Young Companions of the Union
Young Companions of the Union همراهان جوان اتحادیه Hamdamân-e Javân-ye Ettehâd الصحابة الشباب من الاتحاد Al-Aṣḥāb al-Šabāb min al-Ittiḥād | |
---|---|
Secretary General | Haidar Nassar |
Political Affairs Director | Mukhtar Khadarivar |
Honorary President | Vahid Isfandiar |
Founded | 28 November 1950 |
Headquarters | Zarâdkâne Complex, Zahedan |
Membership | 77.54 million (2020) |
Ideology | Sattarist National Renovationism |
Mother party | National Renovation Front |
Newspaper | Javân |
The Young Companions of the Union, (YCU) (Pasdani: همراهان جوان اتحادیه; Hamdamân-e Javân-ye Ettehâd, HJE; Rahelian: الصحابة الشباب من الاتحاد; Al-Aṣḥāb al-Šabāb min al-Ittiḥād, ASI), is the sole political youth movement in Zorasan and the youth division of the ruling National Renovation Front. It is the largest youth movement in the world, with an estimated 77.54 million members as of 2020, membership is mandatory for all children aged between 4 and 16.
It was established in November 1950 following the Sattarist victory in the Pardarian Civil War and expanded in 1953 to include the youth of Khazestan and Ninevah following the unification of the Union of Khazestan and Pardaran. Between 1953 and 1980, its primary duty was to prepare its male members for national service and its female members for supporting any future war effort, while also engaging in political education and propagation of National Renovationism. Following the success of Zorasani Unification in 1980, the YCU was again expanded to an all-Union organisation, with mandatory membership sustained at its 1981 General Congress.
Today, the YCU provides numerous extra-ciriculuar activities that go toward securing university places or being fast-tracked into select government services. It still provides its male members access to military style training and regularly operates events designed to prepare them for national service or volunteering for the armed forces. The YCU also operates social services for young members from poorer backgrounds, including tutoring, housing and electronic devices. The YCU's structure and inherently political nature has led many to describe the YCU as a "training school" for NRF politicians or career officials.