Written project PAPER
International youth volunteering: drawbacks and new triggers in a brand new social and high-tech era
Ana Melissa Cabral Ana Catarina Ribeiro Iscac Coimbra Business School IPC Coimbra Quinta Agrícola, Bencanta 3040-316 Coimbra Portugal
[email protected] [email protected]
Amanda Hilse Ameen Shandor Technische Hochschule Brandenburg University of Applied Sciences Magdeburger Str. 50 14737 Brandenburg an der Havel Germany
[email protected] [email protected]
Yvonne Madsen Live Helene Jansen Department of Economics and IT – Business School University College of Southeast Norway Høgskolen i Sørøst-Norge Postboks 235 3603 Kongsberg Norway
[email protected] [email protected]
ABSTRACT Bearing in mind the situation of a Portuguese Development NGO, Leigos para o Desenvolvimento, a research about youth international volunteering is carried on. This particular situation calls the attention for the challenges regarding the lack of volunteers. In fact, and regarding the situation of this NGO during the last five years, the Portuguese scenario for youth volunteering is facing difficult challenges. This NGO has thus striving for this tremendous and unsuspected decrease of volunteers, among other problematic situation in the midst of a European and worldwide economic crisis. Different meetings and strategic and operational programs have launched this Organization in a dynamic but also difficult road, trying to face this new challenge. In order to track some possible solution, a research is undertaken in two more countries, Germany and Norway, and trying to find out the similarities and differences between these 3 countries. As final conclusions, the Portuguese is found to be in a different scenario vi-a-vis with the other two European countries in stake; and so some measures are advocate fostering to increase this type of volunteering.
1 INTRODUCTION In a country like Portugal, national (non-governmental organization) NGO’s are striving with their lack of young volunteers for international long term projects in developing countries. This is a quite problematic situation and some organizations could, in fact, be in real trouble and their activities on a nearby future! The scenario for this discussion came to light with a specific organization: Leigos para o Desenvolvimento, a Portuguese Development NGO. These so-called NGDO are seen as organizations working in developing countries in the areas of humanitarian and emergency relief, protection and promotion of human rights and development cooperation. (Quem Somos, ONGD Plataforma Portuguesa, 2017). The organizations are driven by a clear attitude of empowering other people, in a fragile situation, but calling for their own capacities and resources to foster a more human and with better conditions futures… as the ONGD Guide (Guia das ONGD, 2014) states “In this process, NGDOs emerge not as "development agents" but as "partners for the development". Its role is not that of principal actors but that of "catalyst agents" or" Facilitators", who cooperate with local communities in strengthening the associative fabric, in the incentive Help the most vulnerable sectors of the population, improve access to Financial and technical resources and in the search for and reinforcement of strategies for preserving the environment, Fundamental to the sustainability of development processes.” Considering volunteering in Portugal, Carmona (2013, p. 41) states that “In the last decades, Portugal has been one of the EU countries with lower membership and voluntary membership rates, which may indicate a cultural trait with low participation of civil society, which”.
Attempting in youth number of volunteers, and even if there are already different platforms in Portugal, final figures were not found (as examples: http://www.voluntariado.pt/; Voluntariado Jovem – Instituto Português da Juventude; http://juventude.gov.pt/Voluntariado/Paginas/default.aspx; http://cdp.portodigital.pt/emprego/oportunidades-de-trabalho-2/voluntariado; http://www.convoluntariado.pt/; http://entrajuda.pt/menu/o-que-fazemos/bolsa-do-voluntariado/; http://www.voluntariado.pt/left.asp?01; http://www.plataformaongd.pt/) The present situation of Leigos, and especially during the last five years, reveals that this organization faces a tremendous and unsuspected decrease of volunteers, among other problematic situation in the midst of a European and worldwide economic crisis. To cope with this situation different meetings and strategic and operational programs have launched this Organization in a dynamic but also difficult road, trying to face this new challenge. Moreover, Leigos work is important for the developing countries where this organization operates and also for the young people that decide to go abroad and embrace this mission. The present project wants to provide insights for the dramatic situation. In fact a team of young people from 3 European countries is joining their efforts, wisdom and knowledge to help these NGO’s in a period of crisis! We are “raising our hands together” to determine the drivers to increase international volunteering in developing countries, for periods of at least one year. It’s important to find out if this situation is more prominent in the southern European countries, or if this situation is also arriving at the central and norther European countries. This present question is throbbing in our heads: why is this problematic scenario arising in a country like Portugal? Is this a country unique situation or this decreasing in young volunteers is happening in other European counties? Could it be possible to ‘have a look’ in other European similar organizations and find out what is happening? Is there a common trend? And what could be some possible solution to solve this situation?
