Voluntary Services Overseas (VSO) is an international development organisation. At the heart of our contribution to development is international volunteering. Our distinctive competence is working with our partner organisations to bring together skilled professionals from different cultures and backgrounds, enabling them to share skills and learning.
Vision
> A world without poverty in which people work together to fulfill their potential.
Purpose
VSO promotes volunteering to fight global poverty and disadvantage. We bring people together to share skills, creativity and learning to build a fairer world. (Provides skilled experienced professionals to VOs as per their requirement on mutually agreeable terms) As part of VSO Country Strategic Plan. we are making some fundamental decisions about where we will work, how will we work and on what issues. In future VSO India will place volunteers only in the east of the country and in Delhi.
VSO India will focus on three programme areas :
> Disability
> HIV Aids
> Governance
Geographical Focus
The geographical focus of our programme will be in Orissa, West Bengal, Jharkhand and Chattisgarh.
Could you be a VSO partner ?
> Would your organisation benefit from new skills and ideas?
> Could training help your co-worker ?
> Do you need support for your new area of work ?
> Is your organisation committed to the sustainability of a volunteer input by ensuring that his/her skills will be acquired and used by your staff after their departure ?
If the answer to any of these questions is yes, then you could work with VSO.
To become a VSO partner, your organisation should :
> Work in one of VSO India’s priority development sectors and geographical focus.
> Be able to manage and support the work of a VSO volunteer.
> Share the values of VSO’s work, which are explained in this leaflet.
> Be open to working with people from different backgrounds and cultures, be flexible and tolerant.
How would the partnership work ?
VSO works in partnership with local organisations, both government and non-government, and sometimes with private-sector employers.
> Together, we identical the changes that the employer wants to make.
> If a VSO volunteer can help, we write a placement description together. This sets out the job, the VSO volunteer will be expected to do and the objectives you as the employer want to achieve.
> VSO will seek to recruit and place a suitably qualified and experienced volunteer.
> The host organisation decides, on consideration of the CV and or dialogue whether the volunteer offered is suitable.
> Getting Visa for the volunteer.
The whole process may take up to 6 months and event more than that
Once the volunteer has arrived, VSO, the volunteer and the employer work in partnership to meet the agreed objectives of the placement. Volunteers can work for up to two years, but the length of a placement depend on how long the partner thinks it will take to complete the job. Partnership can be for longer periods, a second and third volunteer might be required. To become a VSO partner, your organisation should work in the above regions and sectors.
Name and contact address of the organization at H.Q. and in India
Voluntary- Service Overseas, B-8/25, Vasant Vihar, New delhi 110 057, Tel: 011-51661030/31/26153051 52/53/ Email : [email protected]
Voluntary service Overseas, 317 Putney Bridge Road, London SW152 PN, UK, Tel : 0044208 7807200, Email : [email protected] , Website : www.vso.org.uk
About MITRA
MITRA was started as an entrepreneurial initiative by a few alumni of the Institute of Rural Management, Anand (IRMA), India in November 2000 with the initial support from ICICI, India’s second largest financial group. MITRA is registered as a not-for-profit company under section 25 of the Companies Act, 1956 in December 2001.
Since its inception, MITRA has been working towards promoting the spirit of volunteering in India through its flagship program iVolunteer. iVolunteer was founded on the fact that volunteering is becoming a popular way for individuals to give back to society. Its vision is, “An India where people contribute back to the society by sharing their skills and time with those who need it the most”.
iVolunteer works with its network of partner organizations across India to create volunteering opportunities for individuals who want to make a difference to the community. To be able to service the need of individuals and organizations better, it has set up volunteer centres in the cities of Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, Bangalore, Chandigarh and Chennai.
If you also need volunteers who are also expert/professional in their respective field you may write to-iVolunteer Overseas
D-134, 1st Floor, East of Kilash, New Delhi, 110-065 India, Telefax : 91-11-26217460. email : [email protected]