Intercontinental youth work cooperation

Italy has not legally recognised youth work yet. Therefore, cooperation activities do not include actions aimed at developing quality youth work. 

However, youth workers can participate in exchange programs within the framework of the European Erasmus+ program, which includes some extra-EU countries (regions 1 to 4 of the E+ guide).

Development cooperation activities

In order to foster youth participation in international cooperation, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (Ministero degli Affari Esteri e della Cooperazione Internazionale – MAECI) promotes several programs designed to facilitate the entry of young people into relevant international organizations, such as:

• Internship Opportunities for undergraduates and recent graduates in major international organizations, such as the United Nations, the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, and the Council of Europe;

• Young Professionals’ Programmes (YPP) of various international organizations, which are recruitment programmes of young graduates, jointly managed with the country of origin;

• The Fellowships Programme for Technical Cooperation Capacity Building and Human Resources Development, a professional training course in the UN Field Offices;

• The Junior Professional Officer Programme (JPO) of the United Nations, which offers young professionals graduated from universities or higher education institutions the opportunity to gain professional experience in multilateral international cooperation in the UN. The JPO is hired thanks to a bilateral agreement between the UN and donor countries; 

• The Junior Professionals in Delegation Programme (JPD) of the European Union, an opportunity for young graduates and postgraduates to work in the delegations implementing the EU’s foreign and development cooperation policy. 

Additionally, the MAECI contributes every year to fund calls for proposals for Youth Exchange projects. These funds sustain initiatives – promoted by the Third Sector, local authorities and public and private educational institutions – aimed at creating socio-cultural educational paths of curricular enrichment and vocational training for young Italians and foreigners, aged 18 to 30, both in Italy and abroad. The projects aim to promote cultural exchange activities and their main goals are: curricular enrichment and vocational training; inclusion and active participation of young people in social and political life; enhancement of cultural, artistic, and environmental heritage; tolerance through mutual knowledge of cultural diversity. As for the origin of the young beneficiaries, the priority areas and countries in 2024 are: MENA, Sub-Saharan Africa, Balkans, France, Germany, Mexico, Japan, and South Korea.

The Universal Civic Service (Cf. 2.4) aims at – inter alia – the promotion of peace among peoples, nonviolence and unarmed defence, the promotion and protection of human rights and development cooperation. Every year, it offers young people aged between 18 and 28 the opportunity to participate in volunteering projects in developing countries. These projects last 12 months and are usually financed by the MAECI, while volunteers receive a monthly allowance from the Department for Youth Policies and the Universal Civic Service.

Moreover, the Civic Peace Corps, established experimentally by Law 147/2013, art. 1, para. 253, and regulated by an Inter-ministerial Decree (2015), are managed by the Department for Youth Policies and the Universal Civic Service and the MAECI to foster development cooperation. The Civic Peace Corps aim at seeking alternative solutions to the use of military force for conflict resolution through the involvement of young volunteers in non-governmental peace actions in conflict or at risk of conflict areas, or in environmental emergency areas. The activities are carried out in various fields, such as: 1) supporting democratisation and reconciliation processes; 2) supporting local civil society for conflict resolution; 3) monitoring human rights compliance; 4) humanitarian activities such as supporting refugees, displaced persons and migrants; 5) peace education; 6) supporting the civilian population in dealing with environmental emergencies. The Civic Peace Corps projects last 12 months. The third and most recent Call for the selection of 153 volunteers was published in May 2023.

The Generation Cooperation Project involves 24 national and local civil society organizations and networks and receives contributions from the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation (AICS). The main objective of the project is to promote development cooperation and raise awareness among young people about global citizenship and the importance of Official Development Assistance (ODA). The project aims at reviving the culture of cooperation and world peace by involving citizens, students, teachers, politicians, and the media.