Guadeloupe's young people, heavily affected by unemployment (60% compared with 25% in mainland France) and hit by a climate of exacerbated violence, are seeking identity and recognition in a society that struggles to make room for them, and within which the various forms of commitment remain little recognized or valued.
According to numerous studies, participative engagement and/or volunteering are among the most effective alternatives for strengthening social cohesion and personal development among young people, particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds.
Indeed, the benefits of youth involvement are no longer in question, as numerous studies and experiments carried out in France and Europe have demonstrated. Solidarity commitment and international mobility schemes are a real springboard for the acquisition of skills and the socio-professional integration of young people through non-formal education.
For 20 months, through the social experiment, the Arrimage Good'îles team, in collaboration with local mainstream partners (DJSCS, Cité des métiers, Cap Excellence, CRIJ, Pôle emploi, Mission locale...) implemented a communication strategy aimed at mobilizing young people aged 16 to 30 and Guadeloupean professionals about the opportunities offered by existing voluntary commitment schemes.
Mobilizing Guadeloupe's young people to get involved in volunteer work requires a communication effort; this is the main entry point for successfully overcoming the indifference or even rejection of traditional institutional communication, which needs to adapt to cultural codes of language and images via their digital media.
Objectives
- Encourage young people in the French overseas departments and territories with fewer opportunities to get involved through a regional competition.
- Improving access to volunteer schemes for young people in the French overseas territories
- Mobilize youth players around the commitment of young people in the French overseas territories.
Partners
Activities
- Provide training for youth workers to raise awareness of funding opportunities for youth projects.
- Produce and distribute e-tutorials to promote volunteer involvement schemes
- Produce a best-practice reference guide dedicated to helping young people in difficulty to become volunteers.
Resultss
- The social experiment carried out through «Mon Île ou ailleurs # je m'engage» invites us to change the way we look at Guadeloupe's youth, to recognize the usefulness and necessity of communicating with these young people, but above all for them.
- This new dynamic has helped to highlight the relevant aspects of effective communication with our target audience. It leads us to seek out, mobilize and recognize the capacity to provide innovative responses to the societal, economic and environmental challenges facing Guadeloupe's youth, through voluntary commitment.
- On Friday, November 16, 2018 at the Centre culturel et sportif Emanuel Albon.in Les Abymes, we had the pleasure of celebrating the 5 young pitch winners of the «Mon île ou ailleurs # je m'engage» Competition! This competition clearly demonstrated that Guadeloupean youth, duly informed and supported, respond positively, committed and supportive for their Island or elsewhere!