AVI announces new direction for youth opportunities
Australian Volunteers International (AVI) CEO, Dimity Fifer, announced in August that following a recent review, it was decided that AVI will look at new ways of working with young people on youth development initiatives.
Ms Fifer said that December 2008 will see the last groups of AVI Youth Program volunteers head overseas under the current self-funded, team-based model.
“Young people will continue to play an important part in AVI’s programs and we remain committed to providing opportunities for young people to contribute to development, while responding to the needs of our partners.
<p”>“The Youth Program has established strong connections between young people and AVI, and also between communities in Australia and overseas. Through the Youth Program, young people have also shown true commitment to working with our overseas partners, and have made a lasting impact within their host communities.”
In 2001, AVI formed a partnership with Youth Challenge Australia (YCA) to establish the Youth Program. This initiative provided international community youth development experiences for young Australians, by working with AVI’s existing partners.
In the last seven years, the partnership has provided opportunities for more than 1,000 young Australians to contribute to over 100 development projects. Of these, 300 young Australians have participated in the Youth Program with AVI. They have worked on rural development initiatives in India, alongside youth in Papua New Guinea and with street children in the Philippines.
“The Youth Program has had an impact on so many lives,” Ms Fifer said. “It has offered personal and professional development opportunities for young people, built lifelong friendships and developed connections with communities that will last forever.
“AVI is aware that young Australians have a strong interest in being involved in international development and volunteering. This is demonstrated by the fact that 25 per cent of participants in our long-term programs, including the Volunteer Program, PACTAM and the VSO/AVI partnership, are under 30.
“We want to encourage more young people to participate across all of AVI’s programs. We also know it is vital that we work to identify new opportunities and initiatives to respond to the needs of our partner organisations, which are looking for young Australians to contribute to their work.
“For instance, AVI has developed a new partnership with Macquarie University that will provide its student population and staff the chance to volunteer with our overseas partners as part of their study and research efforts through the Global Futures initiative.
New opportunities will also be explored with our long-term overseas partners, SPW India and Rural Development Organisation (RDO) in India, Bahay Tuluyan in the Philippines and HELP Resources in Papua New Guinea. We will continue to provide opportunities for our returned Youth Program volunteers to stay connected to AVI and our partners.”
Ms Fifer said opportunities were still available for young Australians to participate in the final three Youth Program projects in the 2008/2009 summer, working in India with RDO and SPW India, and with Bahay Tuluyan in the Philippines.
She acknowledged the contribution made by hundreds of Youth Program volunteers to AVI’s partner organisations. These include Bahay Tuluyan and Shontoug Foundation in the Philippines, Rural Development Organisation, SPW India and Gram Vikas in India, and Koiari Holdings Limited and HELP Resources in Papua New Guinea.
“We will continue to work in the spirit of collaboration with our Australian partners, Youth Challenge Australia (YCA) and Students Partnership Worldwide (SPW). Our joint commitment to youth development will see us continue to provide opportunities for young people in the future,” Ms Fifer said.
“Young people now have a number of international experiences available to them. These can include volunteering with dedicated youth development organisations such as YCA and SPW, ‘volun-tourism’ opportunities, or paid youth placements,” she said.
“While young Australians had shown strong interest in the AVI Youth Program, this had not been translating into a sustainable number of self-funded participants on projects and this was a key factor behind AVI’s decision to look at other initiatives.
”I would especially like to thank the Youth Program’s current and past staff for their commitment. Their dedication to managing hundreds of volunteers and developing strong relationships with international partners has led to significant impacts across communities and on the lives of many individuals.”