2. Aspects of national youth service
The Conference Communique: A Call To Service
The conference communique makes evident the extent of common ground held by conferees on national youth service as public policy. Sections were drafted by different conferees; the communique then was discussed and adopted with the concurrence of all conferees. It reads as follows:
A Call to Service
We, the participants of the Wingspread Conference on National Youth Service: A Global Perspective;
Coming from 14 countries in North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia, Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific Islands as representatives of governments, leaders of national service programs, and individuals experienced and interested in the field of youth development;
Affirm our ideals and convictions with respect to the benefits of national service as a positive instrument of youth development. Being aware of the need to take action to meet effectively the challenges facing our individual countries -- especially the challenges facing the youth -- we recognize the need for urgent and sustained action to reduce the unprecedented barriers to the healthy transition of young people to productive livelihood and responsible citizenship;
Find that there is great hope for humankind if in every country of the world there is opportunity for volunteer service by young people.
The conference, being aware of the worldwide need for the creation of educational, social, and environmental infrastructure, calls for the establishment and maintenance of well-designed and well-led programs of national service -- programs that are within national capacities -- to meet the needs of the communities they serve while addressing the needs of young people and making for an effective transition from adolescence to adulthood through an intensive value-based experience of selfless service; and recognizing that participation in national youth service can make a positive contribution to young people's growth and development;
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.
After full and critical examination of youth service programs around the world, the conference calls for the following actions: 1. Youth service programs are to develop strategies to ensure that every young volunteer has an opportunity to serve, and to give recognition and awards to participants whose contributions have been outstanding. 2. A representative group of young people is to be invited to participate in every consideration of youth service programs. 3. Schools are to introduce service-learning programs for students 5 to 18 years old.
4. Universities and colleges are to establish faculty- and student-led programs to ensure that every student has the opportunity to enrich his or her personal growth through off-campus community service. In particular, they are to ensure that faculties and departments identify and address community problems by involving students, and are to publish annual reports on achievements and participation.
5. Health, social service, housing, and environmental protection agencies are to establish and publish action plans for volunteer involvement to ensure young people's meaningful participation in the work of these organizations. 6. Charitable trusts and foundations are to support initiatives, including related research, in youth service.
7. Local and national governments are to a) recognize every young person's right to participate through voluntary action; b) require all publicly funded agencies to publish and implement volunteer involvement plans; c) support the global movement toward the exchange of volunteers, their leaders, and government policy makers in order to increase the effectiveness and scale of such ventures.
8. The United Nations is to support national youth service in the interest of world peace.
We also wish to advise our colleagues in other countries to be aware of the deliberations of this conference and to recognize the critical need to address the national youth service question. We invite them to participate in future national service conferences.
|