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5 March 2007

DFID and Volunteering

DFID already supports volunteering initiatives through Partnership Programme Arrangements (PPAs) with organisations involved in volunteering and skill-sharing, including VSO, Skillshare International and International Service.

It is particularly important for individuals who may not normally get the opportunity to benefit from a volunteering experience to have a chance to become involved. DFID therefore stated a commitment to support new opportunities in youth volunteering, internships and Diaspora volunteering in the 2006 White Paper.

Youth Volunteering

A growing number of young people now take a ‘gap’ year either before or after higher education or before starting work in earnest. But still those who are taking opportunities to travel the world and work or volunteer in developing countries is relatively small, and young people from more disadvantaged backgrounds find it harder to participate. DFID supports the aim of every young person learning about the global issues that shape their lives.

Having an opportunity to get involved, easily and inexpensively, offers an experience they will benefit from in the longer term, that will also make them young global citizen ‘champions’, influencing the way their peers think and encouraging them to gain from a similar experience.

We would like to develop a programme that presents these opportunities to young people. It needs to:

Be accessible to all regardless of background;
Be fairly large scale and ambitious in terms of numbers
Involve an extended stay in a developing country;
Be based on equal partnership, giving the individual the opportunity to integrate fully in another culture and environment;
Have a wider development awareness impact in the UK

The following questions therefore remain:

Should the programme be reciprocal in nature, giving partners an opportunity to benefit from learning about life and culture in the UK?
Should each visit have a clear ‘deliverable’ with the volunteer making a valuable contribution in the community they are based?
What age range of volunteers would be considered ‘youth’?
How can learning and analysis be integrated into the experience?
What role can be defined for the volunteer to share their learning and experience back home?
How can the programme have a wider reaching effect in encouraging more people to volunteer and benefit from peer to peer learning?

Internships

Working in the development sector is rewarding and challenging and, above all highly motivating. Many individuals who are at the start of their career, or even mid-career would welcome more opportunity to gain experience in development with a view to working in the sector for the longer term. Likewise, such highly motivated, committed and skilled staff are always needed.

This scheme is designed to create such opportunities through a new DFID Internship Programme, where individuals will have the chance to work overseas within an NGO to gather direct, relevant and valuable experience. Overseas experience is a prerequisite when applying for many different positions. The shape and scale of the scheme needs to be defined, along with the focus and management and as such the following questions are asked:

What is the potential scale and value of such a scheme?
Who should be eligible to apply?
Should there be age limits?
What types of experiences would be most useful? Within an international, national or local NGO?
Would NGOs value these internships?
Do all NGO’s have the capacity to receive an intern?
How long should the placements be?
What are the risks, pitfalls and liabilities?

Diaspora Volunteering

DFID is also keen to encourage people from Diaspora communities to become active volunteers, either in the country of their origin or in other countries. Whilst people from Diaspora communities often have a far greater depth of understanding of the challenges of individuals living in poorer countries, their knowledge is not necessarily based within the wider development context, nor are they necessarily aware of the international programmes which are ongoing within their communities abroad.

The programme needs to:

Develop a significant number of opportunities for people from varied Diaspora communities to offer their services as a volunteer;
Use existing skills from the communities to make a meaningful contribution overseas;
Be based on equal partnership ;
Have a wider development awareness impact in the UK