EURO 2005 Report

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Supported By

European Conference on International Volunteering

15-16 September 2005

Overseas Development Institute, London

Skillshare International/MoyaSkillshare International/Moya

HORIZONT3000-BildarchivHORIZONT3000-Bildarchiv HORIZONT3000-BildarchivHORIZONT3000-Bildarchiv

AFVP AFVP UN VolunteersUN Volunteers

E-Changer/UnitéE-Changer/Unité

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In September 2005, for the firsttime in five years, a Europeanconference of organisationsinvolved in internationalvolunteer co-operation tookplace in London. It wasorganised by the International

FORUM on DevelopmentService, formerly a Europeanorganisation but now a globalnetwork of which I amcurrently President.

FORUM is unusual in the wayit brings togethergovernmental, multilateral andNGO bodies. They all share aninterest in the way in which

people contribute to makingthis world a better place,demonstrating a willingness toshare their lives with peopleand communities in other partsof the world through voluntaryengagement, exchangeprogrammes or institutionalco-operation.

The impact of contemporaryforces, often summarised asglobalisation, has generated aninnovative and criticalapproach to our ways ofworking as we meet freshchallenges. This conferencefocused on many of thosefuture developments,emphasising how we can

redefine and renew our modelsand approaches.

Thank you to everyone whocontributed to the success ofthe conference, in particular toCONCORD, AKLHÜ andSkillshare International for thefinancial support that enabledit to happen.

Cliff Allum

President of International

FORUM on Development

Service, Cliff Allum, opened

the conference with an

overview of international

volunteer co-operation in

the European context.

He posed a number of

challenges for the

conference to consider,including the role of

international volunteering

in today’s increasingly

globalised world,

recognising that technical

assistance is not a sufficient

rationale to enable

international volunteering to

survive and thrive.

Delegates identified recent

trends in international

volunteer co-operation,

including:

• Variation and flexibility inthe length and model ofvolunteer placement

• Demands fromgovernments and funderson value for publicmoney

• The importance of ourpartners in driving thedirection of change

• An incredible level ofpublic interest andengagement,attributable in part to theGlobal Call to Actionagainst Poverty

Which way

forward for

international

volunteering?

Cliff Allum, President of FORUM and

CEO of Skillshare International

Robert Leigh (UN Volunteers)gave a presentation on the roleof international volunteering in

achieving the MillenniumDevelopment Goals, noting inparticular that the MDGs aretechnically and economicallyfeasible but require not onlythe full commitment of

governments from both theNorth and South, but also theengagement of millions ofordinary people throughvoluntary action. He explainedthat the MDGs are both anopportunity and aresponsibility for theinternational volunteeringmovement and represent aclear call to action. “It isthrough volunteerism that largenumbers of people arecurrently engaged in the taskof helping to bring about a

betterment of their lives.Indeed it is hard to see howthe MDGs can be achievedwithout the mobilisation ofmany millions of people on avoluntary basis.”

Robert Leigh, Senior Policy Specialist,

UN Volunteers

International Volunteering and the

Millennium Development Goals

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Robert Leigh summarisedwith the followingobservations on orientinginternational volunteeringtowards the achievement ofthe MDGs:

• The emphasis onmeasurement andindicators called for by theMDGs will requireinternational volunteeringorganisations todemonstrate impactbeyond anecdotal

evidence. There is a needto pool resources forvolunteer impact studiesand other research.

• The need to avoidduplication calls for more

communication betweeninternational volunteeringorganisations, including atproject development level.

• There are increasedopportunities for multi-stakeholder participationin volunteerism, with

private sector, media,researchers andparliamentarians.

• We should seizeopportunities for jointresource mobilisation and

volunteer campaignsaround the role ofvolunteers in achievingthe MDGs.

More information about the

MDGs is available at

www.un.org/millenniumgoals/

Experiences of International Volunteer Co-operation

Organisations based in Europe

On Thursday afternoon,participants worked in three

workshop groups to discusstheir experiences as EuropeanIVCOs, looking at the currentsituation, future developmentsand key challenges facingEuropean agencies.

The workshops produced arange of responses. The firstgroup focused on co-operation

and collaboration. The secondgroup focused on the flexibilityof different models ofinternational volunteerplacements. The third groupconcentrated on monitoringand evaluation.

Participants were asked toreflect on these issues and

discussions, and to think aboutthe next steps. This beingFORUM’s first Europeanconference for five years, itwas important to understand

how these issues could betaken forward as a focus for

further European collaborationand networking.

Richard Lewartowski of ECHOurged those attending from

NGOs to adopt a commonposition and to voice their

expectations to theCommission, clearly statingwho represents them (e.g.CONCORD) in European-leveldiscussions and consultations.

