A May 2022 report from VSO and Northumbria University in the UK says that changing how international and local volunteers work together, rather than eliminating the involvement of foreign volunteers abroad entirely, can decolonize humanitarian development, so that foreigners are no longer in control of decision-making and so that racist and discriminatory structures are addressed and dismantled.
The research, based on interviews and participatory workshops with volunteers, community representatives and VSO staff, found that there was no “one-size fits all” approach to designing and putting in place successful “volunteer combinations”. The report emphasizes that there is a need to adapt volunteer planning and management in programs based on local requirements and local learning.
The presence of international volunteers brings energy and donor attention to projects, whilst community and national volunteers enable effective engagement with local communities and increase the likelihood that impacts can be sustained due to their particular knowledges and longer-term involvement. However, there is no simple one-size-fits-all approach that can be applied to constructing a blend of volunteers, as the combination is dependent on the individuals within each blend, the environment around the project and the phasing of the work itself.
The report also warns that “community volunteers” – local volunteers, while crucial to the effectiveness of each blend, risk being sidelined.
Here is the press release summarizing the report.
And here is the full report (PDF).
Also see:
- Donors offering feedback on humanitarian projects & proposals (humor)
- Charity isn’t enough.
- Can fiction help us work better in humanitarian aid & development? Yes.
- Nope, volunteering is not always inherently “good”.
- Paying thousands to volunteer abroad & ignoring same opportunities at home
- Want to work internationally? Get involved locally.
- In defense of skills over passion.
- Misconceptions re: VSO, UNV & Peace Corps.
- Promises & Pitfalls of Global Health Volunteering.
- Vanity Volunteering: all about the volunteer – one of the most popular blogs I’ve ever written.