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Policy Development

ICP supports the development of national policies that increase opportunities for young people to engage in long-term, structured service. ICP believes that national youth service policies can serve many unmet community and national needs, including providing opportunities for young people to gain valuable skills for employment and for governments to harness the skills of young people to participate in development or respond to disasters or address other critical national priorities.

About National Youth Service Policy (NYSP)

ICP defines National Youth Service as an organized period of substantial youth engagement with and contribution to a community, supported or mandated by the national government, with minimal monetary compensation to the participant. Learn More

ICP and National Youth Service Policy

ICP works with governments interested in implementing a new national youth service program or scaling up an existing program in their country. ICP also supports movements within countries to promote the development of a national youth service policy. Learn More

Youth Service Policy in the United States

In the

United States

, National Service has taken many forms over the past 75 years and has allowed the government to enhance its capacity to respond to critical national needs, from building public infrastructure during the great depression to responding to the devastation of Hurricane Katrina in 2004. Learn More

National Youth Service Policy Worldwide

As of 2008, no comprehensive database exists that can tell us how many countries have NYSP, but ICP is working to gather this information and will make it available through our our youth service database. However, we do know that countries around the world have begun to implement national youth service programs to engage young people in community and national development, build their skills for the future and respond to critical community and national needs. Learn More