Global conferences on national youth service:
Proceedings:

• 2004 (7th)
• 2002 (6th)
• 2000 (5th)
• 1998 (4th)
• 1996 (3rd)
• 1994 (2nd)
• 1992 (1st)

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NYS impact as national and international policy

DENMARK

CIVIL NATIONAL SERVICE IN THEORY AND PRACTICE

Hening Sorensen
Institute for Sociological Research

Denmark has no National Youth Service as such. Denmark has built a welfare system for equal public service for all citizens and financed by taxes. However, in three areas we have arrangements reflecting ideas of NYS, as noted in table 1. First, in connecting to military conscription
conscientious objectors can alternatively serve in public or non-profit
organizations. Second, minor misdemeanours such drunken drivers can
instead of jail "do their time" outside the prison for some beneficial
institutions for for instance 200 hours. Third, the Danish government has identified areas where private initiatives better can help than public servants or institutions. These initiatives have been given a total amount of 7 mio US$ a year for such arrangements as securing drug-prostitutes a place to rest, have a cup of coffee or paying for sleeping bags for really poor people living in the street, etc.

Table 1. CIVIL NATIONAL SERVICE (cns) IN THEORY AND PRACTICE

A model for the description of NYS, as presented below in fig. 1, is used
to sketch a specific proposal for a large scale NYS initiative for Denmark
requiring all young Danes between 18 - 25 years of age to do service for
six months and paid the income as we pay our military conscripts. It will cost approximately 600 mio US $ but wil reduce expenses for hospitals, (40 per cent of all beds are used for elderly people that might be better off in their own homes but looked after by a NYS-young person.

Fig. 1. THE CNS - model

Promoters Activists Recipients
Government
Local authority
NGO´s
Private ass.
Youth
Youth
Public sector:

• Government
• Local authorities

Public sector:

• Citizens in need
• NGOs, Local ass.
• Private companies

CNS

require

administer
finance
to do
for
Feed - back

The Welfare Model of Denmark

• Decision-maker: Government and Parliament
• Criteria for recipiency: Citizenship
• Type of finance: Tax
• Type of decision: Political
• Basic idea: Equal and unilateral. Social benefits.

The CNS-model for Denmark

1. Idea of welfare system: Equality
2. Welfare model: Control-model
3. Welfare system governed by Politicians
4. Form of finance
5. Volunteer CNS: Taxation
6. Obligatory CNS: Natural production
7. CNS-programmes
8. Volunteer: -
9. Obligatory: 1
10. CNS-persons
11. Volunteer: -
12. Obligatory: All young people 18-25 years of age
13. Not included: Conscripts and young parents
14. Duration: 6 + 1 months
15. CNS-activists are given education.
16. Education given by Public educational institutions.
17. Ordering person: Government / Local community; NGOs; Private companies; Individuals.
18. Different CNS-type of service, but only to a lesser degree.
19. Public control, but only within certain areas.
20. Type of CNS work: for society (social, humanitarian, environment)

GHANA

IMPACT AT NACIONAL AND INTERNACIONAL LEVELS

FOCUS ON AFRICA

Peter Kpordugbe

Objectives of Ghana NS

1. Re Orientation
2. Introduction to a Vigorous Work Cultures
3. Additional Life Skills
4. Awareness of National Social Problems Requiring Attention

National Impact
I - Formal Education
II - Employment
III - Economic Impact
IV - Civil - Military Integration
V - Institutional Capacity Utilization
VI - National Cohesion

International Impact

1. At National Level
2. National influence beyond its borders

Future
I - Main streaming Youth participation
(1) Africa, Demographic Logic
(2) Quality Improvement
(3) Service Learning
(4) Region Network
(5) International Pressure

GENERAL PATH FOR STRUCTURED HIGH QUALITY SERVICE LEARNING DEVELOPMENT AT NATIONAL LEVEL
I - International Pressure (?)
II - Academics Involvement in NYS Impact Research
III - Advocacy & Growing Disciples
IV - Networking & Activism [NGO, IANYS]
V - Focus on Headteachers/Teachers as Key Group
VI - Sieze Opportunities of Education Reform Programmes

---

GERMANY

VOLUNTEERING IN GERMANY

Ursula Mathieu
Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth

Voluntary Year of Social Service
Voluntary Year of Ecological Service

Information on the new regulations included in the Federal Law on the Promotion of a Voluntary Year of Social Service, in the Federal Law on the Promotion of a Voluntary Year of Ecological Service and in the Act on Civilian Service, subsequent to the entry into force of the Act amending the Federal Law on the Promotion of a Voluntary Year of Social Service on 1^st June 2002.

