IVCO

Think Piece Authors: Liyun Wendy Choo, Tina Mackie, Saane Tupou work at Te Tūao Tāwāhi Volunteer Service Abroad in Aotearoa New Zealand.  

Established in 2021, ‘Uluaki Faiako (First Teacher) embodies the principle that sustainable change comes when communities take ownership of their development. The organisation supports young and first-time parents and caregivers of children aged 0–5 by helping them develop foundational parenting skills, empowering them to embrace their roles as their child’s first teachers. In recent years, ‘Uluaki Faiako has been supporting an increasing number of families with children who have disabilities and developmental delays, with the partnership of a VSA volunteer. He provides ‘Uluaki Faiako staff and families with training on supporting children with disabilities, and offers guidance on communication strategies for nonverbal or speech-delayed children. 

This think piece 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. In this think piece, we draw on our experiences working with small civil society organisations in the Pacific, particularly Tonga, to highlight how our civil society partners fill core gaps in services and support marginalised groups.  

Why localisation? 

For VSA, localisation is aligned to our commitment to country ownership and inclusive and effective development. Past aid efforts had been ineffective and/or unsustainable because they were donor-driven, with host countries having limited stake and ownership over development programmes.   

A crucial aspect of Sustainable Development Goal 17 is to respect each country’s policy space and leadership to establish and implement policies for poverty eradication and sustainable development. Localisation, which refers to the process of recognising, respecting and strengthening local leadership and capacity, underpins resilient, effective and sustainable humanitarian and development actions.1   

Localisation, however, is not without its challenges. Challenges for VfD organisations include local preference for skilled volunteers from outside the community due to concerns about confidentiality.2 Other concerns include blindly supporting ineffective country-led development policies just because they are locally grown, questions about which ‘local’ voices count, and issues of corruption and lack of accountability at the central and/or local government levels.3  

International volunteering and capacity development in Tonga 

The mantra of localisation is ‘as local as possible and as international as necessary’; it is also about complementarity, ‘which looks to a balance between local and international action in order to maximise the comparative advantages of both’.4  

VSA’s volunteering programmes across the Pacific, including Tonga, involve working alongside local actors across the public, private and civil society sectors to strengthen their means of implementing the SDGs. We respect and complement local development priorities by placing highly skilled New Zealand volunteers to support the building of systems, processes and capabilities that mirror the ambitions and goals of our local partners.  

Capacity development as mutual learning 

More than just involving more local actors, localisation requires a shift in the distribution of power and an understanding of the power dynamics between international and local actors.  

International volunteering involving skilled volunteers is well suited for long-term and non-traditional approaches to capacity development. However, it requires repositioning international volunteers as co-learners rather than experts in a mutual learning process. Capacity development as mutual learning encourages mutual respect and shared learning, emphasises relational, situated knowledge and values local knowledges by framing local knowledges as different rather than deficient.   

Mentoring and coaching in the Pacific are deeply shaped by cultural values, interpersonal relationships, and contextual factors unique to the region.5 Central to effective capacity-building in this setting is the emphasis Pacific Islanders place on personal relationships, trust, and mutual respect.6,7,8 Most VSA volunteers work alongside local partners and/or community members for at least one year, offering targeted and contextualised capacity building. They share their knowledge and skills, and provide local partners with supervision and support during early use.9 Their co-presence provides a safe space for local staff to translate technical knowledge into contextualised skills and nurture skills in the actual work environment for meaningful implementation.10 This side-by-side learning builds competence and confidence, while ongoing mentoring and co-working improves local staff’s knowledge retention and application. 11,12  

Conclusion 

Highly skilled international volunteers who understand capacity development as mutual learning foster skills and knowledge exchange on more personal and philosophical levels. Free from pre-determined capacity development goals, they are well placed to support longer-term and community-embedded development processes. Such interventions tend to be more culturally and contextually appropriate, effective, and sustainable.  

Manu Vehikite, the founder of ‘Uluaki Faiako, embodies the belief that real development results from local people and institutions taking responsibility, learning from experience, and building the capabilities needed to sustain progress. 

Her journey began as Case Manager for the Early Intervention Programme at Ma’a Fafine mo e Famili (MFF), where she worked alongside a VSA volunteer to train Tongan child development workers and empower parents through play-based learning strategies. This collaboration wasn’t just about transferring knowledge—it was about equipping Tongan communities with the tools to lead their own progress. 

In 2021, inspired by community testimonies and her direct experiences with early intervention in New Zealand and Tonga, Manu built a locally led initiative that strengthens parents as lifelong teachers and fosters inclusive support for children with disabilities. Today, ‘Uluaki Faiako stands as a testament to Tongan ownership of development.