Discours du ministre Ondřej Liška - Conférence sur la jeunesse
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Ladies and Gentlemen, distinguished Guests,
Let me welcome you at the opening of the first youth event under the auspices of the Czech Presidency that is being held in Prague. I am very pleased to have the opportunity to meet so many experts and representatives of young people who are substantially involved in the areas of volunteering and non-formal education in their countries. I firmly believe that today’s discussion and mutual exchange of good practices will contribute to enhancing cooperation as well as to improving conditions for the work of volunteers in the area of youth. Hopefully it will also attract the attention of the general public and the media in these topics.
Volunteering is something that is very much part of my personal experience. It is based on the principle of solidarity and the capacity to cooperate. I have been encountering it in non-governmental organizations that work on voluntary basis. The Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport has come up with the idea of holding an international conference on volunteering and non-formal education since the very first preparations of the Czech Presidency. It came as a natural result of a long-term work on national youth policies. The Czech Presidency will focus, among other things, on evaluating the existing framework of cooperation in this area.
There are three major types of voluntary activities in the Czech Republic:
the first one is a regular voluntary activity in non-governmental organizations, the second one is an activity within the European Voluntary Service of the Youth in Action programme, and the third one covers activities fostered by the law on voluntary service. The law on voluntary service, which was adopted in 2002, provides for the legal status of volunteers who meet a set of specified criteria. However, it cannot be applied to regular voluntary activities of members of non-governmental organizations dealing with children and youth that are carried out for the benefit of their own member organization. For this reason the Ministry of Interior is currently drafting an amendment to the law that should do away with this major drawback. It is also necessary to pay attention to ensuring recognition of the competencies acquired by young people during their work as volunteers.
The main objective of the European Voluntary Service, which has been operating in the Czech Republic since 2000, is to support inter-cultural learning, to promote development of local communities and to support personal growth of volunteers. The evaluation of the Youth programme, which ran from 2000 to 2006, revealed that some Czech young people spent their first long period of stay abroad thanks to the European Voluntary Service. They were not there as tourists. They participated in youth projects during which they had to communicate in a foreign language and cooperate with people from different cultural backgrounds. Such experience often stimulates people to learn much more when compared to school experience. The evaluation also revealed that involvement in the programme has influenced the future career of 62% of the participating volunteers.
The Czech Presidency welcomes the initiative of the French Presidency in autumn 2008 concerning the preparation of the Council Recommendation on the Mobility of Young Volunteers across the European Union. The Czech Republic agreed to continue implementation of the Recommendation and decided to hold an international conference during its Presidency that would deal with this topic in detail and provide an opportunity for exchange of good practices. Voluntary activities that promote social inclusion and solidarity deserve our attention particularly now, in the period of an economic downturn.
The main objective of this conference is to map the diverse area of opportunities for international voluntary work for young people. It also aims to reflect on the effectiveness of various instruments that would motivate young people to get involved in this work. Assuring the quality of volunteering schemes could enhance recognition of learning outcomes and reinforce support for volunteering in the form of relevant legal frameworks and instruments. In order to ensure the excellence of international volunteering programmes several quality standards have been set (e.g. the European Voluntary Service Charter or the Quality Charter for Mobility). Some of them are backed up by suitable educational opportunities.
In this context I would like to address the issue of recognition concerning the value of non-formal education. There has recently been a major progress in this area at various levels. At European level the Resolution of the Council on the Recognition of the Value of Non-formal and Informal Learning within the European Youth Field has resulted in developing specific components on youth in the Europass. In summer 2007 the European Commission introduced Youthpass that facilitates recognition of learning outcomes of young people who participated in the Youth in Action programme. Apart from this, the Council of Europe also addressed these issues and developed the Portfolio for Youth Leaders and Youth Workers. In June 2008 researchers, policy-makers and practitioners met to take stock of the results achieved and to work on new strategies and initiatives. One of the outcomes of this meeting is the current revision of the joint working strategy of the European Commission and the Council of Europe that was released in 2004 under the title Pathways towards Validation and Recognition of Education, Training and Learning in the Youth Field. Moreover, there are many initiatives pursuing recognition of non-formal education that are implemented by governmental as well as non-governmental institutions and organizations in member countries.
Last but not least I would like to stress that the Czech Presidency very much appreciates that the European Commission has responded to numerous initiatives of European youth associations, and began to work on declaring year 2011 the European Year of Volunteering. This move will help raise awareness about volunteering both on the part of those who would like to get involved in voluntary work, as well as those who make use of such work. European Year of Volunteering will be a remarkable opportunity to provide opportunities for the volunteers’ self-education and personal development.
In conclusion I would like to thank you all for your participation at this conference. May these two days be beneficial for you both personally and professionally, and I hope you will look back to your stay in Prague with nice memories.
Thank you for your attention.
Dernière mise à jour : 16.8.2011 15:42
