VSO China Strategy (444KB)

VSO China Strategy
2011-15
VSO China Strategy 2011–15

VSO China Strategy 2011–15
Contents
Foreword
VSO 3
What we do 3
How we do it 3
VSO in China
Who we work for 4
Where we work 4
Country facts 4
Our focus 5
Partnership: the way we work 6
VSO from China 6
Youth and youth exchanges 7
Volunteering Expo 7
Valuing Volunteers research 7
©VSO
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VSO China Strategy 2011–15
Foreword
VSO
VSO is a leading, independent, non-governmental organisation
(NGO). We believe that change happens because people make
it happen. Providing food, infrastructure and machinery is
important, but we believe people are the key to overcoming
poverty.
That’s why we work through volunteers. Drawn from many
countries and all walks of life, they give their time, their
expertise and their passion. Volunteers share their skills
within carefully selected partner organisations, ranging from
grassroots groups to government ministries, in their home
country or abroad. It’s a powerful, cost-effective way to create
lasting results.
What we do
VSO has had a programme in China since 1981, largely
education-focused, but also works in health and livelihoods.
Recognising that the context of development in China has
clearly changed over the last three decades, VSO is now
refocusing its programme to be more aligned with the China of
today.
Our exciting and challenging programme in China:
• promotes and supports Chinese people to engage in their
own development, through volunteering in China and
overseas from China
• shares knowledge and best practices of volunteering,
brokering partnerships and providing a range of consultancy
services and international volunteer accompaniment to
government, non-government and corporate sectors
• contributes to the development of policy and learning of
best practices that encourage volunteering, corporate social
responsibility and international cooperation.
How we do it
Through improved effectiveness and efficiency of volunteering
inside China we increase the capacity of local volunteering
organisation networks to improve poor people’s access to
quality basic services and information and ideas linking them
to the wider world. We build and share a knowledge base
with government, non-government and corporate sectors,
and contribute to policy development and strengthened
partnership among these three sectors.
©VSO
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VSO China Strategy 2011–15
VSO in China
China’s economy has grown at an astonishing rate of 9.8%
for the last three decades and the development context
has dramativally changed since VSO started working in the
country. China is now the world’s biggest contributor to the
achievement of the Millennium Development Goals and plays
an increasingly important role in international development in
Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean and Asia.
Since 1981 VSO China has brought more than 750 international
volunteers to China to work in its education, health and
livelihoods programmes and in partnerships promoting
volunteerism. Volunteers have spent an average of two years
in their placements, which makes a total of more than 1,500
years of expert volunteering in China. That is an immense
achievement.
The time is right for VSO China to build on this volunteering
expertise and reach out to the large numbers of people
living in poverty in China. The programme puts people right
at the centre of VSO’s engagement in China by promoting
volunteering to fight poverty within China and in the least
developed countries in which China has an interest.
Through an increased capacity of volunteering organisations
and the engagement of all sectors of society, VSO China aims
to create a network of 1 million Chinese people – all passionate
about social and harmonious development and working
together at community, national and international level
through volunteering.
Who we work for (target population)
VSO China recognises the immense achievements of China
in leading the world in reducing rural poverty and achieving
the Millennium Development Goals. It values the government
of China’s 12th Five-Year Plan and its goals of increasing the
capacities of social organisations to regularly mobilise ten
percent of the population for social development through
volunteering. China is still a developing country, with arguably
ten percent of the world’s poor. The China programme
recognises the relative disadvantage of rural populations, but
also that of migrant families and the urban poor, people with
disabilities, ethnic minorities and the youth (particularly in
psycho-social wellbeing and reproductive health). Importantly,
volunteers will also benefit from the increased opportunities
for participation in development of their own communities and
those of others.
Where we work
From 2011 the China programme will
initially focus on the cities of Beijing,
Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen,
Kunming, Chengdu, Chongqing and Xi’an
and build on that with more cities in both
the eastern and western provinces.