2 METHODS To begin this project the 3 different teams (from Portugal, Germany and Norway) analysed the recent history of international young volunteer in the different countries official numbers At a second stage, the teams researched on specific organizations and made some interviews within similar organizations; then and analysis was made to the situation of these organizations specially focusing the challenges regarding the lack of volunteers. And so different information from the 3 countries (Portuguese, German and Norwegian), was first analysed as the recent history of international young volunteer in the different countries official numbers. In a third stage the findings from each country were compared, tracking the similarities and differences between these 3 countries. 3 RESULTS 3.1 THE PORTUGUESE SITUATION Leigos para o Desenvolvimento it’s a non-profit association, recognized as NGO and so a Portuguese Development NGO. This catholic association has been an organisation of intercultural relation. Based on the respect for and enhancement of different cultures, and on the opportunity for civic-minded participation, Leigos para o Desenvolvimento is present in Portuguese-speaking countries and so operating in Angola, São Tomé e Príncipe e Portugal with development projects in the area of Education and Formation. In Portugal, through the St. Peter Claver Center, since 1994 they support educational, social and professional integration of students coming from PALOP in order to allow their entry into the labour market in Portugal or in home countries. In Sao Tome and Principe, the projects are mainly education, community promotion and entrepreneurship and employability promotion. After São Tomé, Angola and Mozambique were the countries where Leigos para o Desenvolvimento made their first intervention. In Angola they develop dynamic projects and community organization, education and training, entrepreneurship and employability, by local Agents training, promotion of the voluntary and pastoral work. These projects have the contribution of the dioceses and the authorities and local population and sometimes the international organizations with headquarters in Angola. In turn, in Mozambique, projects in progress have as main targets the education from pre-school to university, personal, professional and economic development of women and the promotion of entrepreneurship and self-employment. This vast work is developed through a network of lay volunteers living in these countries for a period of at least a year. These young people face a set of specific requirements like remaining overseas for the minimum period of one year, or sharing the knowledge and capacities they learnt while in Portugal. Their fully experience in the country of destiny must foster certain values like privileging the relationships, the local knowledge and the
simplicity of means, thus allowing the development of the communities. Intercultural experience, respect and appreciation of different cultures and civic participation are also vital values for this volunteers. The mission of Leigos lies in: Dynamism and community organization, entrepreneurship and employability, recruitment of local agents, promotion of volunteering and pastoral work. It’s vision is as follows: They see themselves in the future as a Catholic NGDO, a reference point for the promotion of human and community development that assumes the spirit of gratuity, responsibility, quality and participation as determining factors for the construction of a more fair and solidarity world. Leigos projects and initiatives can be seen through its official website (http://www.leigos.org/) (Figure 1) and also on their Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/leigosparaodesenvolvimento).
