Service Civil International (SCI) is an international
peace organisation. Since 1920, it organises international volunteering projects in the form of
workcamp
A workcamp is international volunteering, where groups of volunteers from different countries work and live together as a team on a short-term basis and for a not-for-profit cause, usually for one to three weeks. Workcamps are considered one of th ...
s and it was the first organisation worldwide to do so. The organisation was founded by Swiss pacifist
Pierre Cérésole in the aftermath of
World War I in order to foster understanding and a
culture of peace between people from different countries.
Aims
SCI states to base its work on the following values:
*
Volunteering
Volunteering is a voluntary act of an individual or group freely giving time and labor for community service. Many volunteers are specifically trained in the areas they work, such as medicine, education, or emergency rescue. Others serve ...
– in the sense of acting out of self-initiative, without seeking material reward and for the benefit of
civil society
Civil society can be understood as the "third sector" of society, distinct from government and business, and including the family and the private sphere.[Non-violence
Nonviolence is the personal practice of not causing harm to others under any condition. It may come from the belief that hurting people, animals and/or the environment is unnecessary to achieve an outcome and it may refer to a general philosoph ...]
– as a principle and a method
*
Human Rights
Human rights are moral principles or normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for certain standards of hu ...
– respect for individuals as stated in the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) is an international document adopted by the United Nations General Assembly that enshrines the rights and freedoms of all human beings. Drafted by a UN committee chaired by Eleanor Roosevelt, ...
*
Solidarity
''Solidarity'' is an awareness of shared interests, objectives, standards, and sympathies creating a psychological sense of unity of groups or classes. It is based on class collaboration.''Merriam Webster'', http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictio ...
– international solidarity for a more just world and solidarity between human beings at all levels
*Respect for the
Environment – and the
ecosystem
An ecosystem (or ecological system) consists of all the organisms and the physical environment with which they interact. These biotic and abiotic components are linked together through nutrient cycles and energy flows. Energy enters the syste ...
of which we are a part and upon which we are dependent
*
Inclusion – to be open and inclusive to all individuals who share the aims and objectives of the movement, without regard to gender, race, colour, religion, nationality, social status or political views and any other possible grounds for discrimination
*
Empowerment
Empowerment is the degree of autonomy and self-determination in people and in communities. This enables them to represent their interests in a responsible and self-determined way, acting on their own authority. It is the process of becoming strong ...
– empowering people to understand and act to transform the social, cultural and economic structures that affect their lives at all levels
*
Co-operation
Cooperation (written as co-operation in British English) is the process of groups of organisms working or acting together for common, mutual, or some underlying benefit, as opposed to working in competition for selfish benefit. Many animal a ...
– with local communities as well as other local, national and international stakeholders to strengthen the positive potential within civil society as a whole.
SCI believes that all people are capable of living together with mutual respect and without recourse to any form of
violence
Violence is the use of physical force so as to injure, abuse, damage, or destroy. Other definitions are also used, such as the World Health Organization's definition of violence as "the intentional use of physical force or power, threatened o ...
to solve
conflicts
Conflict may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
Films
* ''Conflict'' (1921 film), an American silent film directed by Stuart Paton
* ''Conflict'' (1936 film), an American boxing film starring John Wayne
* ''Conflict'' (1937 film) ...
. It organises international volunteer projects all over the world because it believes that peace can only be built if people with different backgrounds and cultures learn to co-operate and work together.
Activities
The organisation organises international voluntary services. Most of the projects that SCI organises are short-term projects between one and three weeks for groups of international volunteers. In 2019, SCI organised 270 such workcamps and 1897 volunteers participated in them. In addition, SCI sends volunteers to workcamps organised by partner organisations. Most volunteers are youth between the age of 18 and 25 and more than half of all participants are school or university students.
