The screenshot taken during the online meeting on 27 April was symptomatic of what has been happening among international youth work organisations in recent weeks and months. Most activities can only be done online, with face-to-face meetings an impossibility for the foreseeable future. Reports of “Zoom fatigue” abound – and yet the interest in the results of IJAB’s online survey was huge, with 178 participants signed up to the information session.
“In this survey we wanted to find out what kind of support is needed, where the information gaps are and what demands may need to be addressed to policymakers,” said IJAB’s Chairman Rolf Witte in his opening remarks.
Organisations and their needs are diverse
The majority of organisations questioned said they had cancelled or postponed activities. That said, some volunteering, school exchange or au-pair placements were still ongoing because it had proven difficult to repatriate the young participants in question. This alone highlighted the widely differing nature of international youth work providers and their needs. In the discussion part of the meeting, another aspect came up time and again: the survey had been conducted during a period where things were getting worse on a daily basis. The observation period needs to be longer and the survey repeated in order to capture the situation and its complexities more accurately.
Non-profit status turns out to be a trap
Despite these turbulent times, the support available from the funding providers was said to be effective. Many organisations feel that their concerns are understood and that the funding providers are demonstrating a lot of flexibility and creativity. That said, some organisations are more impacted than others. Those whose funding mostly consists of structural support are finding it easier to manage a stretched budget than the organisations that rely on funding for individual measures. They would appreciate if it were possible to use that funding to pay for salaries and administration, or if they could apply for support from Germany’s state-owned development bank. “Our non-profit status has turned out to be a trap,” stated one participant. “We don’t qualify for any bail-out scheme.” Accordingly, the majority of questioned organisations agree that the public sector is not doing enough for them.
The international partners on the other side of the exchanges are also cause for concern. The majority of surveyed organisations are in regular contact with them and hence know how bad things are as their funding has almost evaporated. It is unclear how long these partnerships will last. “We cannot afford to ignore what’s happening outside Germany right now,” said a representative. “We have to provide support to our international partnerships and networks.” At least Greek-German youth exchange partnerships have succeeded in obtaining funding in the partner country. In future, funding rules and regulations will have to be made more flexible.
Beware the resurgence of nationalism
However, the threats are not just short-term. Many participants wondered whether the current massive rescue packages would lead to austerity measures at some point. During the online meeting, there were hence repeated calls to undertake more lobbying efforts to raise awareness of the significance of international youth work for young people’s personal development and for society at large – an expectation that extends to the activities of IJAB. IJAB’s Director Marie-Luise Dreber recognises the challenge. In light of frequent attempts to resolve the coronavirus crisis purely at the national level, she warned that “nationalism and racism are being amplified by conspiracy theories. Policymakers need to understand that international youth work helps to build a caring society across national borders which is a strong antidote to these tendencies. The international youth work community needs to promote this fact and give it even more visibility.” That said, she continued, the coronavirus pandemic may turn out to be a great learning opportunity, given that the spotlight is back on the globalised nature of our world. We’re reminded that today’s problems can no longer be solved by governments working alone.
New opportunities in the post-crisis period
Organisations’ planning horizons vary greatly, with some already thinking about summer 2020 activities while others indicated that their agendas are empty until 2021. Some participants wondered openly about the future. “We need to prepare for the fact that this crisis will take some time to clear and that afterwards, nothing will be as it was,” commented IJAB Chairman Rolf Witte, alluding to “a system that’s all about headcount and mileage”, as he put it: a funding system for mobility activities that is designed precisely for certain predefined formats. Many participants agreed, saying that as plans are restarted in preparation for the post-crisis period, this system needs to be rethought, too.
This does not just relate to funding structures and lobbying activities, they said; it also affects new formats and eligible standards in international youth work. As Rolf Witte concluded, rather than “return to business as usual, we need to rethink our themes, approaches, routines, and our relationships with international partners and work to create a new form of social relevance.”
Therein, he said, lies an enormous opportunity, albeit one that requires a great deal of active input. The organisations have already called for more support in the form of lobbying, information, dialogue and networking – and above all, for more support in the use of digital tools and methods for virtual activities. As the online meeting drew to a close, IJAB pledged to work on this henceforth.
