About VSO - Voluntary Service Overseas

VSO’s vision is of a world without poverty in which people work together to fulfil their potential; a world in which people of all cultures are seen as equal, learn from each other and share a common sense of rights and responsibilities as global citizens.

Volunteer Service Overseas is a UK-based organisation, the world's leading independent, international development charity that works through volunteers.
VSO's high impact approach involves bringing people together to share skills, build capabilities, promote international understanding and action, and change lives to make the world a fairer place for all. Instead of sending food or money, we send women and men from a wide range of professions who want the chance to make a real difference in the fight against poverty. Since 1958, VSO has sent out over 43,000 volunteers to share skills and change lives in more than 120 developing countries in Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, the Pacific and Eastern Europe, in response to requests from governments and community organisations. Right now, VSO has 1500 volunteers working in in 40 countries, helping tackle the root of the causes of poverty.

Our volunteers are skilled professionals.
Our approach to volunteering has changed dramatically over the years. We no longer send school-leavers - today our volunteers are skilled professionals mainly in their thirties or forties. Volunteers must have a formal qualification and work experience. The volunteers aim to pass on their expertise to local people so that when they return home their skills remain.

VSO has a strategic approach to development.
VSO is not just another volunteer sending organisation, it is foremost an international development charity that works through volunteers. Each VSO volunteer placement contributes to one of VSO’s Development Goals and forms part of a strategic approach in each of the countries where we work. VSO's 6 development goals are:

• Education
• HIV and AIDS
• Disability
• Health
• Secure Livelihoods
• Participation & Governance

At the heart of this programmatic approach is an increased effort to achieve sustainable change by addressing causes as well as symptoms of development needs. In all the countries where we work, VSO is represented by a Programme Office. Staff and volunteers in our Programme Offices work together with local partner agencies, and increasingly with the people whose interests VSO aims to serve, to agree a programme of development priorities in their country and region. These priorities are then written up into Programme Area Plans, which describe how our services will be put into action with the help of local and regional partners.

VSO works in partnership with local organisations and thus recruitment is demand-led.
VSO volunteers work in partnership with local communities and organisations that benefit disadvantaged people to share skills and learning and achieve positive change together. The international volunteering programme supports partners in Africa & Asia to develop placements which deliver their work and meet their objectives, and identifies volunteers from other countries to fill these placements. During their placements volunteers are therefore 'employed' by the partner organisation in the country where they work. The role of VSO is to broker their employment with the partner organisation and to offer support in this employment by, for example:

• Helping the volunteers understand what the employers require in the placements.
• Providing prior training required by the employers so that the volunteers can work effectively in their placements and within the context of the country concerned.
• Supporting both the volunteers and the employers in-country to maximise the mutual benefit of their partnerships.
• Making available to the volunteers certain financial and other types of support to enable them to take up their employment.

We recruit volunteers from all over the world.
Although VSO was founded in the UK in 1958, we now welcome volunteers from an ever-increasing range of countries and backgrounds. Our national partner agencies in Canada, Kenya, the Netherlands, the Philippines, India and Ireland recruit volunteers from many different countries worldwide and this international approach allows us to combine and learn from a rich variety of perspectives.

VSO has now grown into an international federation of member organisations that all contribute resources to a shared development programme. The federation consists of VSO in the UK, together with four independent members based in Canada (VSO Canada), Kenya (Jitolee), Netherlands (VSO Netherlands), and the Philippines (Bahaginan), each with its own governing board. The role of members is to contribute resources, particularly volunteers and funds, in order to help the federation maximise its contribution to tackling poverty. Each federation member has its own national strategy that sets out their focus and planned contributions in relation to the joint Focus for Change (VSO's strategic framework). VSO in the UK operates as a member of the federation and also undertakes most of the joint, international federation functions that support VSO’s development programme. VSO also recruits volunteers in India, through a partnership with the Indian volunteering organisation, iVolunteer, and has a partner based in the Republic of Ireland in order to recruit volunteers and raise funds.

Note: Romanian applicants are recruited through VSO's UK recruitment base, along with applicants from the UK and other EU states. The recruitment of Romanian volunteers for VSO placements started in 2008.

VSO is not just a volunteer-sending organisation.
In addition to their work in developing countries, VSO also works to build global understanding of the issues around poverty and disadvantage. Advocacy and development awareness activities by staff, returned volunteers and VSO supporters are part of the ongoing work of VSO members.

VSO's funding.
VSO is currently funded mainly by the UK Department for International Development (DFID), through a strategic partnership program, as well as other sources, private and corporate donations. VSO is involved in continuous fundraising efforts in order to support its programmes. It costs more than £25,000 a year to recruit, train and equip a single volunteer. Justgiving.com is just one of the ways VSO volunteers are trying to help out in VSO's fundraising efforts. You can find out more about tips and ways to raise funds on VSO UK's website.

To read about VSO's work in more detail, please visit www.vso.org.uk (the VSO UK website) and www.vsointernational.org (the VSO International federation website). You can also refer to VSO's latest Annual Report or working Strategy.