Country facts:
Population:
1.4 billion
Official language:
Mandarin Chinese
Human Development Index (HDI)
101 (UNDP)
GDP per capita:
US$4,428 (World Bank)
Below US$1.25 PPP poverty line:
estimated 120 million
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VSO China Strategy 2011–15
Our focus
Supporting people to engage in their own
development
VSO has put people at the centre of development for more
than 50 years. Through volunteering, we offer a unique
approach to development and are passionate about supporting
people in engaging in their own development – whether by
volunteering in their own community or in other communities
in other parts of the world.
VSO offers a range of individual and group volunteering
opportunities through its programmes in China. It also supports
volunteerism in China more broadly, through the capacitybuilding
of other volunteering organisations, with the support
of international, expert volunteers.
Volunteering
Youth programme
People
First
Volunteering outside China
Corporate volunteering
Knowledge brokering, training and consulting
VSO has more than 50 years of experience in organisational
development and volunteer programme management, as
well as in establishing partnerships that work in development.
We are open to share our knowledge through web-based
guides and best practice, through regular training events and
consulting services.
With decades of international development experience
and an excellent record in brokering relationships between
government, non-government and corporate sectors,
VSO offers unique insights and professional knowledge in
volunteering and development.
Online
resources
Knowledge
Training
volunteer
programme and
organisation
development
Consulting
CSR and
sustainability
partnerships
Policy hub
VSO operates in 37 countries around the world, promoting
volunteering and working with research institutions,
development practitioners and governments to create
and share best practices and policies for sustainable and
equitable development. It understands that progress towards
harmonious societies is only possible through working together.
VSO does this in China through its annual volunteering
expositions, which bring together government, nongovernment
and corporate sectors to promote volunteerism
and corporate social responsibility. It is also involved in positive
engagement and discussion with stakeholders in China,
learning from development experience in the countries where
VSO operates and where China has overseas development
interests.
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VSO China Strategy 2011–15
Partnership: the way we work
There are several ways that people and organisations can work
in partnership with VSO China.
Partnerships for development
VSO China is progressively extending its programme of NGO
capacity-building to more than 50 NGOs in Beijing, Shanghai,
Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Xi’an, Chengdu, Kunming, Chongqing
and other major cities.
In each city, the programme will focus on the capacity-building
of (at least) one local volunteering centre and several NGOs,
representing the needs of a broad range of least advantaged
groups. It functions across the development sectors of health,
disability, HIV and AIDS, education, livelihood development and
the environment. VSO China places international volunteers
from its worldwide pool of experts in these organisations with
a primary focus on organisational and volunteer programme
development. We then compliment these full-time volunteers
with part-time, local professionals (corporate volunteers).
We broker opportunities for company staff to get involved in
general support and capacity-building of NGOs or in community
events and community volunteering.
Partnerships for development provides companies with an
affordable approach to demonstrating social responsibility.
It also allows them to be part of a larger programme with a
clear development effect and gives them the opportunity to
enhance employee job satisfaction, recruitment and retention
and the development of core skills in communication,
teamwork, project management, problem-solving, and conflict
negotiation. Employees also benefit from a range of soft skills,
particularly in building self-confidence.
Training and consulting
VSO has more than 50 years of experience in organisational
development and volunteer programme management, and in
establishing partnerships that work in development. We share
our knowledge through web-based guides and best practice,
through regular training events and through consulting
services. VSO China is equipped to actively provide excellent
training and consulting services to companies in:
• volunteer programme development and management
• volunteer management systems
• approaches to working with social organisations
• organisational learning systems
• organisational leadership and development.
We can deliver training tailored to an individual organisation’s
needs for 20 or more staff members. We also offer employee
volunteering programme development consulting and
mentoring, delivered through experienced staff and volunteers.
VSO from China
After 30 years of bringing more than
750 expert volunteers to China, VSO
now recognises the talent and interest
that exists in China for international
development through volunteerism and
is including Chinese volunteers in its
international volunteering programme.