Cornerstones of the statutory amendments in the Federal Law on the Promotion of a Voluntary Year of Social Service and in the Federal Law on the Promotion of a Voluntary Year of Ecological Service

The currently applicable statutory regulations included in the Federal Law on the Promotion of a Voluntary Year of Social Service and in the Federal Law on the Promotion of a Voluntary Year of Ecological Service will be maintained in their basic structures and shall only be amended and supplemented in the following aspects:

Extension of the fields of commitment within the scope of a Voluntary Social Year
• By appropriate statutory amendments the promotion of voluntary services rendered by young people shall also by possible in other areas, e.g. culture, sports, preservation of monuments.

Thus far, the voluntary service within the scope of a Voluntary Social Year has been done mainly in the social sector.

Rendering the duration of the service more flexible
• By amending the statutory regulations included in both laws (Voluntary Social Year and Voluntary Ecological Year), young people shall be given the opportunity of extending the duration of the Voluntary Social Year and the Voluntary Ecological Year by a period of up to 6 months, or a maximum duration of 18 months altogether.

Thus far, voluntary service within the scope of both laws (Voluntary Social Year and Voluntary Ecological Year) could be rendered only for a maxmum period of up to 12 months non-stop.

Extension of the promotion of a voluntary service to non-European countries
• By amending the statutory regulations included in both laws (Voluntary Social Year and Voluntary Ecological Year) it shall be ensured from now on that a Voluntary Social Year and a Voluntary Ecological Year can also be promoted in non-European countries if the prerequisites of these two laws have been complied with.

Thus far, voluntary services could only be promoted within the scope of these laws when they were rendered at home or in other European countries.

Adoption of special regulations for a Voluntary Social Year and a Voluntary Ecological Year abroad

• The organizations responsible for voluntary services abroad should be admitted, as a rule, by the competent Land authority. The prerequisites of admission should be integrated in the Federal Law on the Promotion of a Voluntary Year of Social Service and in the Federal Law on the Promotion of a Voluntary Year of Ecological Service.

• Due to the fact that in foreign countries the regulations under the German social insurance law are applicable only for a limited period of time, the duration of a stay abroad for the purpose of rendering voluntary service there shall be restricted to 12 months. It shall neither be possible to render service over separate periods of time nor to extend the duration of voluntary service. As a rule, the pedagogical support (preparation, the follow-up assessment and language course) are done at home. Intermediate seminars abroad may be attended.

Thus far, particular regulations for a voluntary service abroad have neither been included in the Federal Law on the Promotion of a Voluntary Year of Social Service nor in the Federal Law on the Promotion of a Voluntary Year of Ecological Service. Each of the laws currently applicable includes only one provision, according to which a Voluntary Year of Social Service or a Voluntary Year of Ecological Service can also be conducted in other European countries.

Minimum age shall be replaced by the term 'completion of the full-time compulsory education'
• With this change it will be possible to render voluntary services already at the age of 15 years, immediately after having completed one's school education. This regulation comes in useful in particular for secondary general school pupils and intermediate secondary school pupils and also complies with the objectives of a bill from the Bundesrat which was introduced in the Bundestag.

Until now especially Abitur holders have been given the opportunity of doing voluntary service immediately after having completed their school education. In some of the Federal Laender, after they have completed their school education, secondary general school pupils and intermediate secondary general school pupils still have to wait until they have reached the stipulated minimum age for rendering a voluntary service.

Possibility of issuing a certificate including qualitative characteristics of vocational skills after having rendered voluntary service
• It shall be made possible to use the experiences gained during voluntary service in a future occupational field.

Hitherto it has merely been envisaged to issue a certificate when beginning or concluding the Voluntary Social Year or the Voluntary Ecological Year.

• in the Act on Civilian Service

As a consequence of the Act amending the Federal Law on the Promotion of a Voluntary Year of Social Service and other Acts, a new Section 14c will be included in the Act on Civilian Service. The new provision stipulates that recognized conscientious objectors who undertake to do service within the scope of a Voluntary Social Year or a Voluntary Ecological Year shall not be called upon to perform civilian service. Thus the recognized conscientious objectors may undertake to do corresponding service in their home country or abroad (and, subsequent to the appropriate amendment of the Federal Law on the Promotion of a Voluntary Year of Social Service, also in non-European countries).

The promotion corresponds to the regulations concerning young women and men participating in the Voluntary Social Year and the Voluntary Ecological Year.
Thus, inter alia, the regulations concerning pocket-money contributions to the social insurance scheme etc. shall be applicable. The parents shall receive family allowance.

It has been intended to grant considerable subsidies for the costs of pedagogical support, pocket-money and social insurance contributions paid by the responsible organizations which enable recognized conscientious objectors to do service within the scope of a Voluntary Social Year or a Voluntary Ecological Year.

