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Think Pieces

Check out eight insightful pieces as part of the IVCO 2024 Think Piece Series using the links below (in English, Spanish and French).

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Interview with Rithyra Liv – France Volontaires

In our latest interview we met with Rithyra Liv, Country Director at France Volontaires in the Kingdom of Cambodia. France Volontaires has been working in Cambodia since 2002 and opened the first Asian Volunteering Centre in Phnom Penh in 2011.

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A volunteer shares information from a poster with community members in Burkina Faso

One Volunteer at a Time: Reimagining Generation Peace Through the Power of Collective Action 

In 1862, Henri Dunant, deeply moved by the suffering he witnessed in 1859 at the Battle of Solferino, asked a transformative question in his book A Memory of Solferino: could communities create relief groups in times of peace, ready to serve the wounded in times of war? His idea, rooted in compassion and neutrality, led to the creation of the Red Cross Red Crescent (RCRC) Movement, now the world’s largest humanitarian network.

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Tariku Negash from Serve Global

Interview with Tariku Negash – Serve Global

Continuing our series of interviews with influential Forum leaders and IVCO delegates, this week we met with Tariku Negash, Project Manager at Serve Global, a civil society organisation dedicated to promoting structured volunteering services for peace and development.

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Relational Peacebuilding as an instrument for volunteers to strengthen civil society

We are halfway to 2030 and the end date for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). There cannot be successful development without peace and civil engagement, and therefore there is a need to unite sustainable development in strengthening civil society and sustainable peacebuilding. This latest think piece shares perspectives from Mr Juergen Deile, Ms. Lina Leav and Ms. Phyu Sin Oo, staff and volunteers at the Cooperation Committee for Cambodia (CCC)

International Volunteering and the Localisation Agenda 

This think piece, brought to us by Liyun Wendy Choo, Tina Mackie and Saane Tupou from Te Tūao Tāwāhi Volunteer Service Abroad in Aotearoa New Zealand, explores localisation in the context of volunteering for development (VfD) and argues that highly skilled international volunteers contribute best to global solidarity when they are co-actors and supporters of local agenda, rather than implementers. VSA’s mission is to connect skilled New Zealand volunteers to share their experience and knowledge directly with local people and communities to create lasting, positive change across the Pacific and beyond.

Managing Compassion: Designing the 65+ volunteer registry in children’s hospitals through the lens of psychological contract and emotional labour theories 

This latest think piece by Dr Isidora D. Mytilinaiou, Ph.D. explores how psychological contract theory and emotional labour theory are shaping the design of a new 65+ Volunteer Registry for public children’s hospitals in Greece. Drawing on comparative fieldwork in Greece and the UK, it examines how older adult volunteers can navigate unspoken expectations and emotional demands in children’s hospital settings—contexts where compassion is both essential and complex to manage.

Jeunes et femmes volontaires : piliers de la résilience communautaire en Afrique sub-saharienne 

Dans de nombreuses communautés africaines, les crises économiques, sociales et environnementales rendent la vie quotidienne de plus en plus précaire. Pourtant, dans ces contextes fragiles, une force silencieuse, souvent sous-estimée, s’active au cœur des dynamiques locales : celle du volontariat porté par les jeunes et les femmes.

Au Cameroun, cette énergie se manifeste de manière éclatante. Loin d’être de simples bénévoles, ces acteurs volontaires s’imposent comme des piliers de la résilience communautaire, en répondant de manière innovante et engagée aux défis locaux. Qu’il s’agisse de santé, d’environnement, de justice sociale ou de participation citoyenne, leurs actions contribuent à la transformation des territoires.