European Voluntary Service (EVS)

What is a European Voluntary Service (EVS), ACTION 2 Youth in Action Programme?

The European Voluntary Service enables young people (18-30 years old) to carry out voluntary service for up to 12 months in a country other than their country of residence. It fosters solidarity among young people and is a true ‘learning service’. Beyond benefiting local communities, volunteers learn new skills and languages, and discover other cultures. The aim of the European Voluntary Service (EVS) is to develop solidarity and promote active citizenship and mutual understanding among young people.

An EVS project can focus on a variety of themes and areas of intervention, such as culture, youth, sports, social care, cultural heritage, arts, civil protection, environment, development cooperation, etc. High-risk interventions in immediate post-crisis situations (e.g. humanitarian aid, immediate disaster relief, etc.) are excluded.

The volunteer is hosted by a promoter in a country other than her/his country of residence and carries out voluntary service for the benefit of the local community. The service is unpaid, non profit-making and full-time.

What kind of cost are covered:

• travel cost from volunteer’s home country to the host country
• preparation costs
• three obligatory trainings (pre-departure, on-arrival, mid-term)
• food
• accommodation
• language support
• local transportation
• mentor’s support

What EVS is not:

• occasional, unstructured, part-time volunteering
• an internship in an enterprise
• a paid job; it must not replace paid jobs
• a recreation or tourist activity
• a language course
• exploitation of a cheap workforce
• a period of study or vocational training abroad

What to do to go for an EVS project:

• you need to talk to the Youth in Action Programme coordinator in the ESK 2016 office
• have strong motivation, be willing to help others and learn new things, be patient
• find for you suitable hosting project in the database of accredited organisations under link: http://ec.europa.eu/youth/evs/aod/hei_en.cfm

More about Youth in Action Programme and EVS you can find on the following web page:
http://ec.europa.eu/youth/index_en.htm and in the Programme Guide: http://ec.europa.eu/youth/youth-in-action-programme/doc443_en.htm