IVCO 2008 Comhlámh Impact International Volunteering

8/14/2019 IVCO 2008 Comhlmh Impact International Volunteering

1/25

Impact of International

Volunteering on HostOrganisations

Findings from research conducted byComhlmh


2/25

Comhlmh

Irish NGO established in 1975

Originally the Irish Association of DevelopmentWorkers

Grown into a member and supporterorganisation open to anyone interested in socialjustice, human rights and global developmentissues

Supports development workers andvolunteers before and after their placement


3/25

Comhlmhs

Volunteering Options programme

Established in 2004

Response to changing nature of international

volunteering

Funded by Irish Aid

Aims to encourage good practice in the overseasvolunteering sector, and to support volunteers ina longer-term commitment to development.


4/25

VO Programme has included the development of:

Code of Good Practice for Irish volunteer sendingorganisations Standards which promote good practice in

volunteering (11 principles and indicators) Focus on involvement of 3 main stakeholders: the

sending organisations, the volunteers, and thehost projects.

Peer support model moving to external auditmodel

The Volunteer Charter Sets out 7 principles Aim to encourage responsive, responsible

volunteering

Code of Practice & Volunteer Charter


5/25


6/25

Volunteering Options Programme

A number ofresources have been developedto support volunteers including:

A website www.volunteeringoptions.org

A book Working for a Better World

Training courses pre-decision,

pre-departure and upon return

Research into the impact of internationalvolunteering on host organisations
http://www.volunteeringoptions.org/http://www.volunteeringoptions.org/


7/25

The objectives of the field research were to examine:

The involvement of the host organisations in theestablishment and operation of programmes

The effectiveness and value of volunteering projectsfor the host organisations

The contribution of international volunteering tofurthering local development agenda

Any ways in which the host organisations felt thecontent of the Code of Practice and Volunteer Charterneeded to be amended in order to reflect theirviewpoints.

Research with Host Organisations:

Objectives


8/25


9/25

Further data were collected by conducting 4 focusgroup sessions in India (Delhi, Kolkata) andTanzania (Dar Es Salaam, Moshi).

Two volunteers also participated in the focusgroups.

Secondary data were collected from a range ofsources including:

relevant volunteer networks consultants to NGOs and INGOs

Research: background


10/25

Research: background

Types of organisations consulted:

Ranged from community-based organisations tobranches of international organisations

both secular and religious

Variety of activities: work with children, womens groups, health programmes, community development, education and training, income generation and livelihood programmes,

drinking water and sanitation initiatives capacity building.

The organisations also varied in their resources and thescale of their operations.


11/25

Research findings: types of placements

In both Tanzania and India:

80% 81% of the international volunteerswere short-term volunteers, i.e., with

placements of less than three months.

Approximately 11% of international volunteerswere medium-term volunteers i.e., withplacements between three and twelve months.

An average of 8% of volunteers were on long-term placements, i.e., over twelve months


12/25

Research findings:

host organisations perception of volunteers

Host organisations perception of volunteersunderstanding of placement on arrival: Tanzania = varied response India = volunteers knowledge was above average.

Main difficulties for host organisation = languagebarrier (Tanzania & India)

Some of the other problems noted by Tanzanianrespondents included volunteers lack ofcontributions to projects with which they areinvolved.


13/25

We see many short-term volunteers herein Tanzania as it is a popular country to bein with lots of tourist places to see and

experience, but the amount of work theyactually do is questionable, mainly due tolack of experience and language skills.

(Respondent from Tanzania)


14/25

Research Findings:

Benefits of hosting volunteers

The main benefits of international volunteeringwere identified as:

skill sharing

improved cultural awareness.

Additionally - financial resources brought byvolunteers were seen as very beneficial to the

development of work outside volunteerprogrammes.


15/25


16/25

Research Findings:

Involvement in programme development

Training of volunteers Structured training for volunteers, with defined

objectives based on the needs of the projects andthe volunteers, was not common (Tanzania & India)

One host organisation in Tanzania delivered structuredtraining for volunteers, while none of the Indianorganisations did.

In general, only an informal orientation was provided bythe hosting organisations. (Tanzania & India)

The need for pre-departure training to increasevolunteers awareness and understanding about the hostcountries, organisations and their projects wasemphasised. (Tanzania)


17/25

Research Findings:

Involvement in programme development

More involvement in the selection process and bettercommunication between the volunteer, the sendingorganisation and the hosting organisation would benefit allparties. (Tanzania & India)

Longer-term, skilled volunteers were in high demandamong the host communities and projects. However, it

was frequently mentioned that such volunteers are inshort supply. (Tanzania & India)


18/25

Quote from host organisation, Tanzania

Lately, most of the volunteers have been sent tothe host countries more to cater for the demandfrom the public for volunteer placements, ratherthan actually sending volunteers to address the

local needs for development of the host country.This is also giving an opportunity to thevolunteers to make it a holiday trip rather thanactually contributing to the host country. Thishas to be discouraged, and hence it should be theresponsibility of both the sending organisation

and the host organisation that the volunteers areplaced and assigned to appropriate projects withrealistic objectives.


19/25


20/25

Research Findings:

Benefits for placement

The main benefits of working with sendingorganisations were identified as:

Exposure to complementary organisations and

people to increase funding for projects throughfurther funding from the sending organisations

Development of new contacts

Direct contributions from the volunteers and theknowledge sharing that takes place as a result ofplacements.


21/25

Recommendations

Sending organisations should ensure theparticipatory involvement of hostorganisations in:

Selection Recruitment Training Development education Evaluation

of international volunteers

.


22/25

Recommendations

2)Sending organisations should improve themonitoring and evaluation of the impact ofvolunteering by developing policies that include

standardised processes and evaluation toolsbased on: The principles and indicators in Comhlmhs Code of

Good Practice and Volunteer Charter.

Regular consultation with the host

organisations/communities to provide critical input tothis process


23/25

Recommendations

3) Sending organisations should publish casestudies of successful volunteering to guide andmotivate new volunteers.

4) Sending organisations should place volunteerswith relevant skills as required by the hostprojects.

5) Comhlmh should incorporate the findings from

the research with host organisations into the Codeof Practice and Volunteer Charter.


24/25

Recommendations

6) Comhlmh should facilitate the development ofa Code of Practice to be adopted by the hostorganisations.

7) Future research should be considered on anumber of topics, to increase awareness of allaspects of international volunteering. Topicssuggested included:

online volunteering intercultural communications in the context of

international volunteering.


25/25

Documents

IVCO 2008 Comhlámh Impact International Volunteering