National Youth Service: Enhancing Government Capacity to Meet Critical National Needs by ICICP
Presentation Overview
- Key Terms and Definitions
- Rationale
- Examples
- Lessons Learned
- Challenges
- Recommendations
Key Terms & Definitions
Youth: Young people between then ages of 15-30
National Youth Service (NYS): An organized period of substantial youth engagement with and contribution to a community supported or mandated by the national government, with minimal monetary compensation to the participant.
National Youth Service Policy: Government-based legislation, law, regulation, decree, or strategy that has been approved and implemented for the purpose of involving young people in community service, volunteerism, or service-learning
Critical National Needs
* Education
* Employment
* Public Health
* Public Safety
* Environmental Conservation
* National Unity
* Infrastructure Development
* Disaster Relief
The Potential of National Youth Service
NYS programs have the potential to….
- Address limited government capacity
- Provide communities with needed services
- Empower young people
- Provide hands on skill development and training
…if they are designed and implemented effectively, fully funded, and taken to scale
Examples of NYS Programs
- United States - AmeriCorps (1993)
Education, environment, public health, disaster relief - India - National Service Volunteer Scheme (1977)
Employment, national development, public health - Jamaica - National Youth Service (1973, 1995)
Employment, infrastructure, environment, social services - South Africa - National Youth Service (2004)
Health, infrastructure, community development, social services, environment - Australia - Green Corps (1997)
Environment
Support for NYS policy development
Movements to create NYS policies
St. Lucia - HIV/AIDS
Zambia - economic and community development
Scaling Up Existing Programs
Pakistan - PNYS
France - Unis-Cite
An Effective NYS policy:
- Is an approved and documented legislation, strategy, law, regulation, etc.
- Provides a concrete framework for implementation
- Clearly defines the target population and the role of the young people’s involvement
- Specifies precise objectives
- Differentiates between the goals for participants and for the communities
- Builds in clear monitoring and evaluation strategy
- Includes key stakeholders in drafting the policy
- Forges partnerships between these different stakeholders
- Is inclusive
- Provides adequate and dependable funding
- Provides incentives to youth to participate
- Includes training to support organizations
- Is context specific
Program Implementation:
Key Considerations
- Value of the service work
- Training and supervision
- Diversity
- Recognition
- Quality local leadership
- Manageable size
- Coordination by a dedicated entity
- Flexibility
- Democratic input and opportunities for youth leadership
- Accountability to standards
- Technology
Challenges to NYS
- Failure to clearly identify target population and program goals
- Lack of funding or mismanagement of resources
- Poor oversight and accountability
- Inadequate training for program managers and participants
- Lack of specificity about lines of authority and responsibilities of implementing agencies
- Lack of coordination among implementing agencies
Recommendations for Investment
Governments should work with community-based organizations, NGOs and international organizations to ensure that national youth service policies and programs are well-designed, fully funded, carefully implemented, and thoroughly evaluated.
In countries that have an existing NYS policy, it is critical that governments work to ensure that programs resulting from the policy are fully supported, well-managed, and take a positive view of young people
In countries that do not have existing NYS policies, governments can work to promote the authentic engagement of young people by incorporating youth service into existing Youth Policies or creating new National Youth Service Policies.
Identify experts in the field to assist with program and policy design who can assist with adapting NYS designs to the specific national/cultural context;
Work with NGOs, community-based organizations and international agencies to develop policies and programs that meet national and community needs;
Evaluate ongoing programs for impact, sustainability, cost-effectiveness, and replication.
Communicate effective practices and key research findings with other governments and organizations.
