wdr_youth development note

8/6/2019 WDR_Youth Development Note

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Youth Service: A Strategy or Youthand National Development

Volume 1, Number 2

December 2005

All too oen youth policies and interventions are designed to deliver services to young people,

ailing to view youth themselves as important assets in delivering services to others. Youth

service programs empower young people to play an active role in development while gaining

the experience, knowledge, and values necessary for employment and active citizenship.

Around the world, service programs are enabling young people to build sustainable housing,ght HIV/AIDS, and improve literacy rates through tutoring programs. Tese eorts challenge

portrayals o youth as victims o poverty or problems to society and place them instead at the

oreront o promoting development in their communities.

Today’s youth (15–24) constitute the largest cohort ever to enter the transition to adulthood. Nearly 90% live in

developing countries and the challenges they ace—low quality education, lack o marketable skills, high rates o

unemployment, crime, early pregnancy, social exclusion, and the highest rates o new HIV/AIDS inections—are

costly to themselves and to society at large. Client demand or policy advice on

how to tap the enormous potential o youth is large and growing. This series aims

to share research fndings and lessons rom the feld to address these importantcross-sectoral topics.

N o t e sY outhDevelopment



Youth Development Notes | December 005

Defning Youth serviceYouth service encompasses a continuum o activities that

oer young men and women opportunities to participate

in civic lie in ways that are intended to benet them-

selves and their communities. Te range o programs

spans rom formal or national service , consisting o an

organized period o substantial engagement, where young

people are contributing to their local, national, or worldcommunity, in exchange or minimal or no monetary

contribution to the participant1 to informal service, which

is oen the result o an ethic o service to others that is

passed on through amilies, schools, civic organizations

and popular culture. More ormalized types o service

usually take place through the eorts o government

programs, employers, nonprot organizations, and other

civil society organizations that see a role or volunteers

in achieving their missions. Research suggests that these

more organized service programs provide the most ben-

et to both participants and the community.2

In the most common national service model, young

people in their late teens and twenties spend a year work-

ing ull-time to meet local communities’ needs. But within

that broad model, details vary considerably rom country

to country.3 Te government might manage programs cen-

trally and provide civil service options as an alternative to

military service (Kenya, France, Hungary, Brazil 1967–89);

the national government might determine criteria and

unding and deliver services through non-governmental

organizations (U.S., Hungary, U.K.); or the governmentmight develop national service programs sponsored by

various government departments (South Arica, Mexico,

Nigeria). Programs also dier in terms o mandatory ver-

sus voluntary participation, length o service, and levels o

compensation and benets provided to participants.

An Invetment with Many ReturnYouth service can be an eective youth intervention

strategy and development strategy, providing important

returns to the individual and the community, not tomention the important externalities that benet society

as a whole. A review o selected programs in OECD and

developing countries provides evidence to this eect:

Returns to the Individual Service ‘employment’ experience, even if unpaid, al-

lows young people to gain the knowledge and skills that

will facilitate their transition into paid employment.

Whether learning skills through on-the-job training that

will serve them in their uture career, or simply accli-

matizing to a workplace environment, service can help

young people or the workorce. As such, these programs

not only serve goals or increasing youth employment,

but enhance the overall employability o youth. Rigorous

impact evaluations o the US Service and Conservation

Corps—aimed primarily at disadvantaged youth (16–24)

looking or a second chance to succeed in lie—ound that

program participants in a 15-month ollow up were muchmore likely to have worked or pay, had worked more

hours, and were less likely to be arrested, vis-à-vis the

control group.4 Te Umsobomvu Youth Fund in South Af-

rica nances a national service program with the explicit

goal o providing youth with service opportunities across

a range o sectors to enable young people to develop their

skills in order to access employment or generate income.5

Youth service provides constructive alternatives to risky

behavior, and can provide a mechanism for reintegrat-

ing marginalized youth. Out-o-school and unemployed

youth are at much greater risk o behaviors that are

harmul to themselves and their communities, including

crime, gang activities, social unrest, adolescent pregnancy

risky sex, drug and alcohol use. Youth service programs

provide a structured environment in which to learn and

work, while contributing to important development

objectives at a relatively low cost to government or other

service providers. A recently completed study 6 in the US

ound that service programs were the only intervention

among many surveyed that had a measurable impact on

reducing teens’ pregnancy risk, even i the programs were

not ocused on sex education. Tis held true or multiple

racial/ethnic groups, in rural and urban settings, and in

both middle and high schools.

Participation in service programs empowers young peo-

ple to become active citizens in addressing a wide range

of critical community needs. Te recognition o having

something to contribute greatly aects their sel-esteem

and helps youth discount the uture more heavily. Te

“All our societies need more social capital . . . and in my view the singlemost promising area o initiative is youthservice.”