NGOs, the EU and European governments across Europe participated in FORUM’s

European conference.

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New Approaches to International Volunteering

On Friday morning,

participants had the

opportunity to share new

approaches to international

volunteering, through

presentations from FK

Norway, Canadian

Crossroads International and

VSO, followed by plenary

discussions.

Live Bjørge and Tor Elden gavea presentation on theNorwegian approach to amodel of partnership andKaren Takacs presented theCanadian perspective onvolunteer co-operation.

FK Norway currently facilitatesaround 100 partnerships, eachof which has 2-8 partners fromthe South and across Norway.The programme’s objectivesinclude reciprocal learningand the feedback ofknowledge to volunteers’own societies on their return.In the Canadian Crossroads

model, the length ofplacements is flexible to suitthe Southern partners’ needsand partner organisationsshare the responsibility for

recruitment of volunteers.Canadian Crossroads and FKNorway have very similarmodels of partnership butarrived at them throughdifferent processes. FKNorway’s change was drivenby the government whileCanadian Crossroads’ movefrom a cultural-exchangeorganisation to a developmentorganisation was driven by itspartners in the South.

During a plenarydiscussion, thefollowing key pointswere raised:

• Public engagement ofreturned volunteers:of particular interest was themodel of a compulsoryeducation programme toraise awareness ofdevelopment issues in thevolunteer’s home country.

• Cost-efficiency and value formoney, particularly inrelation to organisationalstructure.

• Challenges of M&E againstdevelopment objectives andsupporting volunteers duringtheir placements without apresence in the country ofoperation.

• Volunteer benefits - financialallowances and livingarrangements.

• Corporate partnershipsand corporate socialresponsibility.

Mark Goldring presentedVSO’s experience of South-South internationalvolunteering, explaining thebackground to the model andthe challenges and complexityof managing such aprogramme. The followingissues were discussed inplenary session:

• Practical challenges ofrecruiting volunteers fromsome countries e.g. visas.

• Assessment of qualificationsfrom different countries.

• Diversification of supporterbase.

• Demand from partnerorganisations for volunteersspecifically from the Southor North.

• Lack of expectation ofcultural difference byvolunteers from the Southon placements within theirown region. Positive side isthe common language.

• Issue of dependents isgreater with Southernvolunteers.

Hartwig Euler, chairing thesession, concluded with asummary of the discussionnoting that “when we talkabout internationalvolunteering, we can no longerreally separate South-Southvolunteering which hasbecome a main part of our

programmes.”

Tor Elden, FK Norway,presented the Norwegianapproach to partnership

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The objective of this sessionwas to focus on initiatives taken

by the EU in relation to

international volunteering. Cliff

Allum, chairing the session,

explained that members of

FORUM had asked the

Executive to find out more

about the EU Commission’s

activities in this area, which was

the aim of this session. FirstlyKathrin Schick (VOICE),

responded on humanitarian

issues. Knud Vilby (ECPC

Consultant) and Richard

Lewartowski (ECHO) provided

updates on the research

process which led to a

discussion on the scope for

response and feedback from

NGDOs.

As a preliminary, Richard

Lewartowski outlined the

background and status of two

potential initiatives – the Civil

Peace Corps (ECPC) and

Humanitarian Aid Corps

(EVHAC). He explained that the

research commissioned into

these initiatives would not beaffected by the issues around

the Constitution. He

acknowledged that there tends

to be a perception within the

Commission that international

volunteering is solely a youth

activity.

Kathrin Schick of VOICE has a

humanitarian background butattempted in the first

presentation to broaden this

perspective to incorporate the

international volunteering and

development dimension.

VOICE, whose members are

specialists in humanitarian,

short-term emergency

interventions, has a sectoral

focus on humanitarian issues.Kathrin informed the

participants that a 3rd study is

being undertaken to consider

how volunteers can be involved

in civil participation in EU

member states and in the

South. This would address civil

protection missions, for

example in the aftermath of

Hurricane Katrina. Kathrin

stressed the importance of

viewing all three studies

alongside each other.

Feedback is currently being

sought from NGOs. The

European Commission is

leading the implementation of

the studies which wereoriginally motivated by member

states and politicians. The

Asian tsunami had a significant

impact on issues relating to the

study and showed new ways of

using volunteers. In an open

discussion about the EU

initiatives, the following points

were raised:

Recent EU initiatives in international volunteering:the European Civil Peace Corps (ECPC)

and the European Volunteer Humanitarian AidCorps (EVHAC)

Delegates from Aklhue, DEDand the German government

discuss European issues.

Youth and humanitarianrelief: an unlikely combination?