In long-term voluntary services, international volunteers stay for a longer period in another country. In 2019, 371 volunteers participated in long-term volunteering or special programmes. Many long-term voluntary services within Europe are funded by the
European Commission
The European Commission (EC) is the executive of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with 27 members of the Commission (informally known as "Commissioners") headed by a President. It includes an administrative body ...
through the
European Solidarity Corps programme.
History
Beginnings after World War I
Swiss pacifist
Pierre Cérésole took part in the peace conference
Bilthoven Conference, organised by the
Fellowship of Reconciliation
The Fellowship of Reconciliation (FoR or FOR) is the name used by a number of religious nonviolent organizations, particularly in English-speaking countries. They are linked by affiliation to the International Fellowship of Reconciliation (IFOR).
...
in 1920 in
Bilthoven
Bilthoven is a village in the Dutch province of Utrecht. It is a part of the municipality of De Bilt. It has a railway station with connections to Utrecht, Amersfoort and Baarn. It is home to the Netherlands National Institute for Public Health a ...
. There he gained approval among other Christian pacifists, many of them
Quakers
Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belief in each human's abil ...
, for the idea to initiate "international civil services" both as a
post-war
In Western usage, the phrase post-war era (or postwar era) usually refers to the time since the end of World War II. More broadly, a post-war period (or postwar period) is the interval immediately following the end of a war. A post-war period ...
reconciliation
Reconciliation or reconcile may refer to:
Accounting
* Reconciliation (accounting)
Arts, entertainment, and media Sculpture
* ''Reconciliation'' (Josefina de Vasconcellos sculpture), a sculpture by Josefina de Vasconcellos in Coventry Cathedr ...
method for people from countries that had just fought in the war against each other as well as an alternative to
military service
Military service is service by an individual or group in an army or other militia, air forces, and naval forces, whether as a chosen job ( volunteer) or as a result of an involuntary draft (conscription).
Some nations (e.g., Mexico) requir ...
.
Cérésole organised the first international volunteering camp as a "Service Civil" (civil service) on the former
battle field of Verdun in France in 1920. International volunteers from around Europe were engaged in the project in order to reconstruct the war-damaged village
Esnes-en-Argonne. The project was supposed to be a symbol of reconciliation between France and Germany; among the group of international volunteers were also three German volunteers. Volunteers built temporary homes for the villagers and cleared the farm land.
In the following years, several workcamps were organised to provide
disaster relief
Emergency management or disaster management is the managerial function charged with creating the framework within which communities reduce vulnerability to hazards and cope with disasters. Emergency management, despite its name, does not actuall ...
after natural catastrophes. In 1924, Cérésole organised the second international workcamp in
Les Ormonts (Switzerland), which helped to clear rubble after an avalanche. Here, the name "Service Civil International" was used for the first time. The largest disaster relief camp of the early history of the organisation took place in 1928 in
Liechtenstein
Liechtenstein (), officially the Principality of Liechtenstein (german: link=no, Fürstentum Liechtenstein), is a German-speaking microstate located in the Alps between Austria and Switzerland. Liechtenstein is a semi-constitutional monarch ...
with more than 700 volunteers from 28 countries over a course of several months. Volunteers cleared the Rhine valley plain after a heavy flood in 1927.
In 1924, Cérésole also started to promote international workcamps as a model service for
conscientious objectors
A conscientious objector (often shortened to conchie) is an "individual who has claimed the right to refuse to perform military service" on the grounds of freedom of thought, conscience, or religion. The term has also been extended to objecti ...
, in order to support a political campaign to introduce an
alternative service
Alternative civilian service, also called alternative services, civilian service, non-military service, and substitute service, is a form of national service performed in lieu of military conscription for various reasons, such as conscientious ...
in Switzerland.
Evolution of the idea workcamp
From 1931 on, the SCI ''idea'' evolved and the concept of workcamps with international volunteers were applied in other areas of social commitment During the economic crisis of the coal mining industry in Wales, a workcamp was organised to restore self-confidence in distressed mining town of
Brynmawr
Brynmawr (; , ,) is a market town, community and electoral ward in Blaenau Gwent, Wales. The town, sometimes cited as the highest town in Wales, is situated at above sea level at the head of the South Wales Valleys. It grew with the develop ...
