$Unique_ID{COW00265} $Pretitle{376} $Title{Austria Youth Organisations and Youth Work in Austria} $Subtitle{} $Author{Federal Press Service} $Affiliation{Embassy of Austria, Washington DC} $Subject{youth federal organisations million work union young education funds plan} $Date{1989} $Log{} Country: Austria Book: Austria Culture and Society 1945-1955-2000 Author: Federal Press Service Affiliation: Embassy of Austria, Washington DC Date: 1989 Youth Organisations and Youth Work in Austria Preface The present Documentation cannot claim to be a complete survey, since the field of youth organisations, youth work and related welfare initiatives is too vast for a comprehensive treatment. Thus, there are numerous individual campaigns carried out by a wide range of bodies, just one example of which is the annual "Licht ins Dunkel" ("Light into the Darkness") campaign run by the Austrian Broadcasting Corporation (ORF) in aid of handicapped children and young people. The organisations not included in the present Documentation are, however, numerically smaller groups which do not drastically change the overall picture; so that, even given the limitations referred to above, this Documentation can claim to be representative. General Extramural youth education Youth organisations and youth work in Austria take their place alongside the family and the school as a third autonomous educational sector, referred to as "extramural youth education". Its objective is to help young people to fulfil their personal goals in life within the social environment. The major distinction between this educational sector and the other two - the family and the school - is its voluntary nature. Extramural youth education in Austria is run by autonomous organisations which are completely independent of the state. There are no state-run youth organisations. The various youth associations and youth groups, sports associations and sports clubs, adult organisations running youth groups, institutions devoted to youth work but run by adults - all of these bodies work independently, within the scope of their own statutes outlining their objectives but without any interference on the part of the state. Care and support for young people Although - as explained above - the state does not interfere in the activities of the youth organisations, it naturally takes a great interest in their work. For this reason the Ministry for Family, Youth and Consumer Affairs has a special department for extramural youth education which deals with general matters of governmental policy in the field of young people and with the co-ordination of the work of the Provincial Youth Departments in each of Austria's nine provinces. These departments are concerned primarily with providing assistance and financial support for youth work. (The addresses of the Ministry for Family, Youth and Consumer Affairs and of the nine Provincial Youth Departments are given in the Appendix, p. 36). Youth work involves pursuing the following principal objectives: developing the personality; promoting the attitudes of the individual young person; encouraging tolerance and healthy social relationships; political and civic education; promoting young people's social commitment; preparation for partnership and family; cultural encounter; media education; healthy physical upbringing; and finally the protection of children and young people. Contact with young people Within the framework of this goal every possible means of support is given to youth organisations and institutions concerned with the interests of young people, to all forms of youth welfare work, to the training of youth group leaders, supervisors and instructors, to the creation and maintenance of facilities for youth work, to the organisation of excursions and travel for young people, international youth encounter and young people's literary activities. This promotion takes the form of a comprehensive range of seminars, courses, discussion groups, competitions and similar events arranged for youth organisations and their staff and dealing with political and civic education, community awareness, arts and media education, physical exercise, ecology, family and children. In general it is true to say that the Department for Extramural Youth Education is also responsible for contacts with youth organisations, for the allocation of funds from the Federal Youth Plan, and for the independent promotion of youth work. The principal liaison body linking the Department for Extramural Youth Education with young people and the individual youth organisations is the "Bundesjugendring" (Federal Youth Union), an umbrella organisation to which the most important Austrian youth associations are affiliated and which is designed to promote the common interests of the member associations without limiting their autonomy or activities. The Federal Youth Union The Austrian Federal Youth Union has been in existence since 1953, and the country's major youth organisations are affiliated to it. Its aim is to facilitate the joint promotion of the interests of young Austrians and the carrying out of services for young people which are beyond