Figure 1 – Frontpage of the homepage of Leigos para o Desenvolviment Some main facts of Leigos history… Leigos to development was found in 11 of April of 1986, in Lisbon. The idea has emerged few years before in Coimbra, when Father António Vaz Pinto (a Jesuit priest) concluding his studies, had the idea of bringing together different talents to the service of people with historical, social and emotional links to Portugal and striving in difficult situations, the so-called developing countries. Once in Lisbon Father António brought together a group of young people to start their missions, with a Christian and Community perspective. This first group started their mission in San-Tomé and Príncipe, following then a community in Malawi, a country that hosted the refugees from Mozambique. Between 1991 and 1994 they act in Mozambique supporting war refugee camps. In 1992 they have their first mission in Angola and Timor-Lest, in areas like education and social promotion. In 2000 they formed a community in Dili to rebuild the education. In recent times, a quite unsuspected situation: no young volunteers were desiring to commit themselves to a one full year of mission… When did this situation arrived? Going back to 2011, at the general Leigos meeting, he Lay Strategic Plan for Development for the period between 2011 and 2015, the future was quite bright: If sufficient human and financial conditions persisted, the number of missions could double by 2015, with 10 missions in five or six countries, including Portugal. Thus, from 2011 to 2015, the LD predicted a gradual and sustained growth in the number of missions that would vary depending on the resources and funds raised. However, the forecasts were made taking into account several scenarios, so in the least optimistic scenario they would have only five missions on the ground. But the situation had a tremendous downturn what can be fully understands when one looks at Table 1. Table 1 – Number of Leigos volunteers between 2007-2017
Total number of volunteers Number of new volunterrs Numer of volunteeers that renew Number of missions
2007 28 21 7 6
2008 27 18 9 6
2009 27 24 3 7
2010 22 18 4 6
2011 13 12 1 4
2012 19 14 5 5
2013 20 20 0 5
2014 16 8 8 5
2015 14 13 1 4
2016 13 9 4 4
2017 13 12 1 4
3.2 THE GERMAN SITUATION Germany has been driven by a youth demand for volunteer. The next paragraph can help understand why. In Germany, several different terms are currently being used to describe volunteering activities: Freiwilligenarbeit (‘voluntary involvement’) or freiwilliges Engagement (‘volunteering’). Today, these activities may be performed as part of formal or informal organizations and include sports and recreation, culture, self-help or neighborhood activities and activities in civic action groups. In order to reflect this wide range of activities, the concept „voluntary involvement‟ was introduced. Bürgerschaftliches Engagement (voluntary civic activities). In the final report of the Federal Parliament‟s Study Commission on the Future of Civic Activities22, the term „voluntary civic activities‟ was used to emphasize the specific character of all activities assumed voluntarily. Freiwilligendienste (volunteering services). In Germany, volunteering services often refer to volunteering that young people carry out for a year as part of an official program after they have finalized their upper secondary education, and before they start university studies (for example, „Voluntary Year of Social Services‟ or „Voluntary Year of Ecological Services‟). Other types of volunteering services do, however, also exist, such as voluntary services abroad. (European Union, 2008). In consideration of these different types that are described as voluntary activities, the proportion of German citizens who engaged in voluntary activities increased from 36% in 2004 to 44% in 2014 (German Survey). According to the National Survey on Volunteering, the proportion of volunteers in gender and different age groups was as follows in 2004 and 2014: Table 2 – Volunteering in Germany by gender in 2004 and 2014 Gender
2004
2014
Difference
Women
32,5%
41,5
+9%
Men
39%
45,7
+6,7%
Volunteering by gender and age group in 2004 and 2014 Age group
2004
2014
Difference
14-29 years
34,7%
46,9%
+12,2%
30-49 years
39,5%
47%
+7,4%
50-64 years
39,2%
45,5%
+6,3%
65 and above
26,4%
34%
7,6
According to the study published by the European Knowledge Centre for Youth Policy, the numbers of „young German people‟ involved in various activities are as follows (European Union, 2008). Table 3 – Number of young people involved in different types of volunteering Voluntary activities
3,803,905
Voluntary service
3,000 (each year)
Voluntary service abroad (excluding European Voluntary Service)
5,646 (in 2006)
National voluntary civic service
35,000 (in 2006), distributed as follows: -
18,100 persons carried out a Voluntary Social Year („Freiwilliges Soziales Jahr‟);
-
12,300 carried out a voluntary service that was not co-financed by the federation
Outside the scope of this Study: 4,600 persons did a civic instead of a military service (in accordance with sec 14c Law on the Civilian Service 43)
Carry out their service period abroad
Approx. 800
