The European Voluntary Service (EVS) offers young people the opportunity to experience mobility and engagement in another country. It allows them to discover another culture and acquire skills useful for social and professional integration.
EVS is an international volunteering project that lasts from 3 weeks to 12 months for young people aged between 17 and 30 years. Young volunteers give their service to non-profit organizations while also integrate into a new country and learn a language. The projects includes several fields: art and culture, leisure, sport, environment, communication, cooperation and development, etc. Travel costs are subsidised at a distance-dependent flat rate by the Erasmus+ programme. Food, accommodation, transport and language courses costs are covered by the program.
Conditions
- You must be between 17 and 30 years of age.
- There is no school grade or any other qualification you have to comply with.
- You don’t have to speak the host country’s language.
- Project duration: 2 to 12 months
- Specific conditions for young people with fewer opportunities
How to participate?
- First of all, young people must contact a sending organization like ours. It is an organization accredited by the French Agency that works with young people to find a host project abroad, helps with preparations, organises travel tickets, insurance, all the paperwork, etc. (You can find contacts listed on this website).
- To get an idea of the proposed EVS projects, there is a site with up-to-date offers published in French on the website servicevolontaireeuropeen.fr. It is also possible to consult the list of European organizations certified by the European Union on the European Youth Portal.
- The sending organizations take care of the administrative procedures and the grant application file.
Why participate in EVS?
- The European Voluntary Service (EVS) is a life experience.
- EVS allows young people to discover other cultures, to meet other people from other countries. Young people are discovering and living an active citizenship experience by making themselves useful to others.
- EVS is a valuable preparation for integration into working life. By participating in EVS, young people acquire many skills (learning a foreign language, technical, social, civic skills…) that they can value in their path of socio-professional integration.
Important: six months are often necessary before the actual departure. It is strongly advised to start the preparation early enough.
SVE