Although not explicit in theECPC terms of reference,the EVHAC terms ofreference refer specifically

to young people.The study should carefullyconsider whether its aim isto engage youth or highlyskilled professionals and

what their motivations andvalues should be: an actof solidarity, a career-building activity or anexercise to raiseawareness of developmentand humanitarian issuesfor example. Would the

initiatives be humanitarianor education and cultureprogrammes? Manydelegates considered thatit would be counter-

productive or evenirresponsible to takeyoung inexperiencedvolunteers to dangerousdisaster zones. Thequestion of whetherforeign volunteers arereally needed in disaster

zones was also raised.For example, many IndianNGOs addressedhumanitarian issues after theTsunami.

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Although there was broadagreement that there could bean international volunteeringrole for young people, manyparticipants expressed concernthat young people could bedispatched on volunteerplacements to areas of conflictor disaster as this would becounter-productive for both thecommunities and volunteersinvolved. While it is importantto strengthen the engagementof young people in

international volunteering andin the relationship between theEU and developing countries,these separate aims may notbe compatible and would notbe the most effective way of

developing constructive linksbetween internationalvolunteering and humanitarianprogrammes.

Knud Vilby was expected todeliver a draft report on theECPC initiative to theCommission in late 2005.Both Knud Vilby (ECPC) andJonathan Potter (EVHAC)would welcome additionalfeedback and comments onthe initiatives. The EVHAC and

ECPC terms of reference areavailable at www.forum-ids.orgCliff Allum’s presentation ‘TheEU and InternationalVolunteering: ECPC andEVHAC’ is also available in

English and French atwww.forum-ids.org

Building Peace

The ECPC would not be adevelopment or humanitarianbody, but a peace-buildinginitiative, as reflected by

changes to the study’s terms

of reference. It wasrecognised that this initiativewould be compatible with theEU Human Security Force. Anincreasing number of NGOsare working in peace-relatedprogrammes and it is plausiblethat professionals who havebeen volunteers with NGOscould be recruited as ECPCvolunteers.

Engaging Europe

The challenge will be toengage and work with newmember states which do nothave a history of volunteersending and do not have largedatabases of volunteers or ahigh level of internationalvolunteer co-operation

activities. DED extended anoffer to share further with theconsultants their experience ofhumanitarian rapid response

work, that in disastersituations volunteers need tobe even more experienced andable to deal with sensitiveissues than for developmentplacements. It was also notedthat although not part of the

EU, Norway is part of theEuropean Economic Area and

should have an input.

Resourcing and Accountability

Would the level ofremuneration for EVHAC andECPC volunteers besignificantly higher than that

offered by NGOs, leading tocompetition between the EUand established programmesin attracting expert

professional volunteers? A more attractive benefitspackage could result involunteers being attractedfrom development tohumanitarian work. The EUhas a duty to its citizens andto people and communities inthe South to achieve themaximum added value fromthese initiatives at all levels.

Sharing Systems for a RapidResponse

Developing commondatabases (whether NGO orgovernment) for humanitarian

international volunteering will

increase efficiency andeffectiveness. There is scopefor NGOs to improvedatabases and systems toenable expert volunteers torespond quickly to disasters.There is an opportunity tolearn from Ireland’s experienceof establishing a RapidResponse Register. Theunique benefits of the EVHAC

and ECPC initiatives should beidentified: do systems alreadyexist and do we need another

international volunteeringorganisation? A number ofrapid response registersalready exist across Europeand Knud Vilby affirmed thatthese systems will be lookedat during the study to considerhow the ECPC could build onexisting structures.

Skillshare International’s

Head of InternationalProgrammes, Luís Silva.

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Engaging with the EU

The aims of this session wereto discuss how internationalvolunteering organisationscould engage with the EU andto consider the development ofa policy on internationalvolunteer co-operation inrelation to the EU.

Jake Bharier, Treasurer ofCONCORD, provided anintroduction to the Europeanconfederation which representsapproximately 1500 NGOs withan annual turnover of €7 billionand directly involves 2 millionpeople through staff,volunteers and supporters.CONCORD’s members includenational associations, NGOfamilies and a variety of faith,issue and activity-basednetworks. Of all CONCORD’smember networks, FORUMhas one of the longest histories

and is also unusual atCONCORD because it

represents both NGOsand para-statal bodies.

Jake led a discussion on how

international volunteeringNGOs can engage with the EU,with particular reference to theprevious session on theEVHAC and ECPC initiatives.In order to assess what needsto be changed, we shouldengage with the EU and decidewho needs to engage on whichissues. As representatives of

civil society, FORUM membershave a responsibility to engagein discussion at the Europeanlevel.