(Wales, Great Britain). Volunteers and unemployed men build a swimming pool and layout a public park.
Cérésole, who was inspired by
Gandhi
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (; ; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist Quote: "... marks Gandhi as a hybrid cosmopolitan figure who transformed ... anti- ...
's philosophy of non-violence and who had met Gandhi in 1931, wanted to spread the idea of workcamps to
India
India, officially the Republic of India ( Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the ...
. Through the support of British Quakers and friends of Gandhi, among them
Charles Freer Andrews
Charles Freer Andrews (12 February 1871 – 5 April 1940) was an Anglican priest and Christian missionary, educator and social reformer, and an activist for Indian independence. He became a close friend of Rabindranath Tagore and Mahatma Gand ...
, he could set up the first workcamp in India in 1934 to do disaster relief work in the Bihar region, affected by the
1934 Nepal–Bihar earthquake
Events
January–February
* January 1 – The International Telecommunication Union, a specialist agency of the League of Nations, is established.
* January 15 – The 8.0 1934 Nepal–Bihar earthquake, Nepal–Bihar earthquake strik ...
.
The project had only four European participants and the concept of organising workcamps as international reconciliation proved difficult to translate to a
colonial context, where white Europeans would be identified with the colonizing power.
However, the project was well received as creating a new image of how Europeans could interact with Indians by, among others,
Rajendra Prasad
Rajendra Prasad (3 December 1884 – 28 February 1963) was an Indian politician, lawyer, Indian independence activist, journalist & scholar who served as the first president of Republic of India from 1950 to 1962. He joined the Indian Nationa ...
, who later became the President of India.
In 1937, SCI was mandated by a group of aid organizations to give humanitarian help for refugee children during the
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, lin ...
. Under the name
Ayuda Suiza and coordinated by SCI activist
Rodolfo Olgiati, Swiss SCI volunteers such as
Elisabeth Eidenbenz,
Ralph Hegnauer und
Idy Hegnauer carried out evacuation services and food and clothing distribution in parts of the Spanish Republic. Twenty years later, humanitarian help was given to war orphans in Tunisia during the
Algerian War
The Algerian War, also known as the Algerian Revolution or the Algerian War of Independence,( ar, الثورة الجزائرية '; '' ber, Tagrawla Tadzayrit''; french: Guerre d'Algérie or ') and sometimes in Algeria as the War of 1 November ...
(1958–1962). Besides those two projects, humanitarian help never got any further importance in SCI.
Establishment of the organisation
Since 1920, SCI organised workcamps and activities with no formal structure in France, Switzerland, Great Britain, India, and other countries. Only in 1934, SCI was registered as an organisation for the first time in Switzerland. As the idea of workcamps expanded to other countries after World War II, an international association of SCI branches with an international secretariat in Paris was founded in 1948. The placement of volunteers was professionalized, e.g. by setting up a volunteer insurance. The number of workcamps and volunteers increased a lot:
* 1947: 46 workcamps in 9 countries
* 1968: 298 workcamps in 24 countries.
The number branches increased similarly. In the 1960s, regional coordination structures for Africa, Asia and Europa were set up. The first branch in Asia was the Indian branch, which was registered in 1956. After the first attempt to spread the idea of workcamps to India in 1934, from 1949 on, Swiss SCI volunteers began with refugee relief work in settlements in
Faridabad
Faridabad is the most populous city in the Indian state of Haryana and a part of Delhi National Capital Region. It is one of the major satellite cities around Delhi and is located 284 kilometres south of the state capital Chandigarh. The ri ...
. Long-term volunteers from Europe, mainly Switzerland and the UK, were sent to India in the 1950s and in the 60s to Malaysia, and some Indian and Pakistani volunteers participated in European workcamps.