—Robert Putnam, Harvard University



Youth Development Notes | December 005

experience o giving to one’s community can unleash a

virtuous cycle o engagement in activities that strengthen

communities and oster a commitment to public service.

Te Popular Achievement 3 program in the West Bank and

Gaza creates opportunities or young people to engage in

productive activities. In one reugee camp, the teenagers

held regular clean-up days, and lobbied local leadership to

install garbage cans in the streets. In another West Bank town, youth built a library—constructing shelves rom do-

nated scrap lumber, collecting books rom various civil so-

ciety organizations, and convincing a local landowner to

donate library space. A longitudinal study o Americorps7

ound that participation in the program resulted in sta-

tistically signicant positive impacts on: i) a participants’

connection to their community; ii) knowledge about

challenges acing their community; and iii) participation

in community-based activities such as attending public

meetings and writing to newspapers. Te same study also

showed that program graduates were signicantly morelikely to enter public service careers in teaching, public

saety, social work, and ull-time military service.

Returns to the Community Lasting change best occurs when communities support

youth and youth contribute to their communities. Service

programs can be an important—and cost-eective—tool

or developing countries with limited budgets and sta in

addressing a wide range o development priorities. Project

examples include:

■ Combating HIV/AIDS. In South Arica, the ground-

BREAKERS service program is engaging more than

1,000 unemployed youth aged 18 to 25 in one year o

service to link public health clinics and community

centers. Te groundBREAKERS have also mobilized

more than 5,000 mostly out-o-school and unemployed

children, or ‘mpintshis’ (a township slang word or

‘riend, ‘mate’ or ‘helper’) aged 12 to 17 to educate peers

about the risks o HIV/AIDS.8

■ Building sustainable housing . Since 1994, more than

47,000 low-income youth in the United States, South A-rica, Serbia, Mexico, and Canada have built houses or

homeless and low-income amilies through the Youth-

Build program, while studying to complete secondary

school, learning to be leaders in their communities, and

getting support to make positive change.9 In Mexico ,

Jovenes Contructores is operating a similar program.

■ Improving literacy rates. Te Pakistan National Youth

Service (PNYS) program recently launched a literacy

campaign or educating women in remote, rural areas.

PNYS has established 50 emale adult literacy centers in

both Rawalpindi and Kasur and are educating more

than 1500 women per year.10

■ Protecting the environment. Te Palawan Conserva-

tion Corps (PCC) in the Philippines has been serving

remote communities while simultaneously preserving

critical ecosystems on the island. Youth-led projects,involving out-o-school youth, work to reorest areas

around communities where erosion and fooding a-

ect livelihoods and ood security. Most recently, the

planting o a 10,000 square-oot native plant nursery

has greatly enhanced the PCC’s ability to restore the

local wild areas. In Kenya, the Slums Information

Development and Resource Centers (SIDAREC) is a

youth development program that is serving an esti-

mated 500,000 people in the slums o Nairobi. Among

other projects, SIDAREC is enabling young people to

establish a waste management and recycling center inPumwani.11

Youth Service: Beyond Human and PhysicalCapital ObjectivesTranscending traditional social divides and fostering bonds of

trust. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Association or Psychosocial

Help and Development o Voluntary Work, or OSMIJEH, has mo-

bilized over 6,000 youth that include all members o society. Mus-

lim, Serbian, and Croatian work side-by-side to tutor, reconstruct

villages, care or disabled children, and organize public events

through an organized service program. The increased interactionwith all members o society osters bonds o trust and helps to

reconnect divided peoples.

Nation-Building . Nigeria created its national service program, the

National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) ater gaining its indepen-

dence with two principal goals in mind – orging national cohesion

and identity among multiple tribal groups, and harnessing young

people’s skills to contribute to national development. A one-year

compulsory program or all Nigerian university and polytechnic

graduates, the program requires that corps members work away

rom their home areas and with other tribal groups. Approximately

710,000 young Nigerians served in the program between 197 and

1999.

Improved governance. By connecting young people to their com-munities and encouraging them to play a participatory role, service

contributes to a better understanding o the orces which shape

government and can play an important role in reducing corruption

and promoting democracy.

source: Alessi, B. (004) Service as a Strategy or Children and Youth.Innovations in Civic Participation; Enemuo, F. (000) Youth Mobi-lization or Nation-Building: the Case o the National Youth ServiceCorps in Nigeria, paper prepared or the Ford Foundation WorldwideWorkshop on Youth Involvement as a Strategy or Social, Economic,and Democratic Development.



