Abstracts from Volume 7 Issue 2

 

Globalisation and international service: a development perspective

David Lewis, Department of Social Policy, London School of Economics

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This article looks at international volunteering in relation to ideas about globalisation and development. It includes a critique of globalisation and of current forms of international development. The evolution of international volunteering into a 'diverse, highly professionalised, evolving and essentially complex activity involving a wide range of issues and different kinds of organisation and individual' is described. It is suggested that the concept of 'global responsibility' – incorporating the three strands of 'hope', 'administration' and 'critical understanding' - could help us to place in context the importance of international volunteering in relation to development and globalisation. In fact, such volunteering could provide a humanising response to the rapid and impersonal forces of global change.

The evolving nature of international service through the United Nations Volunteers

Robert Leigh, Senior Policy Specialist, United Nations Volunteers

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This article gives an overview of the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme set up in 1971. UNV has always operated according to three guiding principles: universality, in terms of countries of origin and destination; professionalism, in terms of the skills and experience provided; and demand orientation in the nature of the tasks assigned. Over the last decade, the programme has experienced a number of important developments, including a broadening of the opportunities for volunteering (to include, for example, national volunteers and online volunteers) and a change in the content of its work to give more emphasis to capacity development. The article concludes with some speculations about where UNV goes from here.

International volunteering: an evolving paradigm

Brian Rockliffe, Director of International Volunteering, VSO

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With over two thousand volunteers in service at any time, VSO is the largest independent development agency that works exclusively through volunteering. The recruitment of long-term volunteers from developing countries, the development of a youth exchange programme, growing support for national volunteering initiatives and a developing pattern of study visits and exchanges have all contributed much towards creating a wider understanding of VSO’s purpose and a broader interpretation of the potential power of volunteering. This article explores the ways in which VSO has changed in recent years, and the challenges that such change presents for the future of international volunteering. It will focus in particular on issues concerning reciprocity and global citizenship.

The legislative framework for national and international service: examples from Europe

John Stringham, President, Association of Voluntary Service Organisations

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Demand for international voluntary service by young people is growing. European governments are developing national voluntary youth service schemes that include international voluntary service possibilities. This article compares policies in the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Italy and Poland and at the European level, and identifies best practice from a practitioner’s viewpoint. International service is understood to include sending volunteers abroad and hosting volunteers from abroad.

Government-led service: the example of the Nigerian Technical Aid Corps

Wale Adebanwi, Trinity Hall, University of Cambridge

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The Technical Aid Corps (TAC) is an international volunteering programme set up by the Nigerian government in 1987 to serve as a 'practical demonstration of south-south co-operation'. This article looks at the controversy within Nigeria over whether the programme should be discontinued: its critics claim that, in the context of Nigeria's economic and social problems, the TAC is too expensive and encourages ‘brain drain’, while its supporters say that the programme earns Nigeria much international goodwill and brings personal benefits to the volunteers.

For their part, ex-volunteers are ambivalent: they applaud the skills development and cross-cultural experiences the TAC brought them, but complain about the inadequate remuneration and hostility from host communities. However, it is suggested that international service would denied the crucial component of sacrifice if it were to have no negative consequence at all. It is the fact that the positive effects should – and do – outweigh the negative effects that sustains such volunteering.

International volunteer service: a proposed twin programme in the cycle of national volunteering in the Philippines

Grace Aguiling Dalisay, Volunteer Organizations Information and Exchange (VOICE ) Network and Miriam College, Philippines

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Informal volunteering has a long tradition in Philippine culture. Recent developments in formal volunteering have led to Filipino volunteers and volunteer organisations becoming engaged in diverse forms of service as a strategy for achieving personal, organisational and national development goals. The last decade has seen a rise in opportunities for both international and in-country volunteer service for Filipinos. Given their common goals of cultural understanding, empowerment and poverty alleviation, this article argues for international volunteer service as a twin programme of in-country volunteer service. Particular reference is made to the cycle of national volunteering which incorporates the interactive impact of returning international volunteers and in-country volunteers on volunteering and development work in the Philippines. It is proposed that this twinning programme be bridged by the VOICE Network, a Filipinoled, Philippine-based multi-sector national network of primary volunteer organisations.

Assessing international youth service programmes in two low-income countries

Andrew Jones, School of Geography, Birkbeck College, University of London

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Within the ambiguously defined 'gap year' phenomenon, it has been argued that certain forms of activity are of greater benefit to young people's personal development than others. Of particular interest has been the debate around the value of structured overseas volunteering placements, as offered by a number of leading gap-year provider organisations in theUK and Australia.

This article presents research into education placement schemes in two low-income countries - Vietnam and Tanzania - offered by two leading providers. In contrast to previous studies, which have suggested that little positive benefit is derived from this kind of 'volunteer tourism', it argues that young volunteers do derive a range of benefits from the transformative experience these placements offer. The beneficial impacts include the acquisition of 'soft skills' (communication, organisational and interpersonal capabilities) and also the wider learning associated with a cross-cultural experience and immersion in host-country communities.

The impact of international service on host communities in Mexico

Jacqueline Butcher, Mexican Center for Philanthropy (CEMEFI)

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This article explores how volunteer activity - understood under the headings of 'international service' and 'cross-national volunteering' - has had an impact in Mexico, in both local and national settings and from both the developmental and the individual perspective. The state of volunteering in Mexico is examined, as is the importance of assessing impact and considering all the actors involved in international service: the organisation as a whole, the volunteers that undertake the activity (the servers) and the individuals and communities served (the recipients). Two Mexican examples are considered: Habitat for Humanity, and LEAD (Leadership, Experience And Development), an international programme run by the Junior League of Mexico City. Finally, some general research questions are suggested as a basis for future enquiries into the impact of international service on host communities