Recognizing that the previous Global Conferences on National Youth Service, concluded
that National Youth Service: * 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 National
Youth Service (NYS) serves both individual and community needs. It does this through
programs which: - Offer opportunities for young people to serve others,
while supporting them in their activities and recognizing the value of the service;
- Provide young people with opportunities to acquire skills in order to
become productive members of their societies;
- Enable young people to
be active participants in their own development:
- Instill self-discipline
as well as esprit de corps so that young people become responsible members of
their communities;
- Involve young people as partners in decisions regarding
the nature and conduct of national youth service;
- Offer participants
a rite of passage from adolescence to adulthood;
- Recognize and promote
the important role which national youth service can play in ensuring gender equity;
and
- Harness the leadership potential of young people.
- Major
rationales for National Youth Service include:
* 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; * Mobilizing
the skills of young people in national reconstruction and development.
* National Youth Service programs: * Emphasize 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 programs; and deliver programs 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. Activities of the Association
may include but not be limited to: 1. Collecting and disseminating
information about NYS programs throughout the world; 2. Providing assistance
to countries and organizations interested in establishing NYS programs;
3. Fostering the development of National Youth Service programs through exchanges
and training of both staff members and young people in service; 4. Organizing
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.
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;
- Organizational members, which are
those organizations 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.
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