VSO now recruits Chinese expert
volunteers to serve in less developed
countries in Africa and Asia. VSO
currently has Chinese volunteers in Africa
– in Nigeria, Kenya and Zambia (and soon
in Sierra Leone and Ethiopia) and in Asia
including Nepal and Bangladesh.
©VSO
VSO China will undoubtedly benefit
global development and the world’s
poor and provides a great opportunity
to demonstrate social responsibility
through the sponsoring of one or
more volunteers or by getting directly
involved with short-term executive or
staff volunteering. Such support can
be reported in both China and the host
country and is a great opportunity to link
corporate sustainability programmes to
community development.
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VSO China Strategy 2011–15
Youth and youth exchanges
VSO’s youth programme has directly
engaged with over 1,500 youth
volunteers in international exchanges
between 37 UK communities and 37
countries around the world, including
China. Each group volunteers more than
6,000 hours in local communities. The
third exchange between the UK and
China in 2010 resulted in 740,000 media
mentions including social media, TV,
radio and print media.
Youth is a central part of VSO China’s
strategy; through the continuing and
broadening of exchanges between China
and the EU, North America, Asia and
Africa, as well as nationally; and through
domestic programmes that focus on
youth life skills, health and psychosocial
wellbeing.
Foreign and domestic companies as well
as foundations and institutional funders
can get involved in our youth and
youth exchanges programme through
sponsorship.
Volunteering Expo
Launched in 2010 and successfully
continued in 2011, the Volunteering
Expo is a unique event in China. It gives
space to government, non-government,
corporate and academic sectors to
debate the challenges and opportunities
for volunteering for harmonious
development in China. It also allows
for networking and the showcasing of
volunteering initiatives.
Timed to coincide with International
Volunteer Day each year, it is a
moment to reflect, be inspired and
challenge ourselves to further develop
volunteerism in China and overseas
from China. In 2011 the theme was
Partnerships for Development. This is
an outstanding event, widely covered
by national media and reaching out to
tens of thousands of people through its
website and social media connections.
Valuing Volunteering research
Valuing Volunteering is a partnership
between VSO China, the Institute for
Development Studies at the University of
Sussex in the UK. Alongside other global
and local VSO partners, the partnership
will work to understand the social and
economic impact of volunteering on
poverty. The three-year project will
be delivered through an innovative
and cutting edge methodology called
“systemic action research” and will start
in China and five other countries in Asia
and Africa early in 2012.
Valuing Volunteering will research
differing forms of volunteering across
China to understand both the social and
economic benefits of each. One very
important aspect of this in China will be
corporate volunteering. This 6–9 month
research aims to understand the effect
of corporate volunteering in China and
to build a collection of case studies of
companies working with communities
through employee volunteering.
Our impact
The China programme’s impact is capacity and opportunity.
Capacity for organisations from all sectors to benefit less
advantaged people in China (and overseas from China);
and opportunity for individuals to fight poverty through
volunteering in their own community and others.
Our ambition is to be a network of 1 million people, committed
to development and the fight against poverty both at home
and abroad; with a particular interest in education, health
(including disability and HIV) and sustainable and secure
livelihoods. We absolutely believe in and are committed to
volunteering in China and the benefits it can bring to the least
advantaged people, including: people with disabilities, people
at risk of or living with HIV and AIDS, the rural as well as urban
poor, migrant populations (particularly women and children)
and youth.
Through that network of 1 million people, we know we can
improve the lives of millions of others.
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VSO China Strategy 2011–15
VSO China
Room 601, Suite 1, Building D
Lanchoumingzuo, Chaowai Da Jie
Chaoyang District
Beijing, 100020
China
T + 86 10 6553 0400
vsochina@vsoint.org
www.vso-cn.org
www.vsoconsulting-cn.com
VSO International
Carlton House, 27a Carlton Drive
London SW15 2BS, UK
+44 (0)20 8780 7500
www.vsointernational.org
Published June 2012