Concept Note

About World Youth Foundation

The World Youth Foundation (WYF) "an NGO in Special Consultative Status with the
Economic and Social Council of the United Nations" is an international non-governmental
organization which was launched in 1994 with the aim to promote research, development and
documentation of youth programmes beneficial to youths worldwide. The Foundation’s
headquarters is located in it’s very own complex called The World Youth Foundation Complex
based in Malacca, Malaysia. WYF’s is headed by Hon. Senator Tan Sri (Dr.) Mohd Ali Rustam
who is the former Chief Minister of Melaka and is assisted by a Board of Trustees.

Since its inception the Foundation has provided a platform for the interchange of ideas among
youth organisations both locally and internationally. Through its programmes the Foundation
seeks to empower young people on a range of issues, besides giving young people the
opportunity to share best practices, networking and learning through people -to-people
exchange.

The Foundation seeks to support the work of the UN and the World Programme of Action for
Youth to the Year 2000 and Beyond as well as the Sustainable Development Goals. The
Foundation has organised various seminars/meetings, conferences/ dialogues for youth in
areas such as population, HIV/AIDS, human rights, education, environment, sustainable
development, terrorism, racism, entrepreneurship, globalisation, culture, substance abuse,
peace and conflict resolution etc.

About the European Youth Centre (EYC) - Romania

The EYC - Romania, “Sakura” is a local, non-governmental, independent, nonprofit
organization, established on 4th May 1990 in Bucharest, Romania. EYC - Romania was founded
on the premise of young people having the opportunity to express their thoughts in a freely
and interactive way with other young people from all over the world. In this respect, EYC -
Romania was founded on the principles of freedom and democracy and promotion of human
rights through education of young people.

Background
The Youth Exchange program is distinctive because it is operated completely by volunteers
around the world. Each organization arranges its own exchanges with other organizations.
Host organization are screened, interviewed, selected, and supported by their respective club
or district. The programmes are voluntary, unpaid and importantly, volunteers do not replace
paid workers or financially profit the hosting organisation.

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Benefits of Volunteer Exchange Programme?

 Volunteering through this programme provides young people with a real-life
international learning experience, encouraging social integration, increasing
employability and offers opportunities to show solidarity with other people.
 Among many benefits, organisations and local communities are strengthened by the
experience of Asia-European partnerships who exchange cultural knowledge and good
practice, increasing awareness and understanding of international youth work.
 Volunteer Exchange Programme aspires to develop solidarity and promote tolerance
among young people, primarily to reinforce social cohesion in the world. It promotes
active citizenship and enhances mutual understanding among young people.
 Volunteer Exchange Programme open up the world and encourage both young people
and youth workers to see it through a different lens. At no time in history have we lived
in a more interdependent and globalised world.
 Volunteer Exchange Programme allow young people, and those who work with them,
to experience at first hand the cultural similarities and differences with other young
people across Europe. They provide the opportunity to examine youth work practice
from an alternative perspective. An exchange can invigorate and strengthen the
practice of a youth worker while broadening their network of potential collaborators for
future programme.
 Volunteer Exchange Programme offer an opportunity to continually improve on our
design, delivery and evaluation methods for future programme.

About the Programme

The duration of the programme will be for one month and will be hosted by the European
Youth Centre (EYC) - Romania. EYC - Romania focus on youth development in various fields
such as, European and international relations, educational and non-formal, social and health
including supporting youth with disabilities, ecological and sports, art and culture.

The theme of the exchange is ‘Education and Culture’ and the volunteer will be required to
engage in a number of activities with local partners including youth groups from universities,
primary schools and high schools. The volunteer will help to raise awareness about European
and international youth issues and exchange experiences in different fields such as education,
social welfare, human rights and the environment.

During the programme the volunteer will also have the opportunity to attend Romanian
language classes and learn Romanian culture and traditions by engaging with activities with
volunteers in nearby communities. The volunteer will work alongside volunteers from EYC -
Romania and will be given support and training throughout to enable full integration.

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Programme Details
Youth information and EDUCATION AND CULTURE are the most important topics the
Volunteer will work with. The Volunteer will work at the NGO EYC’s office and the contact
person will be one of the staff of the NGO EYC.