Looking for a similar situation as Leigos, German NGO Kidshelp Kambodscha e.V. was chosen. Kidshelp Kambodscha e.V. is a NGO aiming at the advancement of children’s and young adult’s education in Cambodia to improve the overall situation of children and their families. The NGO was founded in 2005 and is creating educational opportunities for primary, secondary and high schools and residential homes for students in Cambodia. It is registered as an international NGO with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Cambodia. As its main projects try to help improving the education sector, it also has a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Ministry of Education. Kidshelp Kambodscha e.V depends entirely on individual donations and its projects are based in three different regions in Cambodia. In 2013 Kidshelp Kambodscha e.V. started to work with volunteers in Cambodia, supporting the staff and working at school and/or at the residential homes (Kidshelp Kamboscha e.V. 2017). Some useful data for this project was obtained interviewing the first Chairwoman Nanette Langfeldt and also through the information given by a staff member of the NGO, who works in Cambodia. According to Nanette Langfeldt (2017), most of the German volunteers contact Kidshelp Kambodscha e.V. when they graduate from their high school, aged between 18 and 20. The majority of applicants for voluntary work in Cambodia become aware of the NGO by the NGO’s web page, its Facebook page and by other volunteers they know privately or by any kind of network. In general, the volunteers stay between three and six months, because they want to start occupational education or studies afterwards when they get back to Germany. Since they finish High school in June or July, and training centers start in February, and Universities in April, the volunteers want to be back by then. Kidshelp Kambodscha e.V. offers every volunteer to stay for twelve months but nobody wanted to stay away for that time during the past five years. They say they need to take care of their own educational situation, as well. There are always at least two volunteers helping in Cambodia at the same time. In 2013 three German volunteers were helping at the school in Cambodia, in 2014 five German volunteers and in 2015 four German volunteers. The number of German volunteers in working for Kidshelp Kambodscha e.V. at the school in Cambodia was the highest in 2016, with six young volunteers. In 2017 at least six German volunteers will be helping at the school. Although, Kidshelp Kambodscha e.V. only started in 2013 to work with German volunteers in Cambodia, they do not recognize a decrease a number of volunteers. But no volunteer wants to stay for longer than six months, Nanette Langfeldt (2017) observes. The main reason for that is that the young German high school graduates are afraid that their own (educational) future would be worse. The NGO was not expecting that every volunteer would stay only for at maximum six months when they started to work with German volunteers in Cambodia, and they are still offering long stays to every volunteer with no success so far. Moreover, since 2017 German people aged younger than 25, can receive monthly child benefit when working for an accepted NGO, but only under several conditions. One condition is that the voluntary work does not last longer than four months. Besides, they only receive the money in case they have not completed any kind of apprenticeship. Although Kidshelp Kambodscha e.V. does not record a decrease in applicants for voluntary work in Cambodia, Nanette Langfeldt (2017) is afraid that the new conditions of the child benefit might be one of more upcoming difficulties the young volunteers will face. The NGO are facing some challenges, for example, the exchange rate of the euro has continued to fall and reached its lowest point for the last 14 years at a rate of less than 1,04 US$ for one euro. During the last year the exchange rate was between 1,20 US$ and 1,30 US$ for most of the time. Because most of NGO’s income is in euro and most of its expenses are in dollar this difference is now missing at our projects in Cambodia. For this reason, the expenses exceeded the revenues significantly two last years, according to Kidshelp Kambodscha e.V. newsletter. They said that the main reason why the existence of the NGO is not yet threatened, they operated economically in a responsible way during the last years and therefore still have some financial reserves.
The another challenge is due to the replacing of volunteers implementing sustainable changes may be not achieved as the NGO aims or take much longer than they would wish and sometimes there are some setbacks. 3.3 THE NORWEGIAN SITUATION
Looking at the recent history of international, young volunteering in Norway, some figures were identified:
Recent numbers say that the volunteer-work in Norway is estimated to about 147.800 FTE’s. 61 % of Norway’s population above the age of 16 contribute with volunteer-work in different organizations on a yearly basis. This is the highest share that is measured on a world basis. We share the first place with Sweden. (in www.frivillighetnorge.no)
