We are on the threshold of the 21^st Century, with the multitude of challenges and opportunities the new millennium holds for us. This is a very exciting time for National Youth Service (NYS) programmes world-wide. NYS has the proven ability to significantly benefit both the communities served and the young people who learn, mature and become tomorrow's responsible citizens as a result of their service.

It is a concept and practice which transcends the various cultures, religions, political systems, races and national boundaries in the world. This Conference, the 4^th Global Conference on National Youth Service, showed (as this report does) that there is an extremely wide diversity of countries with NYS programmes or interests, and that there are a great variety of reasons for initiating these programmes, but all programmes have in common a period of constructive service by young people for the community.

The wide variety of NYS exponents bears witness to the growing interest in this issue - Conference participants included government officials, representatives from non-governmental organisations, international and regional bodies, academics, youth and community leaders, students and young volunteers.

The 4^th Global Conference was organised for the International Association for National Youth Service (IANYS) by Community Service Volunteers (CSV), the UK's leading volunteering agency. It took place from 18 to 21 June 1998 at Windsor Castle, and was hosted by Elisabeth Hoodless, Executive Director of CSV, with the support of the British Government. Its theme was `National Youth Service into the 21^st Century'. As in previous Global Conferences, there was an emphasis on NYS in the host country and the region. Thus, NYS in the UK and Europe is highlighted.

The keynote speech was given by The Rt. Hon. David Blunkett, MP, the British Government's Secretary of State for Education and Employment. In addition, a message of support for the Conference was received from the British Prime Minister, Mr. Tony Blair. Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, sent a message welcoming the Conference participants to her home, Windsor Castle.

The Conference follows previous global conferences in the USA in 1992, Nigeria in 1994 and Papua New Guinea in 1996. The 5^th Global Conference is scheduled for Israel in the year 2000 (11-16 June).

The biennial Global Conference was launched in 1992 by the NYS leaders, policy-makers and researchers of a range of countries who believed that NYS programmes could be better progressed and the case of NYS strengthened through the exchange of ideas and good practice and the network-building afforded by a global meeting of expertise. It is the only forum of its kind and involves those leaders, policy-makers and researchers responsible for running or helping to develop NYS programmes both in countries with civilian service and in those countries making the transition from military to civilian service (or creating an equivalent to military service). The International Association for National Youth Service (IANYS), established in 1996, grew out of this series of global conferences to further progress NYS world-wide. Further information on both the series of Global Conferences and the IANYS is on pages 9 to 11.

This Conference, the largest of the four global conferences to date, was attended by over 80 people, representing the following 22 nations (many of these being first-time participants in this series of Conferences), and covering all the regions of the world - Europe, the Americas, Africa, Asia and Australasia/Pacific:

Argentina, Australia, Botswana, China, France, The Gambia, Germany, Ghana, Greece, India, Israel, Italy, New Zealand, Nigeria, Papua New Guinea, Portugal, Russia, South Africa, Spain, UK, USA, Zambia.

The European Commission and UNESCO were also represented.

The principal aim of the 4^th Global Conference was to help progress national youth service (NYS) programmes for the 21^st century by providing delegates with the opportunity to share good practice, acquire new ideas and solutions, and build networks. The Conference also included young people, participants in NYS schemes in their countries, with the opportunity for them to present and to contribute fully to discussions. The delegates - government officials, youth and community leaders, policy-makers, academics, and young people - took advantage of the many facilitated opportunities to share experiences, learn from each other, and build support/advice networks which they regard as crucial to the success of their own initiatives and to the growth of NYS world-wide. Many delegates also took advantage of the opportunity to join a three-day site visit to CSV's Citizen's Service projects around the UK before the Conference.