In the 1950s, SCI started to set up
development aid program and to recruit qualified volunteers for these. The largest development programme was in the province of
Tlemcen
Tlemcen (; ar, تلمسان, translit=Tilimsān) is the second-largest city in northwestern Algeria after Oran, and capital of the Tlemcen Province. The city has developed leather, carpet, and textile industries, which it exports through the por ...
, West
Algeria
)
, image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg
, map_caption =
, image_map2 =
, capital = Algiers
, coordinates =
, largest_city = capital
, relig ...
, after the
Algerian Independence War (1954–1962).
Simone Tanner Chaumet and
Mohamed Sahnoun for example worked in Algeria as SCI volunteers. From 1962 till 1968, SCI rebuilt the village Beni Hamou, set up a medical service and community development like primary teaching for the district of
Sebdou.
Cold War
During the
Cold War
The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because t ...
, SCI organised activities where people from both sides of the
Iron Curtain
The Iron Curtain was the political boundary dividing Europe into two separate areas from the end of World War II in 1945 until the end of the Cold War in 1991. The term symbolizes the efforts by the Soviet Union (USSR) to block itself and its s ...
could meet. It was one of the most active and most important organisations in to organise and promote east–west workcamps.
SCI volunteers from Western Europe took part in a workcamp during the
5th World Youth Festival in
Warsaw
Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is official ...
(Poland) in 1955. Workcamps were co-organised with a socialist volunteer organisation in Poland (1955), the GDR (1956), USSR (1958), Hungary (1964), Czechoslovakia (1964), and Bulgaria (1981). These contacts were intensified in the 1970s.
Volunteers from Eastern Europe could also participate in workcamps in the West. 166 Czechoslovak volunteers took part in projects that the British branch of SCI organised during the Cold War.
While it was not possible to found SCI chapters in socialist countries, in 1972, SCI set up an east–west commission in order to facilitate volunteer exchange and to improve co-operation with partner organisations in the Eastern Bloc. With the political shift in Eastern Europe, new SCI branches were founded in former socialist countries after 1990.
Reorientation (1969)
In a row of seminars, workshops and meetings from 1969 on, the political implication of SCI in society were reviewed. As consequence SCI abandon the
developmental aid approach as one of the main purpose of
workcamp
A workcamp is international volunteering, where groups of volunteers from different countries work and live together as a team on a short-term basis and for a not-for-profit cause, usually for one to three weeks. Workcamps are considered one of th ...
s. The social and political awareness rising for and through international volunteers got focus in most activities of SCI. In particular the
North-South reorientate to the concept of development education and solidarity. Examples several international campaigns (1985–1992) for the independence of
Namibia
Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ...
were organised, which was followed by an international refugee campaign (1994–1997).
The reorientation lead to further standardisation in international volunteer exchange. In the late 1970s, a decentralised volunteer placement system for
workcamp
A workcamp is international volunteering, where groups of volunteers from different countries work and live together as a team on a short-term basis and for a not-for-profit cause, usually for one to three weeks. Workcamps are considered one of th ...
s was introduced, while the north–south and east–west exchange were centralised by European and International Co-ordination of SCI. The latter was decentralised in the mid 90s.
International working groups (1997)
With the reorientation in the 1970s, SCI converted its structure with international and regional secretariats to and international coordination with working groups with focus on a particular region or interest area. In 1997 major constitutional change introduced a status for working groups, which are approved now every year. Regional working groups exists for Africa, Asia (AIWG)and Latin America (Aba Yala) and South Eastern Europe (SAVA). The other working groups focused on the following topics:
* Immigration and refugee (since 1970) such as the European Centre for Immigration
* East-West exchange (since 1972) such as the Group of Action together in Europe (GATE)
* Gender issue (since 1983) such as the WIN
* Conscientious Objection (1984–1990)
* Youth and Unemployment (since 1985) YUWG
* North-South Exchange (since 1987): such as the SEED
* Long Term Volunteering (since 1989): such as the LTRC
* Environmental issues (since 1998)
* Human Rights (since 1998)
* BEES (Better Evaluations and Exchange Support) – quality of volunteer exchanges
List of SCI branches and groups
SCI divides between full member with ''branches''-status and associated members with ''group''-status. The international committee of SCI decides about the status based on the national constitution, organisation and infrastructure of its members. The national branches can have their own names, which they state "branch of SCI" in their documents. The following tables give an overview on all branches, groups, and partner organisations of SCI.