The Volunteer will participate in two main activities:

a) A number of activities are carried in our club and the Volunteer will take part in them.
They are part of the learning process of the Volunteer;
b) A series of activities will be carried out of our association office with various partners:
universities, primary schools and high schools. During these activities the Volunteer will
practice methods and practices learned in the activities of the club.

During the introduction part of the programme the Volunteer will have her/his working place
mainly at the EYC NGO office and will interact with volunteers whom they will work with
during the month/year. During your stay in Romania, the Volunteer will be together with other
Volunteers with different cultural backgrounds; he/she will get in contact with other
international volunteers and will exchange experiences, values, traditions and cultural
environments.

The Volunteer will go out and get in direct contact with different institutions to raise
awareness about European issues and exchange experiences in different fields, such as
education, social welfare, and the environment. This means that the Volunteer will go to
universities, primary schools and high schools where he/she will be in contact with youth
groups to give information about the EU, Europe and the possibilities of young people in the
EU.

Target Participants:
 Age between 18 - 27 years old;
 Must be a Malaysian citizen;
 A representative of the private sector, the academic community and/or civil society
engaged in youth issues;
 Up to date on youth development issues and policies and actively involved in promoting
youth related concerns;
 Able to command the English language to a satisfactory level, i.e. able to converse and
perform presentations in English;
 Have at least one month experience in volunteer work;
 Possess good communication and interpersonal skills and able to work as part of a team
and contribute to team dynamics;
 Motivated and passionate to improve the lives of others through their actions and work;
 Tolerant and able to interact with local communities and engage in different cultural
experiences, open minded and respectful of different cultural practices;

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 Responsible and willing to contribute time, energy and enthusiasm towards the aims and
objectives of the project activities;
 Willing and able to participate actively for the whole duration of the project;
 Availability of passport six months following commencement of the project;
 Geographical and gender balance will be respected.

 Selected participants will have to pay their own airfare, visa and incidental costs. The
organisers will provide lodging, meals, local transport and a small allowance.

Practical Arrangements:
The working schedule will also comprise a Romanian language course, normally once a week.
The Volunteer will live in an apartment with 2 or 3 bedrooms. Each room has 2 beds and can
host 2 volunteers. The bathroom, kitchen, laundry and living room are to be shared by the
Volunteers in the apartment.

Apart from work:

Apart from working life, several additional activities to get to know the other volunteers from
nearby communities and to get to know Romanian culture and traditions are offered.

Holidays:
The Volunteer has 2 days/month of holiday, which the Volunteer can use any time during the
project. However, the Volunteer needs to submit a written request 15 days prior.

Food and Accommodation:

The Volunteer will live in a shared apartment. A monthly food allowance is provided 700 lei for
1 month.

Local Transport:
All local costs within the project activities will be fully covered only for the activities of the
projects.

International Travel costs:

100% of the travel costs are to be covered by the Volunteer. The Volunteer has an obligation to
pay this money to the sending organization to cover the cost of travel.

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Mentor:
The mentor is one person out of Romanian NGO EYC to help with any needs or requirements
of the Volunteer. Subsequent to initial introduction, the first meeting with the mentor will take
place within the first week of the Volunteer being in Romania.

The regularity of further meetings will depend on the personal needs of a volunteer.

Conflict of Interest
 Volunteers must not engage directly or indirectly in any business activities that
compete or conflict with the organization’s interests and values, take up organization
time, or divert volunteer's attention and dedication to the organization.

Misuse of Position
 Volunteers must not use the organization’s name or facilities for personal advantage in
investment or other transactions.

Misuse of Information
 Volunteers must not divulge directly or indirectly to any person or firm, knowledge or
information which you may acquire during the course of their volunteering.

Possible Learning Outcomes

 Generating new ideas for future programme
 Increased knowledge of the way society works
 Meeting people from different cultures & learning from other culture
 Learning non-verbal ways to communicate
 Working well in the team
 Learning about friendship
 Dealing with conflict
 Generating new ideas for the exchange
 The opportunity to learn or practice a different language

mm/VA/Vol.Exchange programme/Draft Proposal/Updated 9th August 2016