WUNRN
Valuing Volunteering for Development
4 September 2015 - In an era of austerity, when donors
are making choices about what to fund, it is critical that volunteering
agencies are able to articulate the value and unique contribution of
volunteering to sustainable development. The new IDS Bulletin, ‘What is the Unique Contribution of
Volunteering to International Development?’ brings together two
years of intensive action research to highlight the value of volunteering for
development.
Within the Bulletin, co-editors, Jo Howard and Danny Burns, point to
the evolving ecosystem of development. They highlight what role volunteering
has to play within the big changes that the world is facing.
Participatory research process
The Valuing Volunteering research commissioned by Volunteer Services Overseas (VSO), facilitated by four
volunteer researchers in Kenya, Mozambique, the Philippines and Nepal, engaged
over 3,500 people in participatory research processes. The research provided
insight into the contribution of volunteering within the broader context, and
highlighted the challenges of working with the complexities of power and
politics. It demonstrates how organisations working with volunteers can reach
the poorest and most marginalised in a considered and respectful way.
A strong message that emerged from the
research is the importance of the role that volunteers can play in promoting
participation and critical analysis skills in development processes, and how
these are key to the sustainability of any project or process.
Volunteering and the Sustainable Development Goals
The launch of this Bulletin is particularly timely, when global dialogues about the Sustainable Development Goals are also promoting the value of volunteering: the UN Secretary-General’s Synthesis Report on the Post-2015 Development Agenda explicitly recognises and endorses the contribution of volunteers and volunteerism to development, and the role these groups can play in the sustainable development agenda.