o employability, while VINCI benets by being able to connect salaried workers with a

young and motivated population, and by creating a more capable, ambitious workorce that is invested in

service and in VINCI itsel. Employees become more strongly connected, loyal and committed to their jobs,

and to service.

Developing youth leadership or youth service internationallyThe Open Society Institute (OSI) is a private operating and grant-making oundation that aims to shape

public policy and promote democracy, human rights, and economic, social, and legal reorm. OSI is ounded by

George Soros and operates in over 60 countries, making grants and monitoring the use o the donated money.

Through OSI-sponsored programs, youth are empowered to become active citizens by engaging in debate,

citizen journalism, and sel-designed service projects.

Anne Campbell, an OSI representative, described one o the key programs unded by OSI as the

Undergraduate Exchange Program. This enables university students to study abroad in the United States,

participate in service projects in the US, and then take what they learn back to their home countries

and undertake service projects there. Participants develop skills such as project planning and identiying

community needs, supported by a small grant rom OSI. While programs such as this one are very expensive,

the challenge is to attract strong leaders, and make sure that the maximum dollar value o results is created inthe short and long run.


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Building strong organizations and programs to improve the lives o young people

The International Youth Foundation (IYF)

supports local eorts around the world to

improve the lives o young people, working

to better the conditions in which they live

and enhancing their prospects or the uture.

IYF builds alliances across sectors to leverage

knowledge, resources and experiences todisseminate best practices and strategies. The

IYF has worked with hundreds o companies,

oundations and NGOs to build up eective

programs and to establish strong partnerships.

Alan Williams, the Vice President o the

Leadership and Civic Engagement Center at

the IYF, said that multi-sector partnerships are

critical because global challenges require unique

experiences rom every sector. Corporate sector

support is essential or locking in resources in a community and in turn, healthy communities will better be

able to support the corporate sector. Working somewhat dierently rom the partnership between Timberlandand City Year, IYF believes in a policy o co-creation, where all partners collaborate on designing and

implementing programs. Programs should also have local relevance, be rooted in the local youth need, and be

fexible to allow or exclusive corporate branding. In IYFs view, there are three key principles or a successul

partnership: measurement o individual and societal program outcomes; ensuring that international multi-

sector alliances are built; and commitment to quality design, execution, and monitoring o relationships.

Nokia serves as a good case study or the IYFs

model o a corporate partnership. Nokia

has been an IYF partner or over nine years,

working with six dierent youth development

themes, which ocus on youth citizenship,

social entrepreneurship, technology,education, and employability. The program

links youth initiative to Nokias connecting

people brand and values. The glue o the

partnership between IYF and Nokia are

the shared goals and values between the

two organizations. Both are optimistic yet

concerned about the youth demographics

and trends, and are invested in the spirit o

co-creation, local relevance, and measurement

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I n t e r n a t i o n a l A s s o c i a t i o n o r N a t i o n a l Yo u t h S e r v i c e s

Restoring the tradition o service through youth

The Make a Connection program o the International Youth Foundation works in dierent countries to

ensure that youth are more equipped to make meaningul connections within their communities andwith other youth. Karin Akins described how in Central and Eastern Europe, programs seek to restore the

tradition o service that was interrupted during the communist years. Youth compete or small grants to

implement volunteer projects in their communities. In the Czech Republic, these grants are a vehicle or

youth who are socially and economically vulnerable, have disabilities or identiy themselves as lesbian, gay,

bisexual, transgender or questioning (LGBTQ), to engage their peers and benet their communities. The

IYF strives to include participants o diverse ethnic, socioeconomic, gender/sexual orientation and physical

backgrounds. The youth gain skills in creative and critical thinking, problem solving, confict management,

and interpersonal interactions, as well as a sense o sel condence and belonging.

Overcoming discrimination in schools

Hungary has one o the most segregated school systems in Europe. Achievement is largely dependent on astudents socioeconomic status and so there are great inequalities within schools in Hungary. Rita Galambos,

the Executive Director o the Foundation or Democratic Youth (DIA) in Hungary, explained how a Peace

Corps volunteer, Richard Harrill, realized that Hungarys transitional state presented special opportunities

or youth activism in building and developing their communities. Out o this has grown the mission o DIA,

which is to instill active citizenship through experiential learning, service learning and community projects.

DIA is one o the Make a Connection programs unded by Nokia through IYF. The organization provides

young people with a creative outlet that cannot be ound in schools. They dream up a service project and DIA

helps them turn this project into reality through project management and minimal unding. Most o the DIA

participants comprise middle class students that want to be useul in society, but DIA osters social inclusion by

extending these opportunities to disadvantaged youth. The program ocuses on building lie and employability

skills such as cooperation, empathy, leadership, confict resolution, problem solving, critical thinking, sel

esteem and social awareness. These qualities are not prioritized in schools and the program thus plays an

important role in developing well-rounded young people.

How can NYS be utilized as a strategy or social inclusion o disadvantaged groups? And how can NYS

programs become more inclusive and accessible or all groups? Three case studies were presented to

show how participation in NYS can be benecial to members o disadvantaged groups as well as to the

communities in which they are located.

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Promoting social cohesion through service

The Roma are a gypsy population

in Eastern Europe which aces

extensive discrimination.

John Stringham o the Roma-

Gadje Dialogue through

Service (RGDTS) in Germany

described how the Roma areoten categorized as mentally

disabled and are discriminated

against in the schools, which

are heavily segregated. As a

result, they receive unequal

access to education. RGDTS

works predominantly in Roma

areas, engaging youth in

ecological projects or in eorts

with disabled people. These

opportunities give Roma youth

a chance to experience their

communities and to prove to

the world that they are not any

less caring or capable than any

other population in the world.

Mr. Stringham showed a lm

that portrayed the lie

ianys 8th conference report

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