International Volunteering: choosing a sustainable and impactful project

Abi Taylor

1. Potential issues, negative impact and debate

2. Where to start? 3. What should you ask of yourselves

1. Responsibility to your volunteers2. Relationship with partner organisation3. Get informed

4. Questions and discussion

1. Potential issues, negative impact and debate

2. Where to start? 3. What should you ask of yourselves

1. Responsibility to your volunteers2. Relationship with partner organisation3. Get informed

4. Questions and discussion

“What’s wrong with volunteer travel?”

A short video by Daniela Papi

“In the 21st century we should not still be thinking that people from abroad can arrive in a country whose language, culture, lifestyle, economics, education, politics and climate is totally different from their own and expect to contribute something useful and worthwhile in a matter of weeks or months. The implicit assumption is that foreigners can achieve what Indians have not been able to do for the last hundred years.”(Individual interviewee – Indian Volunteers for Community Service (IVCS) (From a research study by VSO).

http://www.affp.org.uk/sites/affp.org.uk/files/Research%20report-%20Paropkaar.pdf

Risk of negative impacts…

•Impact on local jobs•Cost to host communities•Impact on children

1. Potential issues, negative impact and debate

2. Where to start? 3. What should you ask of yourselves

1. Responsibility to your volunteers2. Relationship with partner organisation3. Get informed

4. Questions and discussion

Where to start?

• Think about what kind of project is most likely to match the skills of students.

• Research• Look around you!

Different Areas of InterestHealth: Nutrition, health education, HIV/AIDS, sexual health, sanitation? Education: children's education, adult education, vocational training. Languages, medicine, engineering? Human rights: Women's rights, Child rights, Counter-trafficking, disabled rights, legal services for vulnerable groups, Refugee rights, Detainee rights, Street children, Migrants and workers rights, land rights? Economic development: Sustainable livelihoods, Fair-trade & enterprise development, Micro-credit, Income generating activities, Eco-tourism?Environment: Protection of natural resources, Environmental education, Energy, climate change, green economy, food security?Politics: corruption, political accountability, international law and tribunals, UN work, democratic governance, fair elections, peace and security, conflict resolution?

The Organisation

• Size• Costs• The way the organisation presents themselves

and their projects• Skills and Training• Volunteer checklists and charters

1. Potential issues, negative impact and debate

2. Where to start? 3. What should you ask of yourselves

1. Responsibility to your volunteers2. Relationship with partner organisation3. Get informed

4. Questions and discussion

1. Potential issues, negative impact and debate

2. Where to start? 3. What should you ask of yourselves

1. Responsibility to your volunteers2. Relationship with partner organisation3. Get informed

4. Questions and discussion

Communication… again

• Open, continuous communication• Especially about money!• How is the relationship with the partner

formalised?

Longer-term plans

• What are the long-term goals for the project? And how does your volunteers’ work fit into this?

• What happens after your volunteers leave?• How will you monitor and evaluate the

project?

1. Potential issues, negative impact and debate

2. Where to start? 3. What should you ask of yourselves

1. Responsibility to your volunteers2. Relationship with partner organisation3. Get informed

4. Questions and discussion

Engaging with international development more broadly:– Conferences: www.studenthubs.org/idconferences– www.whypoverty.net– Guardian development blog - http://www.guardian.co.uk/global-development – World Development Movement (some particularly good research documents

and reports)- http://www.wdm.org.uk/ – Overseas Development Institute - http://www.odi.org.uk/– Institute of Development Studies Mixcloud- http://www.mixcloud.com/ids/

(recordings of interviews, seminars and podcasts). See in particular http://www.mixcloud.com/StudentHubs/ for podcasts of recent conferences.

– Generation Development – an online development forum which connects young people from around the world to shape international development policy

– World service enquiry for jobs, experience etc. in development- http://www.wse.org.uk/

Campaigning in the UK

• Actionaid• AEGIS• HART• Etc…

1. Potential issues, negative impact and debate

2. Where to start? 3. What should you ask of yourselves

1. Responsibility to your volunteers2. Relationship with partner organisation3. Get informed

4. Questions and discussion

International.coordinator@studenthubs.org@impact_intl

www.studenthubs.org/impactinternationalwww.facebook.com/impactinternational1