The IANYS was established at the 3^rd Global Conference on National Youth Service in 1996. The Charter of the Association outlines its underpinning principles, its purpose and its activities. The Charter was adopted by unanimous vote of the participants at the 3^rd Global Conference. At the 4^th Global Conference membership of the IANYS increased, with eleven people from six nations as new signatories to the Charter.
A copy of this Charter is also available on the web as part of the 3^rd Global Conference report via: http://www.acys.utas.edu.au/topics/nys.htm

PREAMBLE
Recognising that both the first and second Global Conference on National Youth Service, held in USA and Nigeria respectively, 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; and
concurring with the viewpoints expressed at the earlier Conferences and wishing to take measures to realise the promise of National Youth Service.
The 3^rd Global Conference on National Youth Service held in Papua New Guinea hereby establishes the International Association for National Youth Service.

ARTICLE ONE (1) STATEMENT ON NATIONAL YOUTH SERVICE
National Youth Service (NYS) serves both individual and community needs. It does this through programmes which:
1. Offer opportunities for young people to serve others, while supporting them in their activities and recognizing 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. Instil 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. Recognize and promote the important role which national youth service can play in ensuring gender equity; and
8. 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;
* Mobilising the skills of young people in national reconstruction and development.
National Youth Service programmes:
* 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, childcare, 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 young 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
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 organizations 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 (3) MEMBERSHIP
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 that 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 which state their intention to undertake activities in co-operation with the Association.

ARTICLE FOUR (4) SECRETARIAT
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 which 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 (5) REGIONAL ASSOCIATIONS
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 3^rd Global Conference:
Donald J. Eberly, Founding Director, National Service Secretariat, USA
Dr. Reuven Gal, Director, Carmel Institute for 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, Nigeria
Michael Maravila, National Youth Forum, Papua New Guinea
Charles Fox, Solomon Islands Youth Congress
Brigadier General J.M.A. Swanepoel, Service Corps, South Africa
John Lamola, Xcel Management Services, South Africa
Otto Kunene, 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 and Flavien Palagota, Association Jeunesse Kanaky Monde, New Caledonia
Nigel Watt, Director, Co-ordinating Committee for International Voluntary Service, UNESCO
Colonel Joseph Miti Mweene, Director of Administration Branch, Zambia National Service
Sheila Allison, National Clearing House for Youth Studies, Australia
Sarndra 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
New signatories at the 4^th Global Conference in 1998:
Dr. James C. Kielsmeier, President and CEO of the National Youth Leadership Council, USA
Dr. Subba Rao, Director, and Madhusudan Das and Debajani Das, Youth Activists, The National Youth
Project, India
Rajeev Bukralia, Founder and CEO, The Inspiration Courses, India
Phil Harrison, Green Corps Director, and Garry Snowden and Madeline Townsend, Managers, National
Programmes, the Australian Trust for Conservation Volunteers (now known as Conservation Volunteers Australia)
Isatou Baldeh, Service Member, Gambia National Youth Service Scheme
Clement Totimeh, President, National Service Personnel Association, Ghana
Mahlengi Bhengu, Chairperson, National Youth Commission, South Africa.