AU-YV (AFRICAN UNION-YOUTH VOLUNTEER

Are you interested in creating an impact on the lives of others? Then here is a life opportunity for you to do so. Join the African Union Youth Volunteer network. Deciding to become an AU-YV is a life changing decision opening opportunities to serve in a community other than your own and assisting in the local development efforts. Africa needs countless skilled labor each year in all fields and professional sectors. Youth Volunteerism has contributed significantly to the development of most advanced economies and contributes a substantively to annual GDP. In Africa, Youth Volunteerism would not only contribute directly to the development of the continent, but is also a means of direct and meaningful youth participation and empowerment.

As a volunteer, apart from applying your skills and knowledge to solve everyday challenges, you would gain crucial international work experience and acquire a great deal of leadership and soft skills, develop your self reliance and acquire new professional skills.

Most of all however, you would gain a life changing experience of learning a new culture, experience a new lifestyle, and get to know a new African country and its people outside your own. This experience would guaranteed shape your life and remain in your memory for the rest of your life.

Are You Ready For The Challenge

Main Commitment

Your duties and responsibilities would mainly be to serve the community, organization or institution where you will be deployed. This will be in relation with your field of study or past experience. At present the main areas of focus for AU-YVC are: Education; Health and HIV/ AIDS; Peace and Security; Information and Communications Technology; Business and Youth Entrepreneurship; Agriculture and Environment.

During your deployment your overall objective shall remain to bring a lasting and sustainable impact and benefits to your host community/ organization and promote the spirit of volunteerism and values of service.

This would require you to demonstrate leadership, discipline and dedication throughout your service and especially during challenging and difficult times.

Timeframe

Your deployment will be a minimum of 12 months and however shall not exceed 24 months.

Living Condition

Your living condition may vary extremely between rural and urban communities. Availability of running water, internet and electricity in your house or even a small rural hut . However AU-YVC ensures minimal standards for modest living conditions enabling a healthy lifestyle with access to clean water, sanitation and health care.

Living Expense

AU-YVC would provide you with a living allowance that would enable you cover all your expenses during your deployment and provide you with a medical insurance and a plane ticket to country of deployment and back home. The monthly allowance could vary greatly from country to country and within a given country itself. The guiding principle remains however, whereas volunteers are not expected to make any financial gains, they shall at the same time not incur any financial losses.

Who Can Apply

In order to be considered for this program, you must fulfill all of the following requirements:

- You must be an African Citizen or you are of African Decent (African Diaspora with non African Citizenship)

- You are age 18 - 34

- You have at least a post secondary certified training and qualifications (Bachelor equivalent) with above average performance

- Available to dedicate minimum of 12 (twelve) months  for volunteer work

- Good knowledge of at least one official AU languages (Arabic, English, French, Portuguese) and willing to learn others

- Verifiable minimum of one year of volunteer and one year of work experience

- You have an up to date and chronologically complete Curriculum Vitae (please click on Sample CV for reference)

In Addition
You should be both mentally and physically in a condition that allows you to travel, live and serve in a new environment. Also, take into consideration that there may not be health services available in the area where you will be deployed like those you are used to in your home country, especially if you have special medical conditions.
You will also be required to acquire all the necessary travel documents and vaccination cards.

The Ideal Candidate

- Is change driven and has passion for development,

- Has great deal of leadership skills and can guide others,

- Remains productive under pressure and in challenging environments,

- Is flexible, independent, and has sense of humor,

- Self-motivated and has interest in volunteer work,

- Has absorptive capacity to learning on the job,

- Appreciates and respects other languages, cultures, religious and social norms,

- Has a great deal of social networking skills

After Application

Short listing: Once an application is received it would be accessed against our Evaluation Matrix based on the following criteria:

1. Type of qualification acquired and grades received (Bachelors-, Masters Degree, PHD);

2. Number and Type of languages spoken (with primary focus on Arabic, English, French, Portuguese Swahili and possible combinations);

3. Type of volunteer and work experience: more weight would be given to community outreach and working with others in teams;

4. Comparative Advantage I: Why does one want to become an AU-YV

5. Comparative Advantage II: What makes an applicant a good candidate for placement?

6. Comparative Advantage III: Previous Volunteer Experience (its significance to the vacancy)

Each application is scored based on the requirements of the vacancy. This means the same application may score different for different vacancies.

Final Selection: After receiving the evaluation matrix and the CVs of applicants, requesting organizations are given time to select their preferred candidate.

Selected candidates are now cleared for training. The following steps follow:

1) Successful AU-YVC applicants would:

- receive an official letter of acceptance and invitation for training

- receive request to start the process of acquiring a passport, medical clearance (Fitness to work Certificate), security clearance (from local police)

- asked to send authenticated copies of their academic credentials or other documents

2) Other Decisions

- Applications who did not fulfill all requirements would be eliminated. Applicants would be notified about this development, and could apply one second time.

- Applicants for whom there was no vacancy found and who fulfill all requirements would be kept on the database for future consideration

- Vacancies for which there was no candidate who fulfills all requirements remains vacant

Duration: it takes on average 12 month from the date of application until final deployment to go through all stages. Applicants are therefore not advised to commit early on and resign from jobs or defer their education and other engagements.

Keeping up to date: Applicants are advised to log in time to time and update their information, should anything change in their application. In this event it is also important to notify the AU-YVC Unit

Visit the youthsforafrica facebook page to apply