Bibliography

:

Organisations

:

Research

:

Global conferences

:

Country updates

Chapter 4

Charter of the International Association for National Youth Service

(Note: for the update to this charter, see 5th conference, held four years later in Israel in 2000.)

Remarks on the International Association

Introduction to Discussion of the Charter

We are here because National Youth Service is filling a need that has been appearing in many countries in recent years. NYS actually helps to fill two major gaps found in large countries and small, Third World and First World. On the one hand, the extended family system is breaking down. People are not there to care for the old folks, the infants, the mentally retarded, the disabled. On the other hand, large numbers of young people have nothing useful to do. They are not wanted by employers, school doesn't work for them, they tend to drift into the world of crime and drugs. Even those who go to school and even to university, often find themselves lost. They don't know what they want to do with their lives.

NYS brings together the needs that are not being met with the need of young people to be needed, to find something useful to do, to test out possible career choices, to gain work experience, to develop self-esteem and self-confidence.

We are here to make a decision about forming an International Association for National Youth Service. At the two previous conferences, in the USA in 1992 and in Nigeria in 1994, there were strong expressions of interest in creating a body to facilitate the exchange of information on NYS. This includes people in both the governmental and the private sectors: government officials who run programs, study commissioners who are charged with examining NYS and making recommendations on its implementation, professors who conduct research and make evaluations of NYS, as well as individual advocates of NYS.

Several years ago Papua New Guinea developed an impressive plan for National Youth Service. It was a comprehensive plan that included service opportunities for young people who were unemployed or in secondary school or university, and related these service activities to those in military service. It has not as yet been put into place but I hope that this global conference will help to get this plan back onto the agenda so that Papua New Guinea can exploit the promise offered by National youth Service.

I have been assisting the organizers of this conference for two years now and want to salute those who have made it possible. The list includes but is not limited to Clant Alok, who was at the first Global Conference in 1992, James Mileng and John Maru, who have headed the National Youth Service Commission, James Yalya and Theresa Tabel, who have been conference coordinators, and others such as Dr. Milligana, Dr. Bruce Yeates, Richard Curzon and Mrs Enni Moiatz.

The origin of the proposed Association lies in the resolution adopted unanimously by the 1992 conference. One sentence from the resolution reads as follows: "The Conference recommends the international exchange and sharing of ideas and experiences as well as working together toward the development of a global youth service program that takes account of the need to implement sustainable development strategies." This recommendation was strengthened at the 1994 conference in Nigeria which called for the establishment of an International Association for National Youth Service.

One of the first decisions made by Papua New Guinea in planning for the conference was to set up an International Advisory Committee, one of whose tasks was to draft a charter for your consideration.

Copies of the Charter were sent out with invitations and comments were invited. The packet you received contains the draft charter with changes that have been recommended. What I would like to do is to look at each section briefly and highlight what it is intended to do. Then we can discuss each section in detail and review the wording to be sure it meets the objectives.

Preamble

• fosters nation-building, strengthens communities, accomplishes important human and environmental services, and is a positive instrument for youth development;
• promotes mutual understanding among diverse groups as well as global peace and co-operation; deserves consideration by all countries as a major youth policy; and
• should be the topic of international exchange of ideas and of global co-operation; and

Article one (1)

1. Offer opportunities for young people to serve others, while supporting them in their activities and recognising the value of the service;
   
2. Provide young people with opportunities to acquire skills in order to become productive members of their societies;
   
3. Enable young people to be active participants in their own development:
   
4. Instill self-discipline as well as esprit de corps so that young people become responsible members of their communities;
   
5. Involve young people as partners in decisions regarding the nature and conduct of national youth service;
   
6. Offer participants a rite of passage from adolescence to adulthood;
   
7. Recognise and promote the important role which national youth service can play in ensuring gender equity; and
   
8. Harness the leadership potential of young people.

• Nation-building, where, for instance, young people serve in different parts of the country from where they grew up;
• Education and reflection, where young people learn from their service experiences;
• The value of service in other countries by young people;
• An alternative to military service, where a period of civilian service is considered the equivalent of a period of military service;
• Training and employment, where young people have the opportunity to develop skills through participation in service activities;
• Mobilising the skills of young people in national reconstruction and development.