The Law entered into force on 1^st June 2002. The amendments of the Act on Civilian Service shall enter into force on 1^st August 2002.

CANADA

THE KATIMAVIK PROGRAM

Jean-Guy Bigeau
Katimavik

Katimavik offers young Canadian men and women aged 17 to 21 an opportunity to acquire valuable personal and professional skills through an alternative educational program. The Katimavik program is based on the concept of service learning -- learning through volunteer work on community projects to which participants make a significant contribution.

The program incorporates five strategic learning programs: leadership, second language, cultural discovery, environmental protection and adoption of a healthy lifestyle. For seven months, participants live in mixed groups of 11 francophones and anglophones originating from all regions of Canada.

Not only do participants gain a sense of pride in completing useful, diverse projects, by opening up to themselves and to the world around them, they also experience a sense of achieving their full potential that gives them confidence as they go forward in life.

87 per cent of Katimavik participants evaluated their leadership skills
as good to very good,
compared with 44 per cent before the program.
(source: EEC 2002)

Mission
As Canada's leading national youth service learning program, Katimavik's mission is to foster the personal development of our nation's young people through a challenging program of volunteer community work, training and group interaction.

Objectives

1. To contribute substantially to the personal, social and professional development of the participants
2. To promote community service
3. To offer a diversified experience fostering a better understanding of the Canadian reality

History

25 years of service to Canada´s youth and communities

Katimavik¹ was founded in 1977 on the initiative of a man of vision and action: the Honourable Senator Jacques Hébert. For nine years until 1986, this training program based on volunteer community service gave more than 15,000 young Canadian men and women an opportunity to live a unique experience, while acquiring an exceptional variety of skills and knowledge that would serve them well for their future.

Convictions prevail through an eight-year interruption
In 1986, Katimavik had its entire budget withdrawn, and this decision was maintained despite Senator Hébert's vociferous protestations and 21-day hunger strike. Although his efforts to raise the awareness of Canada's politicians and people to the difficult realities faced by the country's young people were not successful at the time, the Senator refused to give up. Along with Claude Raîche, at the time Québec regional director of Katimavik, he remained convinced of and committed to the program's value and importance for youth. Together, they continued the fight to ensure that Katimavik would not disappear completely. Their efforts were not entirely in vain -- despite everything, until 1994 Katimavik continued to exist in the form of an outdoor recreational and training centre.

After the battle...rebirth!
That same year, Katimavik gained a new life through the intervention of Youth Service Canada: six projects were organized with 66 participants from Ontario, Québec and New Brunswick. The following year, the program tripled the number of projects and participants and has continued to develop ever since.

Since 1999 Katimavik has received support from the federal government through Exchanges Canada, a part of the Department of Canadian Heritage, with which Katimavik signed an initial agreement in 1997-98. This support makes it possible for Katimavik to offer almost 800 young adults every year a chance to take part in hundreds of community projects.

Katimavik persists and thrives today, constantly improving the alternative learning program's potential and quality -- for the future of Canada's youth.

¹ Katimavik means 'meeting place' in the Inuktitut language

67 per cent of participants claimed that the Katimavik experience
positively altered their career plans
(source: EEC 2002)

Remarks : In 2001-2002, Katimavik mandated the firm Étude Économique Conseil (EEC) to evaluate the socio-economic impacts of the Katimavik program. The results are a resounding proof of Katimavik's pertinence and solid position as a program that is part of the evolution of Canadian society.

ISRAEL

NATIONAL YOUTH SERVICE IN ISRAEL: An Update

Nicole Fleischer
Carmel Institute for Social Studies - Zichron Yaakov

Israel is a multinational, polyethnic society. With its 6 million people, coming from over one hundred countries speaking more than eighty different languages, the Military was traditionally seen not only as the defense forces but also as a socialization instrument for the coalescence of a cohesive civilian society. Since its creation in 1948, military service has been compulsory for all male and female citizens. But de facto, the law of universal conscription in Israel has been selective: It exempts Muslim and Christian Arab Israelis from service on the grounds that they should not be forced to fight their brothers in neighboring states (but drafts Druze and Circassians and allows Bedouin young men to volunteer for service). Similarly, sensitive to the Nazi decimation of traditional European Jewish culture and religious study, the governments bowed to pressure of ultra-orthodox Jewish political parties and provided a limited number of long-term deferments for ultra-orthodox yeshiva students. Furthermore, the chief Rabbinate forbade Jewish religious modern orthodox women to serve in the military. The result is that by 2005, less than half of the annual cohort of 18 year old men and women will serve in the IDF, thus increasing the significance of National Youth Service in Israel.

