unis-cité, france presentation at ianys’s 6th conference on national youth service september 2002

Unis-Cité, France

Presentation at IANYS’s 6th conference on National Youth Service

September 2002

National Youth Servicethe context in France

1) youth occasionnal volunteering is quite developed but not particularly promoted & valorized

2) Full time volunteering is still illegal, beside :

• voluntary service in developing countries - recognized and government funded - not much developed

• civil form of military service for French boys - suspended in 1998

National Youth Servicethe context in France (suite)

• since March 2000, a national “Voluntary Civil Service” allows French & European young people (18 to 28) to volunteer full time :

• in French businesses and ambacies abroad• for internal security and customs

• Voluntary Civil Service “for social cohesion and solidarity”has been made provision for by law but is not implemented

Unis-Cité is the most important full time voluntary service program in France

Unis-Cité, United for the City

A French independant non-profit created in 1994 to experiment & lobby for a global NYS in

France :

to gather young people from all backgrounds & fight against racism and preconceived opinions

to give youth the opportunity to build tomorrow’s society and to fight exclusions “on the field”.

Unis-CitéA full time voluntary service

for 17 to 25 year-old young people, from all educational, social & religious backgrounds

involved for 6 to 9 months full time to serve community and fight against exclusions in France.

working in teams on concrete social projects with existing French not-for-profit organizations.

1/5 of their service is devoted to a “citizen and professional development training”.

To live, a monthly stipend of 382 Euros and tranportation costs and liability insurance covered

Festival du Service Volontaire28 et 29 mai - Paris & Lyon

Accomplishments after six years :

350 volunteers hosted for 9 month full time about 250 service projects achieved programs developed in 5 major cities in

France, with head office in Paris financed both by private partners and public

collectivities & Ministries a unique “Volunteer Day of Action”

mobilizing 300 people every year since 95 In 99, a “Festival of Youth Voluntary Service”

to increase lobby for a global national program

important media coverage Government recognition

The impact on young people’s life

A year off to better understand society and their role as active citizens

88 % of UC volunteers better understand society after their service year

A year to experience diversity and teamwork, a year to learn about others and increase their adaptation skills

A year of deep personal & human enrichment

88% of UC volunteers feel more lucid about their own capacities after their service

66% of them feel more self-confident and more responsable for their own life

The impact on young people’s life (suite)

A year off to prepare their own professional life : a pause to meet people and think of their own

project a way to create new networks a way to develop new skills

90 % of UC volunteers found a job after their service

about 50% of those without college degree resumed studying.

Perspectives...Come to a meaningfull national youth service program in France

A proven benefit both for youth and for the community as a whole

no adapted legal framework and substancial public funding to develop the concept in France

Unis-Cite will go on lobbying so that one day it will become natural in the eyes of every one,that every young people in France, French or non French & from all backgrounds, should spend a year serving the community.

unis-cité, france presentation at ianys’s 6th conference on national youth service september 2002

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