In order to choose a similar case to Leigos, the Norwegian team researched some similar organizations, and interviewed the one we thought was the most interesting. And so the organizations that came across with a notorious record were the following: Plan International Norway Plan International Norway were founded in 1996, and their main source of income and help is from collected funds from private donators. Plans vision is a world where every child get to realize their opportunities in a society who respects human rights and their dignity. Plan is neutral when it gets to religion and politics. Plan International Norway gets priceless volunteer-help from almost 100 volunteers. They help with a lot of different tasks, like translating of rapports from the projects where they work. They go through the letters to the sponsored children as well. The volunteers also contribute with very important quality-checks, and help out at different arrangements that is arranged by Plan International Norway. Mission without Borders: Mission without Borders were founded in Norway in 1982, but the international organization were founded in 1960. Mission without Borders’ goal is to give Gods word and care to poor people in Eastern-Europe, and in that way, help them to create a safe and worthy life. In Norway they try to focus on the children in need, and to give them a safe childhood. Mission without Borders work is in six of the poorest countries in Europe: Albania, Bosnia, Bulgaria, Moldova, Romania and Ucraine. All their work is through local co-workers, mission-centers and local congregations. They help people regardless of their religious, political and ethnical background. They work for long-term change, and follow the people they help over time. In Mission without Borders, you can become a sponsor, and donate 250 NOK every month, to provide children with food, clothes, schoolbooks and other necessary equipment for them to survive and have a more normal childhood. When you’re a sponsor, you get to follow the child or the family you provide, and get to see the difference you do. Caritas Norway This organization was created by the Oslo Catholic Diocese in 1964 and the Catholic Church in Norway. Caritas Norway is a nonprofit organization working to improve life for people in Norway and countries in Europe, Africa, Asia and Latin America. Caritas Norway’s vision is to see a world were human’s lives in safe communities. Caritas Norway cooperation with national and local organizations as well as other organization in Europe, Africa, Asia and Latin-America. Through their cooperation and the right kind of approach, they contribute both acute emergencies and long-term development Exterminate hunger and malnutrition are the main target of Caritas international work. They work for increased food security by providing small-scale farmers training in as affective at reducing poverty as investment in any other sector. In addition, education, good governance and equality are their primary areas of focus. Save the Children Norway Save the Children builds on individually membership. They have controlling organs and committees on tree levels. The controlling organs consisting of the following: 1: The congress. This is Save the children highest authority and meets every two years. Chosen representative from all over the country meets here and pick out members to the Supervisory Board and the main board
2: The Supervisory Board is the link between the members, the main board and the administration. This is where counseling to the development in Norway and international happens. 3: The Main Board. This is the last of the organs. The Main Board shall ensure strategic development, the management and organization of business, and to the extent necessary establish plans, policies and budgets for Save the Children's activities. The Main Board has 10 members and 7 deputies and meets 6-7 times a year. Save the Children’s is a nationwide organization where the members can be organize in Save the Children groups, or be members in an independent youth organization Press Save the Children’s values is built on the UNs convention about the children’s rights and declaration of human rights. After this insight on Norwegian organization, and looking for a similar situation as Leigos, Save the Children Norway was chosen. We contacted Save the Children’s office in Oslo, and got in touch with Sarah Nauglo the 13th March. She is the representative of the volunteers in Oslo, which is also the biggest region in Save the Children. How many volunteers do Save the Children have? “I can’t answer that with certain numbers, because we’re about to change or database.” Is it hard to recruit volunteers? “It depends on where in the country you’re recruiting to. We have divided the country in to five different regions, and here in Oslo, it’s easy to recruit volunteers because we have the biggest number of people living here. It also depends on what you are recruiting for. We work with different projects all the time. But there is a lot of people who contact us in their own initiative who just wants to help.” How do you get in touch with volunteers? «We use local ads and the web site first of all. But we also use the newspaper and contact colleges to get in touch with young students who wants to help. We also use a webpage called Frivillig.no At fall 2015, when the refugee crisis were at its worst, we got a “volunteerboom”.” Is there a lot of volunteers who stay volunteers after a period of volunteering? “Yes, there is a lot of people who stay volunteers. We have a policy that if you volunteer, you commit for at least 6 months. This is because the children need stabile adults in their life. In some groups there is more important with long term engagement. We have volunteers who have been active volunteers for over 50 years at its most. But still, there is always some replacements each semester.” What kind of work is the volunteers doing? «There are two different forms of volunteering. There are some groups who is independent volunteeringgroups. They are campaigning