the scope of the individual organisations. The youth organisations do not have the resources to finance their youth work from their own funds or the funds of their related adult organisations. Consequently, the state provides support for youth work in the form of the Federal Youth Plan, whose funds are allocated for specific uses. At a national level the work of the Federal Youth Union focuses on the fields of youth employment, women, civilian service, the armed forces, school education, development aid policy and the environment. Working groups have been set up to consider these issues and to formulate approaches to the related problems. The Union is also responsible for representing Austria's children's and youth organisations internationally and is thus a member of the Council of European National Youth Committees (CENYC). The Federal Youth Union maintains close links with youth organisations in neighbouring countries and with national youth committees in the People's Republic of China, the Soviet Union and the United States. The necessary preconditions for membership of the Federal Youth Union are: recognition of the Republic of Austria, of the Austrian nation and of democracy; a central administration within the member organisation; work in at least 30 groups; a minimum membership of 2,000; and finally involvement in all areas and problems relating to the lives of young people. The office of the Federal Youth Union has the address: Bundesjugendring, A-1030 Vienna, Am Modenapark 1-2, tel.: (02 22) 75 57 43. Organisations affiliated to the Federal Youth Union The following organisations (listed in alphabetical order) are members of the Federal Youth Union: Arbeitsgemeinschaft katholischer Jugend Osterreichs, Bund Europaischer Jugend, Evangelisches Jugendwerk in Osterreich, Gemeinschaft christlichen Lebens (Marianische Kongregation) in Osterreich, Jugend und junge Erwachsene (J-GCL/MK) Junge Osterreichische Volkspartei, affiliated to the OVP = Osterreichische Volkspartei (Christian Democrats), Katholische Jungschar Osterreichs, Mittelschuler-Kartell-Verband der katholischen Farbentragenden Studenten-korporationen Osterreichs, Naturfreundejugend Osterreich, Osterreichische Alpenvereinsjugend, Osterreichische Gewerkschaftsjugend, Osterreichische Jungarbeiterbewegung, Osterreichischer Pfadfinderbund, Osterreichisches Jungvolk, Osterreichisches Kolpingwerk, Pfadfinder und Pfadfinderinnen Osterreichs (Boy Scouts and Girl Guides Movements), Sozialistische Jugend Osterreichs, Sozialistische Kinderbewegung - Kinderfreunde. The Federal Youth Plan and independent promotion The affiliated organisations listed above submit an outline scheme for the allocation of the funds provided by the Federal Youth Plan. The recommended allocation requires the approval of the Ministry for Family, Youth and Consumer Affairs. The organisations are free to use the funds provided for the above-mentioned purposes as they see fit but are obliged to submit an account of their allocation of the funds at the end of each year. Approximately one third of the funds of the Federal Youth Plan is earmarked annually for promoting investments in the field of Austria's youth hostels (run by the "Osterreichischer Jugendherbergsverband" and the "Osterreichisches Jugendherbergswerk"). The funds are used for the expansion and maintenance of Austria's network of youth hotels. Apart from the funds allocated by the Federal Youth Union there are other subsidies granted to organisations not affiliated to the Federal Youth Union. In recent years the state provided the following funds: 1980: AS 30.555 million from the Federal Youth Plan; AS 9,7 million for independent promotion; total AS 40.255 million. 1981: AS 30.860 million from the Federal Youth Plan; AS 11.371 million for independent promotion; total AS 42.231 million. 1982: AS 28.430 million from the Federal Youth Plan; AS 10.572 million for independent promotion; total AS 39.002 million. 1983: AS 28.430 million from the Federal Youth Plan; AS 10.556 million for independent promotion, total AS 38.986 million. 1984: AS 25.990 million from the Federal Youth Plan; approximately AS 8 million for independent promotion; total approximately AS 34 million. 1985: AS 25.990 million from the Federal Youth Plan; approximately AS 11 million for independent promotion; total approximately AS 37 million. Organisations not affiliated to the Federal Youth Union There are numerous organisations which are not members of the Federal Youth Union. The most important of these are listed below (in alphabetical order): Aktion Kritischer Schuler (AKS) Cartellverband der katholischen osterreichischen Studentenverbindungen (OCV), Freie Osterreichische Jugend, Bewegung fur Sozialismus (FOJ/BFS), Kommunistische Jugend Osterreichs (KJO) Osterreichische Landjugend (OLJ), Osterreichischer Bauorden (OBO), Osterreichischer Wandervogel - Der Neue Bund, Ring Freiheitlicher Jugend (RFJ), Ring Osterreichischer Philatelistenjugend (ROPHJ), Sudetendeutsche Jugend Osterreichs (SDJO), Verband christlicher Vereine junger Manner und Frauen in Osterreich (CVJM-F), Vereinigung Demokratischer Soldaten Osterreichs (VDSO).