Youth, employability, social cohesion and volunteering

• The contribution of National Youth Service to youth employment, entrepreneurship and sustainable livelihoods

  The MasterCard Foundation, based in Canada, has partnered with Innovations in Civic Participation (ICP) and Volunteer and Service Enquiry Southern Africa (VOSESA) on a major research project about National Youth Service programmes in Sub-Saharan Africa. The findings of the study will be shared at the Learning Forum, including promising practices that can help integrate young people into the economy and provide a better return for state and private sector investment in youth service.

  Read the press release on the project.  
  
  Download the papers produced for this project below:
  > Overview of the National Youth Service Landscape in Sub-Saharan Africa 
  > National Youth Service, Employability, Entrepreneurship and Sustainable Livelihoods: Promising Practices from Sub-Saharan Africa
  
  Country case profiles on National Youth Service Programmes in Sub‐Saharan Africa: Strengthening National Youth Service as a strategy for youth employability, entrepreneurship and sustainable livelihoods:
  > The Case of Ghana
  > The Case of Ghana: Executive Summary
  > The Case of Kenya
  > The Case of Kenya: Executive Summary
  > The Case of South Africa
  > The Case of South Africa: Executive Summary

  
  

  Study on youth volunteering perceptions and motivations in South Africa

  The National Youth Development Agency (NYDA), in collaboration with the Flemish government, commissioned Volunteer and Service Enquiry Southern Africa (VOSESA) to conduct a study on youth volunteering perceptions and motivations in South Africa. This research is part of the agency’s three-year initiative to advance youth volunteering in the country. The study, that was made public in December 2012, identified motivating and disabling factors that either motivate or demotivate young people to volunteer. To access the study, click here.
  
  

  Youth Volunteering, Social Integration and Decent Work: Inspiring Leadership

  VOSESA was commissioned by the United Nations Volunteer (UNV) Programme to prepare a paper on the linkages between youth volunteering, social integration and decent work in February 2010.  The paper focuses on the experiences of 13 organisations from developing countries around the world that engage young volunteers to address issues of poverty, identity, access to work, HIV and AIDS and achieving the Millennium Development Goals.  It provides examples of how volunteerism can strengthen the social and economic integration of young people into mainstream society.  For the full report, click here.
  
  

• Volunteering for Social Transformation? Understanding the Volunteer Response to the Xenophobic Attacks of 2008
  
  In the wake of the xenophobic violence in South Africa in May and June 2008, there was an immense volunteering response from those within and outside of the affected communities. While other researchers sought to understand the causes of the violence, VOSESA analysed the volunteering response and its potential for social change. For the full paper, click here.

  Ending the Age of the Marginal Majority: An exploration of strategies to overcome youth exclusion, violence and vulnerability in southern Africa
  
  VOSESA was commissioned by the Southern Africa Trust to conduct a study on youth violence and civic engagement in southern Africa. The research was conducted in partnership with the Johannesburg-based Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation. The report, available on the Southern Africa Trust website,  finds that young people in the region disproportionately face conditions of social and economic exclusion and vulnerability that expose them to insecurity and violence, both as victims and as perpetrators. Yet, the unique needs and attributes of the region's youth who are at risk are not adequately included in our mainstream development and security agendas. One recommendation from the study is that youth policy should prioritise the development of young people through civic engagement, education, skills training and livelihoods. For the full report, click here

  Assessment of the self-reported impact of the loveLife groundBREAKERs programme 2001 – 2005

  VOSESA was commissioned by loveLife to conduct an impact assessment of its groundBREAKER programme, which is the largest youth service programme run by a civil society organisation in South Africa. A survey was conducted among groundBREAKER alumni (2011-2005) and a summary of the study is available on the loveLife website. A key finding from the study is that graduates of the programme have better prospects of accessing further education and employment opportunities than their counterparts nationally. Graduates also show how a greater commitment to volunteering and to being involved in their communities and their country than the national average. For the summary report, click here. For the full report, click here.
  

• Youth Volunteering for Development: Africa in the 21st Century
  
  In 2006 VOSESA was commissioned by the United Nations Volunteers Programme (UNV) to author a discussion paper on youth volunteering in Africa for use at the Fifth African Development Forum organised by the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa under the theme of “Leadership in the 21 Century”.  The research highlights and analyses successful youth volunteering schemes in nine African countries and illustrates the tangible benefits to society when young people are recognised as a valuable resource for development.  Further, the paper presents examples of best practice in volunteer management and makes recommendations to different actors across the continent. These are intended to stimulate discussion among policy-makers, youth development practitioners and other stakeholders about strategies to foster the involvement of young people in development programmes. For more information email info@vosesa.org.za

   

1. VOSESA
2. VOSESA