for getting more volunteers and getting the word out about the work that we do. The other form of volunteering is directly activity with children, refugee families and poor families. We also work at crisis centers, and help the children there with their homework. The families who are affected by poverty gets offers to join our volunteers with hiking in the forest, and once a year we also take a trip to a cabin with a lot of people and have a lot of fun. Are there any special qualifications the volunteers need? «We don’t request any education for the volunteers, but we demand a police-certificate. Everyone must send an application. And if you choose to change the way you volunteer, you must send a new application. But, we have ethical guidelines that we follow, such as: You always work in pair. You have a duty to report if any of the children tells you something that is report-worthy. You must take some instruction class to get necessary information to work with the children. We also have an age limit at least 18 years, and some of the work we demand 25 years. 4 FINDINGS AND CONCLUSIONS When it comes to the German situation, and at the end of this particular research it could be concluded that the German NGO Kidshelp Kambodscha e.V. does not face any decrease in volunteers over the past five years, although there is at least one new difficulty concerning the German child benefit for the younger volunteers. Nevertheless, this NGO is on of very few which does not want the volunteers to pay for their stay abroad. This could be an important advantage and factor for volunteers to choose their project and NGO to
support. Besides, the volunteers only stay abroad for six months, although the program offers longer stays as well. Looking at the Norwegian research, and after looking at the numbers from frivillignorge.no, we can conclude that Norway is one of the best countries when it gets to volunteer-work. This is really good, but we can always get better. According to Save the Children’s volunteer-representative, they don’t have a lot of problems with getting in touch with both young and elder people who wants to help. So, our conclusion is that Norway does not have a lot of problems with getting help from volunteers in different organizations. We did discuss altogether the particular situation of Leigos and soon agreed that the economic situation of southern European countries, with a special focus on youth unemployment, was the most reasonable reason to this particular situation, specially comparing to the situation in Germany and Norway, for the heavy decrease on intention for international volunteering for long periods. The difference in numbers across the countries in stake at his project are astonishing. We also want to describe the possible difference around Europe. Bearing in mind the Leigos current case, we want to propose some recommendations especially for the NGO’s to deal successful with this current problem, I.e., we want to provide real insights to increase this type of volunteering: - Change of prerequisites to participate in volunteering. (Eg 12 years as qualifications, since there is a large number of unemployed in Portugal, while many young people and even adults are waiting for a job opportunity can join this life adventure). - Decrease the duration of the volunteer program from 1 year to 6 months. -Investing in marketing campaigns. -Develop partnerships with universities with the volunteer program, so that the students know the program and can do it. We state this research does add value to the NGO in stake: Leigos. Moreover we do find that the comparison of different European countries is a new insight, as far as we know, and can be very useful to the pursuit of new solutions, arising as a ‘benchmarking’ method.
5. REFERENCES About the Association of NGOs in Norway (2017), Retrieved April 9th from www.frivillighetnorge.no Carmona, Tiago (2013). ANGARIAÇÃO DE DONATIVOS NAS ONGD PORTUGUESAS EM PERÍODO DE CRISE (2008-2011). Master Dissertion in Development, Local Diversities and Global Challenges, ISCTEIUL, Lisboa, Portugal. European Union (2008): Study on Volunteering in the European Union, Country Report Germany from http://ec.europa.eu/citizenship/pdf/national_report_de_en.pdf. Familienkasse (2017, April 13): Kindergeld für volljährige Kinder (Child benefit for young adults aged older than 18) - own translation. Retrieved April 13th, 2017 from http://www.kindergeld.org/kindergeld-fuervolljaehrige-kinder.html. Guia das ONGD, 2014. ONGD Plataforma Portuguesa. Retrieved April13, 2017 from http://backoffice.plataformaongd.pt/documentacao/site/Repositorio/Documentos/Publicacoes/GuiaONGD_20 14.pdf. Kidshelp Kambodscha e.V. (2017, March 27) About Kidshelp. Retrieved March 27th, 2017 from http://www.kidshelp-kambodscha.org/en/about-kidshelp/. Langfeldt, Nanette (2017): Telephone Interview on German Volunteers at Kidshelp Kambodscha e.V., Held April 13th, 2017. Leigos para o Desenvolvimento ONGD official site (2017, April 11), Retieved April 11th, 2017 from http://www.leigos.org.
Quem Somos, ONGD Plataforma Portuguesa (2017, 11 April), Retrieved April 11th from http://www.plataformaongd.pt/plataforma/quemsomos/. Simonson, J., Vogel, C., & Tesch-Römer, C. (Hrsg.). (2016). Freiwilliges Engagement in Deutschland – Der Deutsche Freiwilligensurvey 2014. Berlin: Bundesministerium für Familie, Senioren, Frauen und Jugend, from https://www.rudern.de/sites/default/files/downloads/deutscher-freiwilligensurvey-2014.pdf.
