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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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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)

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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.

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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.

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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.

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Sonia Fernandes executive at Pista Magica speaks at IVCO

Interview with Sónia Fernandes

Follow our new series of interviews with influential Forum leaders and IVCO delegates. This week we met with Sónia Fernandes, Presidente Executiva of Pista Mágica in Portugal.

IVCO Conference participant

Contribute to IVCO 2025

We are excited to launch the programme for IVCO 2025 and to open our call for speakers and think-piece authors.

Two decades of collaboration across every divide 

Set against the stunning backdrop of Cambodia’s historic temples, September’s IVCO 2025 builds on the highly successful 2024 event. Participants will again join the entire Forum network, the most significant global network of organisations that work with volunteers to achieve sustainable development goals. IVCO 2025 finds our community facing new challenges, with shifting funding priorities, policy changes, and a global civil society under threat: the way volunteers and organisations operate is faced with rapid change.

Registration Now Open for IVCO 2025: Strengthening Civil Society in Challenging Times

14–18 September 2025 | Siem Reap, Cambodia

IVCO returns this September and Early Bird registration is now open. Co-hosted by Forum and the Cooperation Committee for Cambodia, the conference brings together global leaders, volunteer-involving organisations, policymakers, and civil society actors for a week of dialogue, collaboration and action in Siem Reap, Cambodia.