When Sarah Donachie returned from her volunteer placement in Bangladesh she wasn’t ready to stop making a difference. International Citizen Service (ICS) was just the first step in a journey that has so far seen her re-volunteer, complete a master’s and even set up her own charity in the UK.
Tori Keegan volunteered with VSO International Citizen Service (ICS) in Mtwara, Tanzania, for 10 weeks between August and October 2015.
She reports back from her returned volunteer weekend, an event all British volunteers are invited to when they return the UK, and shares her thoughts on staying involved.
Carol Abiri Leo from Papua New Guinea is a language lecturer at Divine Word University in Madang. In association with VSO, she - like hundreds of other teachers around the globe - will be helping to communicate the new Global Goals to seven billion people over seven days. Here she explains how....
Last Friday, the Sustainable Development Goals were finally agreed by world leaders at the United Nations HQ. This was the culmination of long talks that VSO has been a key player in. Our Chief Executive Philip Goodwin was there at this historic moment and explains how we hope to be leading the change that will make these global goals a reality.
Negotiations are in the final stages at the UN in New York, to agree the wording of an agenda that will steer development for the next fifteen years. Eight days down, two to go. These negotiations on the final make up of the Sustainable Development Goals framework in New York are nearly over so it’s a good time to step back and reflect on progress and flag up some obstacles that might still remain.
2015 is a pivotal year in the fight to end global poverty. In September, our elected leaders will agree on a new set of goals that will guide the development agenda for the next 15 years. These goals – currently known as the Sustainable Development Goals - SDGs are ambitious; aiming to end extreme poverty, achieve universal health coverage, gender equity, and quality education for all by 2030, among other big ideas.
The swathe of public services that simply wouldn’t exist in the UK without volunteers is staggering. Day after day, people give their time and skills to a wide range of services - from caring to mentoring and from sports to arts. Incredibly, a Kings Fund study found that volunteers contribute more than 13 million hours per year to England’s National Health Service [1].
VSO Volunteer Catherine Bedford usually works at Modilon General Hospital in Papua New Guinea, offering care and psycho social support to women who have experienced routine physical and sexual violence. Temporarily switching her post for a place at the Asia Pacific Civil Society Forum on Sustainable Development in Bangkok, Catherine reports on how civil society organisations are demanding that the needs of people living in poverty are met by the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
International Nurses' Day is celebrated around the world on May 12 each year. The date coincides with the anniversary of the birth of Florence Nightingale – one of the most famous and internationally recognised pioneers of modern day nursing.
Elisabeth Kisakye is a 32 year old VSO volunteer and human rights activist from Uganda working in the Instituto de Comunicação Social in Moçambique. Here she describes her recent experience speaking at the UN Intergovernmental Negotiations on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