Participants broadly agreedthat feedback on the ECPCand EVHAC initiatives shouldbe given both directly to theconsultants and through

existing membership bodies,such as CONCORD, whichhave dialogue with the officialinstitutions of the EU.

Cliff Allum highlighted thatwhile FORUM does engage inEuropean issues throughCONCORD, we have limitedcapacity. Members are

therefore invited to representFORUM at European-level

events. Mechanisms exist toengage and discuss issues atthe European level, butFORUM members should

indicate their interest inpursuing these discussions.Some participants felt that itwould be useful to have astatement of position fromFORUM and other networks inrelation to the EU initiatives.

Next Steps

The aim of the Europeanconference is to bring togetherthe Programme Directors andHeads of European-basedagencies to discuss currenttrends and issues in theEuropean context. Followingthe success of this conference,FORUM is planning to hold a

European conference oninternational volunteering in2006. Themes identifiedduring this conference will beconsidered as topics for futureevents. For the conferenceprogramme and furtherinformation about FORUM,please [email protected]

FORUM would be delighted to receive contributions to the website www.forum-ids.org inthe form of news articles, accompanying images and papers or reports appropriate for thepublic domain. These should be sent to [email protected]

President: Cliff Allum (Skillshare International)

Executive: Tor Elden (FK Norway), Masaaki Otsuka (JOCV-JICA), Deborah Snelson (VSA),Karen Takacs (Canadian Crossroads International)

Co-ordinator:Jessica Lowe (Skillshare International)

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Presenters and

Participants

Cliff Allum, President,

International FORUM on

Development Service

Jake Bharier, Treasurer,

CONCORD

Live Bjørge, Head of

Programs, FK Norway

Kate Boylan, Volunteer 21

Unit, Development

Co-operation Ireland/Irish Aid

Barry Cannon, Co-ordinator,

Comhlámh Irish Associationfor Development Workers

Laurie Chambon, Co-

ordinator, CLONG Volontariat

Doris Deiglmayer, Project

Manager, ASA Programme -

InWEntg GmbH

Tor Elden, General Secretary,

FK Norway

Hartwig Euler, Arbeitskreis"Lernen und Helfen in

Übersee" e.V. (AKLHÜ)

Mark Goldring, Chief

Executive, VSO

Günter Klingenbrunner,

Director of Recruiting and

Preparation, Horizont3000

Christoph Klinnert, Senior

Policy Adviser, DED

Robert Leigh, Senior Policy

Specialist, UN Volunteers

Richard Lewartowski,

ECHO, European

Commission

Per Kristian Lunden, Chair

of the Board, FK Norway

Pierre-Yves Maillard, BoardMember, Unité

Joyce McNeill, International

Assessment Manager, VSO

Masaaki Otsuka, Director

General, JOCV

Jonathan Potter, Executive

Director, People in Aid

Geert Rhebergen, Senior

Programme Officer, PSO

Frédérique Same-Ekobo,

Partnership Department

Officer, AFVP

Kathrin Schick, Director,

VOICE

Martin Schreiber, Central

Secretariat, Unité

Susanne Schröder, German

Ministry for Economic

Cooperation & DevelopmentDagmar Schumacher, Head

– Donor Relations Unit, UN

Volunteers

Luís Silva, Head of

International Programmes,

Skillshare International

Elaine Stevenson,

International Programmes

Manager, SkillshareInternational

Karen Takacs, Executive

Director, Canadian

Crossroads International

Osvaldo Vasquez, Regional

Manager, Latin America and

Caribbean, Progressio

Knud Vilby, Consultant,

COWI

Tomoyuki Yamada, Desk

Officer, JOCV

Conference Staff

Jessica Lowe, Co-ordinator,


Development Service

Jenny Hurrell, Administrator,

Skillshare International

Glossary

CONCORD

European NGO Confederation

for Relief and Development

www.concordeurope.org

ECHO

The Humanitarian Aid office of the

European Commission

europa.eu.int/comm/echo/index_en.h

tm

ECPC

European Civil Peace Corps

EVHAC

European Volunteer Humanitarian Aid

Corps

FORUM


Development Service: a network

of organisations engaged in

international volunteer co-operation.

www.forum-ids.org

IVCO

International Volunteer

Co-operation Organisation.

Also the annual IVCO conference

hosted by FORUM.

MDG

Millennium Development Goals:eight goals with a target date of 2015

which form a blueprint agreed to by

all the world’s countries and all the

world’s leading development

institutions.

www.un.org/millenniumgoals/

M&E

Monitoring and Evaluation

NGDO

Non-Governmental Development

Organisation T h i s

r e p o r t h a s

b e

e n

p r i n t e d

o n

r e c y c l e d

p a p e r .

EURO 2005 Report

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