Recommended reading1. Sherraden, M. (001). Youth Service as Strong Policy, working paper 01–1. St. Louis: Washington University, Center or Social Development.

. Perry, J. (00). Civic Service: What Dierence Does It Make?, M.E. Sharpe: Armonk, New York.

. Ford Foundation (000). Ford Foundation Worldwide Workshop on Youth Involvement as a Strategy or Social, Economic, and Democratic Develop-

ment, New York: Ford Foundation.

4. Jastrzab, J., Masker, J., Blomquist, J., & Orr, L. (1996). Impacts o Service: Final Report on the Evaluation o American Conservation and Youth

Corps. Abt Associates.

5. Foley, P. (00) “Youth Service or Employment: The Umsobomvu Youth Fund initiative in South Arica” rom Service Enquiry: Service in the 21st

Century. First edition.

6. Manlove, J., Franzetta, K., McKinney, K., Papillo, A., Terry-Humen, E. (004). A Good Time: Ater-School Programs to Reduce Teen Pregnancy.

National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy.

7. Jastrzab, J., Giordono, L., Chase, A., Valente, J., Hazlett, A., LaRock, R., James, D., (004). Serving Country and Community: A Longitudinal Study

o Service in AmeriCorps. Abt Associates.

8. Oba, J. (005) “groundBREAKERS: breaking new ground in HIV prevention” rom Focus, Volume 1, Number . Volunteer and Service Enquiry

Southern Arica.

9. For more inormation, visit: www.youthbuild.org.

10. For more inormation, visit www.pnys.com.

11. For more inormation, visit http://www.sidarec.or.ki.

Alessi, B. (004), Service as a Strategy or Children and Youth: Making the Case or Youth Service, Washington, DC: Innovations in Civic Participation.

Davis Smith, J. (1999). Volunteering and Social Development: a Background Paper, Institute or Volunteering Research.

Eberly, D., and Sherraden, M., (eds), (1990). The Moral Equivalent o War? A Study o Non-Military Service in Nine Nations, Greenwood Press.

Enemuo, F. (000) Youth Mobilization or Nation-Building: the Case o the National Youth Service Corps in Nigeria, paper prepared or the Ford Foun-

dation Worldwide Workshop on Youth Involvement as a Strategy or Social, Economic, and Democratic Development

Global Service Institute (00). Service Enquiry: Service in the 21st Century. First editition. VOSESA, South Arica. http://www.service-enquiry.org.za

Innovations in Civic Participation (005). Pathways to a New Future: Service as a Strategy or Vulnerable Youth , Washington, DC: Innovations in Civic

Participation.

■ Building infrastructure. Service activities undertaken

by young participants over a period o 12–15 months

in a pilot o South Arica’s Umsobomvu Youth Fund

program included the labor intensive construction o a

road with culverts and dris necessary to control run-

o. Participants also worked on the construction o a

multi-purpose center, and the repair o inrastructure

in a conservation area.

Returns to Society: Positive ExternalitiesTe examples presented in the previous section provide

direct benets to local communities, but they also serve

national priorities and generate signicant positive ex-

ternalities. Most governments are struggling with how to

implement eective policies and interventions to address

the myriad challenges acing young people today, particu-

larly the poor and marginalized who are generally out o

school and out o work. From high levels o unemploy-

ment to increasing rates o crime and violence, rom ado-

lescent pregnancy to the highest rates o new HIV/AIDS

Children & Youth Unit, Human Development Network, The World Bank

www.worldbank.org/childrenandyouth

This note was prepared by Susan Stroud (Executive Director, Innovations or Civic Participation—ICP); Brett Alessi (Deputy

Director, ICP); Linda McGinnis (Lead Economist, HDNCY), and Peter Holland (Economist, HDNCY). For more inormation, ple

contact Brett Alessi at [email protected], or visit ICP’s website www.icicp.org. Photo credit: Scott Wallace. The views expressed i

these notes are those o the authors and do not necessarily refect the view o the World Bank.

inections, these challenges represent enormous economic

and social costs to society. Te values, attitudes and skills

acquired by this generation will infuence the course o

events and shape the uture in undamental ways.

Youth service provides an eective means to address

these challenges while meeting national objectives such

as improving human capital, reducing unemployment,

and providing cost-eective human resources to under-

served communities. Yet, the benets extend ar beyond

the obvious human and physical capital objectives. Tese

range rom reducing the economic and social cost o risky

behavior to nation-building and transcending traditional

social divides (see box on previous page).

Experience demonstrates that young people in every

part o the world are eager to participate in activities that

improve their communities and their own lives. What is

missing is not motivation and interest rom young people,

but rather structured opportunities that help them devel-op the skills, knowledge and values necessary to become

productive members o society.

wdr_youth development note

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