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| FENCES & WINDOWS |
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UNIS CITÉ
website: www.unis-cite.org
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context: 44.2% of young people living in the Paris region are or have been volunteers in non-profit associations. While young people are often preoccupied with their entrance into professional life, they also want to feel useful in a society where needs are often blatant. The motivation of 68.2% of these young Paris-region dwellers was “the desire to make myself useful”. Volunteer service can be a first stage for a young person to affirm his or her role as a citizen, a concrete and rich means to become aware of the power of each individual, regardless of nationality, cultural origin or background, to contribute to building tomorrow’s society. It is an opportunity for a young person, be they of French nationality or not, to invest in the society around him or her and to understand it better.
what: Unis-Cité is a not-for-profit organisation based in France. It organises a voluntary service of solidarity for young people between 18 and 25. Their participation in the organisation means involvement in solidarity projects around the country with hospitals, local communities, care hostels and retirement homes. Youth work in teams of 6/8 persons for 9 months, during which they take part in about 6 different projects.
why: the aims of the programme is to make young people become aware of the social problems around the country and to make them individually and actively participate in caring about others: youth from all cultures, all kinds of education and family origin who work together to struggle against all forms of social exclusion in France. By exchanging experiences and being socially involved with people of the same age, the youth gain rich internal development and learn how to be responsible citizens: “Unis-Cité was founded on a vision: that one day all young people will devote a stage of their lives to solidarity”.
how: volunteers work within existing organisations on service projects aimed at fighting exclusion in housing due to age, unemployment or other social factors. They provide physical services (renovations and environmental work), or perform human service projects (organisation of activities and events for disadvantaged people, prevention in the areas of health and drug addiction, mentoring for needy children).
where: Unis-Cité runs 4 regional branches: Ile de France, based in Paris, Rhone-Alpes, based in Lyons with an office in Grenoble, Nord Pas-de-Calais, based in Roubaix, and Mediterrannee, based in Marseilles. A national office based in Paris co-ordinates the network.
results: since 1994, 395 volunteers have completed a year of service with Unis-Cité; 290 projects have been completed to aid 186 community partners and their beneficiaries; 48 private foundations and businesses and 32 public institutions have supported Unis-Cité; "Unis-Cité Big Days of Service" have mobilised 1,700 participants of all ages to serve their communities.
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contacts
Unis-Cité
16, place des Abbesses
75018 Paris, France
tel +33 (0) 1 53 41 81 43
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