National Youth Service programmes:

• Emphasise service to others and to the environment, accompanied with personal development activities;
• Offer participation to young people, usually from 15 to 30 years of age;
• Have an optimal service duration of six (6) to twenty four (24) months, usually full-time;
• Have a range of service activities, including conservation, environment, health, education, child care, recreation, economic development and preservation of traditional cultures;
• Deliver services valued at more than the cost of the programmes; and deliver programmes from which the youthful participants emerge with:
  increased awareness of the needs of others;
  development of new skills;
  a clearer sense of career options and interests;
  increased self-confidence, self-esteem, and social maturity;
  pride in a job well done;
  new attitudes to authority, family and community;
  leadership and teamwork skills;
  increased awareness of cultural origins and of social justice in the wider community;
  greater employability; and
  increased understanding and respect among ages, races, and religious, ethnic and linguistic groups.

National Youth Service also embraces the fields generally known as service-learning or study service, where students receive academic recognition for the learning acquired from serving others. Service-learning and study service may be either part-time or full-time.

Article two (2)

Activities of the Association may include but not be limited to:

1. Collecting and disseminating information about NYS programmes throughout the world;
2. Providing assistance to countries and organisations interested in establishing NYS Programmes;
3. Fostering the development of National Youth Service programmes through exchanges and training of both staff members and young people in service;
4. Organising global and regional conferences on NYS;
5. Helping to arrange multi-National Youth Service teams;
6. Collaborating with the United Nations and other international bodies in activities of common interest;
7. Sharing information with NYS participants regarding progress in meeting human and environmental development goals and the role to be played by NYS participants in meeting these goals; and
8. Assisting the conduct of NYS research, monitoring, and evaluation.

Article three (III)

The Association shall have four (4) classes of members, namely:

• State Members, which shall be limited to those nation states which declare in writing that they subscribe to the Charter and that they wish to join the Association;

• Organisational Members, which are those organisations that declare in writing that they subscribe to the Charter and that they wish to join the Association; and
• Individual Members, who shall be persons who declare in writing that they subscribe to the Charter and that they wish to join the Association; and
• Co-operative members, which shall be those international bodies that state their intention to undertake activities in co-operation with the Association.

Article four (iv)

A permanent Secretariat for the Association may be established when financial resources permit and when approved by the Association.

Until then, Secretariat responsibilities shall reside with the country that most recently hosted a Global NYS Conference until that country hands over responsibility to another country, most likely the host of the succeeding global conference. Not more than six (6) months after the conference, the host country will hand over all relevant materials to the country nominated to hold the next conference.

Article five (v)

Member countries of the Association may form Regional Associations for the purposes of holding meetings and for other purposes consistent with this Charter.

Establishment

This Charter is established by the following founding members as attendees at the 3rd Global Conference on National Youth Service held in Papua New Guinea.

Donald J Eberly, Founding Director, National Service Secretariat, USA
Dr Reuven Gal, Carmel Institute of Social Studies, Israel
Ierevita Biriti, Ministry of Environment and Social Development, Kiribati
Tinia Rakenang, Ministry of Environment and Social Development, Kiribati
Col. Samson M. Dule, National Youth Service Corps, Abuja, Nigeria
Michael Maravila, National Youth Forum of Papua New Guinea
Charles Fox, Solomon Islands Youth Congress
Brigadier J.M.A. Swanepoel, Service Corps, South Africa
John Lamola, Xcel Management Services, South Africa
Otto R. Kuene, National Youth Commission of South Africa
George Hikah Benson, National Service Personnel Association, Ghana
Pou A. Vaeau, Youth and Sports Co-ordinator, Ministry Of Internal Affairs, Cook Islands
P.C.Misra, Indian Institute of Youth and Development, Orissa, India
Supriadi, Head, Sub Directorate of Young Entrepreneur Development, Ministry of Manpower on Behalf of Ministry of Youth And Sport, Republic of Indonesia
Sonia Togna et Flavien Palagota, Association Jeunesse Kanaky Monde, New Caledonia
Nigel Watt, Director, Co-ordinating Committee for International Voluntary Service
Colonel Joseph Mneene Miti, Director of Administration Branch, Zambia National Service
Sheila Allison, National Clearinghouse for Youth Studies, Australia
Sandra Hamilton, Manager, Ministry of Youth Affairs, New Zealand
Robyn Hartley, Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, Coburg Campus, Victoria, Australia
Gwen Davis-Goff, Project Manager, Department of Employment, Education, Training And Youth Affairs, Australia