National Youth Service Week

Empowering Youth - Creating a Sustainable Future

The Fifth NATIONAL YOUTH SERVICE WEEK
Will be celebrated April 17-26, 2020

YOUTH: Be the Change!!! Join us for National Youth Service Week 2020

Youth from Schools, Universities, Youth Organizations, and Informal Youth Groups
Are invited to implement service projects during
Lebanon’s Fourth National Youth Service Week: April 17-26, 2020
Includes Global Youth Service Days within it (April 17-19, 2020)

***Note: Implementation Apr 10-16 (before the scheduled dates) is possible for groups that need to implement their project during the school holidays***

The Post-Project Form needs to be submitted as soon after the project is implemented as possible, but no later than April 30, 2020.

***Scroll down for the PARTICIPATION GUIDES IN ARABIC AND ENGLISH available for download.

National Youth Service Week/NYSW (April 17-26, 2020) is a Lebanese initiative to promote, support, and recognize youth service to their society. It is built upon the foundation of Lebanon’s celebration of "Global Youth Service Days" beginning in 2001. It incorporates the three days of Global Youth Service Days within it, expanding that period to 9 days when youth throughout Lebanon do service projects.  All projects done for National Youth Service Week will also be counted for Global Youth Service Days.

Global Youth Service Days/GYSD (April 17-19,2020; www.gysd.org) is three days in April when youth in countries around the world do service projects in their communities. It honors both the contribution of those youth and the adults who help make their efforts possible.

Who Can Participate in National Youth Service Week?  

NYSW is focused on group service projects, and not on individuals volunteering for an organization or service institution. All children and adolescents, and young adults (ages 5-25) can participate in National Youth Service Week by planning and implementing service projects through their schools, universities, clubs, Scouts, and youth groups, or as a group of friends forming an informal group for the purpose of doing a service project.

Objectives of National Youth Service Week in Lebanon:

1) Develop our youth into capable, empowered, socially responsible citizens
2) Develop an understanding of volunteering and encourage it in our youth
3) Encourage youth to identify and target social problems and collaborate to solve them
4) Provide them with opportunities to actually contribute in meaningful ways
5) Provide youth with volunteer opportunities that cross social barriers of age, religion, abilities/disabilities, and geography
6) Improve the quality and sustainability of youth service projects
7) Encourage and help NGOs to recruit youth to volunteer for them
8) Acknowledge the capacity of youth to contribute to their society

Theme:
The theme for National Youth Service Week is Sustainable Service (الخدمة المستدامة) – and we encourage volunteer service projects that are sustainable in three ways:

1. Projects that continue over time or have a long time impact
2. Projects that are environmentally friendly in their planning and implementation
3. Projects that help to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals
    

2020 National Youth Service Week Calendar:

April 3:  Deadline for completing the Pre-Project Form (http://www.nysw-lebanon.org/NYSW_PreProjectForm)

The Pre-Project Form can be submitted any time at least 48 hours before the project is implemented, but those who submit it by the April 3rd deadline have certain advantages:

• The project will be eligible for Exemplary Project status, if all other requirements are met – which will be put on the final certificate.
• They will have prioirty to have someone from VFL visit the project. 
• We will be sure to send it on a list of projects we send to Global Youth Service Days for their map (www.gysd.org). 
• We will give them priority in sending a list of project to media to hopefully cover at least some of the projects.

Note: The sooner a group submits the online Pre-Project Form, the more likely the project will be honored with a visit from an official representative of the Coordinating Committee for National Youth Service Week, and the sooner it will be included on the online maps for Global Youth Service Days and National Youth Service Week.

April 17-26: Sustainable service projects will be implemented throughout Lebanon - Send 2-3 pictures immediately to nysw-lebanon (at) gmail (dot) com for media coverage. Be sure to indicate which group project they are coming from.

April 10-16: Early implementation of projects - possible for groups that need to do the project during the school holidays

April 30: Deadline for youth groups to complete the online Post-Project Form (http://www.nysw-lebanon.org/nysw_postprojectform) describing what actual happened (including pictures and e-poster)

May 9: The Final Recognition Event will be held to honor the youth who participated in National Youth Service Week with posters displayed, projects given certificates, and awards given for exemplary projects according to the criteria provided in the guidelines. All groups that submit a Pre-Project Form or a Post-Project Form will be emailed information related to this event. Attendance is not a requirement for participating groups.
 

Together, we can mobilize hundreds, if not thousands, of youth in Lebanon to undertake projects that empower them, make them more conscious of the issues of sustainability, and help them contribute positively to our society.
 

Resources:

Calendar for NYSW 2019 - Arabic & English

الجدول الزمني لحملة الاسبوع الوطني للخدمة الشبابية ٢٠٢٠

دليل المشاركة للاسبوع الوطني للخدمة الشبابية

National Youth Service Week Participation Guide - English

NOTE: If you want to photocopy either of the above Participation Guides to form an A5 booklet:  Print it 2 pages to an A4 page, portrait, double-sided/short edge, booklet printing (right binding for Arabic; left binding for English), and then fold and staple the pages in the middle. This requires a specialized stapler available in print shops.