In 1953, Israel's Parliament, the Knesset, enacted a Law of National Service that made two-year national service compulsory, but the legislation was not implemented. National Youth Service (NYS) in Israel Sherut Leumi is based on a 1970 law that aimed to provide a non-military service alternative to religious observant Jewish girls. Rather than operating NYS directly, the government has chosen to license and regulate NGOs that were established for the purposes of operating NYS. Operating organizations recruit, train, place and oversee the service of participating volunteers, and maintain on-going relations with the volunteers' supervisors in their place of work. Volunteer placements may be in either public institutions or in non-governmental not-for-profit organizations. Placements are for one year and may be renewed for a second year. Approximately half of the 9,000 volunteers in NYS today serve in governmental institutions in positions funded by government ministries (education, welfare, health, the judiciary system, the police force, and immigrant absorption). The remainder serve in not-for-profit organizations in positions funded by the beneficiary agency: Magen David Adom (Israel's Red Cross), HMO's, hospitals, residential schools for children and youth at risk, special needs education, community welfare organizations, etc.

Until 1993, there were two operating NGOs, both of them sectarian Jewish religious organizations, that recruited female volunteers from the orthodox population. Volunteers were required during their service to participate in sectarian education and religious activities that reflected the worldview and values of the operating organization. Today, there are three sectarian NGOs and they recruit and place a total of 6,500 orthodox young women and handful of young men.

In 1993, a non-sectarian NGO, Shlomit, began to operate. Shlomit views service as an opportunity to strengthen volunteers from disadvantaged backgrounds who have been exempted from military service or rejected by the Israel Defense Forces. The potential number of volunteers for Shlomit is constantly increasing and the growth of the organization has been swift. From fewer than 100 volunteers placed in 1994, to more than 1,700 volunteers in 2002-3.

The Municipality of Jerusalem operates a unit for National Service that recruits, places and supervises 250 volunteers annually in community centers and municipal agencies in Jerusalem. This unit has made a special effort to reach out to volunteers with special needs to enable them to serve the community. This volunteers serve in community centers, municipal day-care centers and other welfare and education agencies.

An additional service track available to young people in Israel is the `Service Year`, a one-year voluntary service program for high school graduates prior to their military service. Graduates of the `Service Year` do not collect any of the benefits received by National Service volunteers. The Council of Israeli Youth Movements and the Kibbutz Movement operate this Pre-Army Service Year. Presently there are about 1200 volunteers participating- approximately one-third of them are men.

As indicated above, National Service is based on 1970 legislation that applies specifically to women. Only in May 2001, in response to a petition to the High Court of Justice, the government decided to institute a 'pilot project' of NYS for 250 young men. Marketed primarily to young men in the ultra-orthodox Jewish and Palestinian Israeli communities, the project has so far failed to fill even half of the 250 slots allocated.

Participation of Palestinians citizens of Israel has been scarce. The current intellectual and political leadership of the Palestinian community in Israel categorically rejects the idea of civic youth service, whether voluntary or compulsory, for Palestinian Israeli young men and women, claiming that equality and full civil rights must precede responsibilities. When the Israeli government, under then-Prime Minister Ehud Barak in 2000, tried to launch a pilot program of community-based civic youth service, heavy pressure was brought to bear on Arab mayors to reject participation in such a government-funded program. Fear was expressed that such a program would lay the foundations for linking rights and responsibilities, and was a way to introduce military service through the back door. Nonetheless, two municipalities responded positively to the Barak initiative and that year, the number of Palestinian Israeli young women (and a handful of men) serving in national youth service reached a high of sixty. The program was discontinued after the outbreak of this intifada (the current bloody conflict). For the year 2003, we expect virtually no Palestinian - Israeli volunteers.

As earlier mentioned, Jewish ultra-orthodox yeshiva students are not drafted to the army. Under the current deferment arrangement, yeshiva students who work even part time lose their deferment. As a result, over 60 per cent of the male ultra-orthodox Jewish population in Israel does not participate in the workforce. Full-time yeshiva students and their families receive living stipends, child support and other transfer payments from the government and are among the poorest sectors of the Israeli population. Only a few weeks ago, in July 2002, the Israeli parliament passed a law (named after former Supreme Court Justice Tzvi Tal) that calls for Yeshiva students to choose after a year of work at age 23, whether to continue their Yeshiva studies, to enlist in the army, or to serve one year in a civic service program. If the Yeshiva students decide to do a year of civic service, they will then have to serve 21 days each year until age 41. The new law defines civic service as 'service for the purposes of health, welfare, immigrant absorption, environmental protection and domestic security and emergency life-saving services.' As of today, there is no estimate of the number of yeshiva students that will choose the civic service option. This law sets a legal precedence since it recognizes civic service as an alternative to military service for men. Moreover, the Tal Law may open a window of opportunity to a less sectarian and more inclusive participation of Israeli youth in National Youth Service.