Figure 7. Number of incoming EVS volunteers to Italy by country of origin in the EU (2009)
Source: National Youth Agency – Italian National Agency for ‘Youth in Action’ Programme.
In total, 116,317 young people undertook National Civic Service in the threeyear period (2006-2008), but only 1377 of them went abroad which makes up 1% of the total number of participants388. In 2009, the number of Civic Service Abroad volunteers reached 499389, almost equalling the total EVS volunteer turnout in Italy (339 were sent and 229 hosted in 2009). As for the Civic Service Abroad destinations, relatively few Italian volunteers stay in Europe. Western and Eastern Europe combined (with no distinction between EU and non-EU countries) accounted for 30% of the volunteers sent by this programme in 2006-2008. Most international projects were implemented in the developing world: Africa and South America both received another 30% of the participants, around 8% of Civic Service volunteers chose a country in Asia or the Middle East, 4% volunteered in Central America, while North America and the Pacific received just a few people390. Among the participants of Civic Service Abroad in 2006-2008, almost 46% were involved in either of the two traditional areas of volunteering, namely, care (18% of the participants) or cultural education or promotion (28%). Other known fields of activity included development cooperation organised by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs or local authorities (9.7%), support to Italian communities abroad
388
Ufficio Nazionale per il Servizio Civile, ‘Volontari 2008’. Rome, 2009. <http://www.serviziocivile.it/Contenuti/?PageID=244> [Accessed 05-05-2010]. 389 Ufficio Nazionale per il Servizio Civile, ‘Il servizio civile all’estero’. Rome, 2010. <http://www.serviziocivile.it/Contenuti/Default.aspx?PageID=42> [Accessed 06-05-2010]. 390 Calculations are based on the following data sheets: Ufficio Nazionale per il Servizio Civile, ‘Volontari 2008’. Rome, 2009. <http://www.serviziocivile.it/Contenuti/?PageID=244>; ‘Volontari 2007’. Rome, 2008. <http://www.serviziocivile.it/smartFiles_Data/9daeb063-e6a2-4900-b8f8-610771e5fc2e_SCNcifre VOLONTARI07.pdf>; ‘Volontari 2006’. Rome, 2007. <http://www.serviziocivile.it/ smartFiles_Data/8a707fe65e5d-42ed-9c35-1d8bb471c62_SCNcifreVOLONTARI06.pdf> [Accessed 05-05-2010].
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