National Youth Service :
A Global Perspective
Contents
Introduction
1: National Service Programs and Proposals
Profiles of National Service
2: Aspects of National Youth Service
Appendix A: Global Conference Participants, June 18-21, 1992
Appendix B: Annotated Bibliography
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1. National service programs and proposals
France
General Raymond Caire
Chairman, Interministerial Commission on Civilian Forms of National Service
National service in France is linked with the lev?e en masse decree by Barrere in 1793 and with the military conscription law of 1905. In 1971, this law was changed to the national service law, which provides for both military and civilian forms of service. National service has these characteristics: It is primarily but not exclusively military. Of the conscripts who enter national service, 90 percent enter military service, 5 percent enter civilian service and 5 percent enter military service for civilian purposes. The length of conscript service in the military is 10 months. Only 70 percent of young men enter some form of national service. The balance are exempted for medical reasons (20%) or family reasons (5%), or are declared unfit for service during the first three months (5%). Women are not drafted, but may volunteer for either civilian or military forms of service. The number of women in national service is now 2,500. Conscripts wishing to enter civilian forms of service must volunteer for them, although the army has absolute priority.
Civilian Forms of Service. Presently there are five forms of civilian service of varying durations, with 16,000 participants. The Cooperation Service (16 months) is intended to help developing countries, especially those in francophone Africa. Conscripts serve in areas such as teaching, medical centers, and economic development. The Technical Assistance Service (16 months) has the same role as the Cooperation Service except that it benefits French overseas departments and territories.
The National Police Service (10 months) assigns conscripts to serve as police auxiliaries in any tasks entrusted to professional policemen, except those involved in maintaining order. The Civil Security Service (10 months) places conscripts with first-aid centers attached to professional civilian fire brigades. Currently it is in the experimental stage. The Conscientious Objectors' Service (20 months) assigns young men to social, cultural, educational, and environmental activities.
Military Service for Civilian Purposes. Together with purely civilian forms of service, mixed forms of military service for civilian purposes are available. These programs enroll some 7,000 conscripts. The Paris Fire Brigade, the Marseille Fire Battalion, and the civil security training and intervention units train young men to use civil security techniques during their military service. These military units specialize in giving assistance in case of natural disasters, as in Algeria, Armenia, Colombia, Mexico, and Nicaragua. They serve in these places with members of the German Technical Aid Service.
Other forms of military service for civilian purposes are based on agreements between the Ministry of Defense and civilian ministries. These agreements meet needs for solidarity and could evolve toward entirely civilian forms of service. For example, conscripts serve as teachers of various subjects and as aides to disabled persons.
A special form of military service, which may be compared to a civilian form, is the adapted military service for overseas departments and territories. This service allows young men from those places to acquire professional training.
A New "City Service." The government decided recently to increase from 400 to 4,000 the number of conscripts devoted to a "City Service." These conscripts will be drawn both from civilian forms of service and from military service for civilian purposes, and will work in disadvantaged urban areas. Their activities will include public security, tutoring pupils, helping to maintain buildings and surroundings, and supporting out-of-school activities.
The Future. Finally, one must emphasize the present government's will to create new forms of civilian service, derived from existing agreements. For this purpose, a decree dated 21 June 1990 created an Interministerial Commission for Civilian Forms of National Service. Aided by the General Secretariat for National Defense in the Office of the Prime Minister, the Commission is to propose to the Prime Minister new and experimental formulas for national service which could be activated in the future. In addition, the Commission has the mission to monitor existing civilian forms of national service and to propose annual instructions to the Prime Minister as well as the number and quality of young men to be incorporated into civilian forms of national service.
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