Networking
The organisation has consultative status with the
Council of Europe
The Council of Europe (CoE; french: Conseil de l'Europe, ) is an international organisation founded in the wake of World War II to uphold human rights, democracy and the rule of law in Europe. Founded in 1949, it has 46 member states, with a p ...
, operational relations with
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...
and is a member of:
*
CCIVS (Coordinating Committee of International Voluntary Service Organisations)
*
YFJ (Youth Forum Jeunesse)
*
UNITED for Intercultural Action – a European network against
nationalism
Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: T ...
,
racism
Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one race over another. It may also mean prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism ...
,
fascism
Fascism is a far-right, Authoritarianism, authoritarian, ultranationalism, ultra-nationalist political Political ideology, ideology and Political movement, movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and pol ...
In 1987, SCI was awarded the title of Messenger of Peace given by the
United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmonizi ...
, in acknowledgement of its efforts to promote peace and understanding.
Full members status is held to the
European Youth Forum
The European Youth Forum (from french: Youth Forum Jeunesse, YFJ) is an international non-profit association and serves as a platform and advocacy group of the national youth councils and international non-governmental youth organisations in Euro ...
(
YFJ) which operates within the
Council of Europe
The Council of Europe (CoE; french: Conseil de l'Europe, ) is an international organisation founded in the wake of World War II to uphold human rights, democracy and the rule of law in Europe. Founded in 1949, it has 46 member states, with a p ...
and
European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been ...
areas and works closely with both these bodies.
Prominent members
*
Pierre Cérésole
*
Hélène Monastier
*
Rodolfo Olgiati
*
Mohamed Sahnoun
*
Friedrich Glasl
*
Simone Tanner-Chaumet
*
Elisabeth Eidenbenz
*
Jens Klocksin
*
Max-Henri Béguin
*
Emma Ott
*
August Bohny
*
Idy Hegnauer
*
Ralph Hegnauer
SCI International Archives
The international
archive
An archive is an accumulation of historical records or materials – in any medium – or the physical facility in which they are located.
Archives contain primary source documents that have accumulated over the course of an individual ...
s of the worldwide organisation provides documentation on volunteering for peace since 1920. The archives are in the town library of
La Chaux-de-Fonds
La Chaux-de-Fonds () is a Swiss city in the canton of Neuchâtel. It is located in the Jura mountains at an altitude of 1000 m, a few kilometers south of the French border. After Geneva, Lausanne and Fribourg, it is the fourth largest city loca ...
(Switzerland) and were founded by
Ralph Hegnauer in 1975. The files, documents and photos in more than 700 archive boxes are public accessible via several inventories and databases.
A part of the material is available online.
Bibliography
*Ethelwyn Best, Bernhard Pike: ''International Voluntary Service for Peace 1920–1946'', George Allen and Unwin, London, 1948
*Arthur Gillette : ''One million volunteers: the story of volunteer youth service'', Penguin Books, Harmondsworth, A pelican original, 1968, 258 p.
on-line
/small>
* Hélène Monastier, Alice Brügger: ''Paix, pelle et pioche, Histoire du Service Civil International'', Editions du Service civil international, Switzerland, 1966
*SCI : ''Service Civil International 1920–1990 – 70 years of Voluntary Service for Peace and Reconciliation'', Verdun, 1990
Notes
External links
SCI official website
SCI Peace related website
International Archives of SCI
SCI official workcamps database
{{Authority control
International organisations based in Belgium
International nongovernmental organizations
International volunteer organizations
Organizations established in 1920