Volunteering for Humanity (VfH)

Projets / Volunteering for Humanity (VfH)

Every year, millions of people are affected by natural and man-made disasters. In the aftermath of a disaster, an affected population needs clean water, shelter, food aid and protection. Humanitarian organisations are the first to respond to these basic needs.

For these reasons and as part of the EU Aid Volunteers programme, the Volunteering for Humanity (VFH) project was created by a consortium of four organisations that came together with funding from the EU’s Social Cohesion Funds to encourage organisations across Europe to work together to improve best practice for all.

The aim of VfH is to develop, over a two-year period, the technical capacity of member organisations to better promote and manage the practice of volunteering to help others in Europe and beyond. One of the objectives is to strengthen those NGOs in the consortium that do not already have certification to develop the capacity to obtain it. The project also aims to build and streamline the learning, communication and dissemination of a consortium of NGOs through the development of an international humanitarian volunteering network, helping NGOs to improve volunteering standards to meet needs assessment and partnership.

Half-way through the Volunteering For Humanity project, the following results have been achieved:

  • Obtaining certification as a sending organisation for all 3 structures (Slovakia, Lithuania & Ireland) to be able to deploy humanitarian aid volunteers in developing countries
  • Creation of a photo exhibition of volunteers deployed on EUAidVolunteers missions to cover specific staffing needs.
  • Presentation of the photo exhibition at ADICE events
  • 4 x “Tuesday Networking” events organised by ADICE with sending and hosting partners to exchange on different themes on contemporary volunteering issues
  • Participation in training – Capacity building for humanitarian action within the consortium NGOs.
  • Trainings carried out: financial management, and financial sustainability.
    Carried out and participated in more than 6 Job Shadowing events to exchange methods and good practices in international cooperation, volunteering projects and project development.
  • Visit to our Slovakian partner in Roubaix for job shadowing.

  • Creation of the “Open forum” platform to exchange ideas, converse and meet others who share a common interest in volunteering and humanitarian and sustainable development issues.
  • EUAV: Today and Tomorrow” event organised by ADICE with over 60 participants from over 25 countries representing 35 organisations. Participants exchanged on good practices of organisations in dealing with the current pandemic, on the future of the EUAidVolunteers programme and on the labelling of the European Solidarity Corps.
  • As a result of this event, a newsletter was created to ensure continuity of the partnership and coordination between partners.
  • Creation of a detailed guide on how to carry out a needs assessment report for a humanitarian development project. Guide available here