Report on the workshop Accountability within: Engaging Volunteer Social Activists at the CIVICUS WA

While the contributions of volunteers and social activists have been widely appreciated within civil society, the role of volunteerism(1) for strengthening CSO accountability has received less attention.  Given this and the accountability theme at this year’s World Assembly, CIVICUS, the International Association for Volunteer Effort (IAVE) and United Nations Volunteers (UNV) decided to explore precisely this issue in a workshop titled: “Accountability within: Engaging Volunteer Social Activists.”  Participants were asked to consider accountability between volunteer activists and NGOs to help shed light on the larger question of whether and how volunteers strengthen NGO accountability.

To provoke conversation, it was suggested that volunteers do in fact strengthen NGO accountability by opening up a unique space of exchange and observation within NGOs.  However, the manner in which NGOs engage volunteers greatly impacts the possibilities for volunteers to strengthen NGO accountability. 

To initiate this conversation, Dr. Galia Chimiak shared her study on motivations of volunteer activists engaged in NGOs in Poland(2).  Her research revealed that oftentimes individuals volunteer to fulfil a desire for self-actualisation, but also to satisfy a sense of responsibility, a social need, or a desire to gain new skills and knowledge. Interestingly, these motivations resonated with a Scottish youth who presented on his experience as a VSO volunteer working in Kazakhstan and the UK.

It was subsequently suggested that NGO volunteer management should reflect an understanding of volunteer motivations, particularly with respect to the recruitment, empowerment, engagement and recognition of volunteers.  Building on this, a representative from Alianza ONG in the Dominican Republic proposed that volunteers be considered internal stakeholders by NGOs.  She rightly pointed out that volunteers are oftentimes the public face of NGOs, and thus key to promoting an organization’s reputation. NGOs must therefore be accountable to their volunteers.

Drawing on their experiences, attendees shared a whole host of helpful ideas regarding accountability of NGOs to their volunteers.  Empowering volunteers emerged as a reoccurring theme.  One student volunteer emphasized the importance of transparency of NGOs and suggested that organizations develop a document outlining volunteer rights.   A representative from G-Watch, an organization that addresses government corruption by empowering ordinary citizens, talked about the need to give volunteers access to information so they can act with legitimacy.  Providing volunteers with emotional, technical and sometimes even minimal financial support(3) was also mentioned.  

Approaches for promoting accountability of volunteers to NGOs were quite similar to those proposed for accountability of NGOs to volunteers.  A number of attendees mentioned requiring volunteers to sign a code of conduct outlining the organization’s expectations.  Meaningful engagement and supervision of volunteers was also identified as critical.  Lastly, recognizing volunteers was considered a way to thank volunteers but also to strengthen the relationship between NGOs and their volunteers.

Who volunteers was determined to be just as important as how volunteers are engaged.  Reaching out to a diversity of volunteers, including NGO beneficiaries, was recognized as a way for volunteers to strengthen NGO accountability.  Volunteers bring new perspectives and skills to organizations and can foster greater effectiveness and efficiency of NGOs.  Including beneficiaries, especially members of socially marginalized groups also helps strengthen accountability since these individuals often have a vested interest in seeing the NGO be successful. 

While by no means an exhaustive discussion, the workshop helped identify some helpful approaches for strengthening NGO accountability through the engagement of volunteers.  CIVICUS, IAVE and UNV plan to continue to explore this topic in their joint advocacy, research and publicity activities to highlight the value of volunteerism, particularly for addressing development challenges like those outlined in the MDGs. 

To request more information on the workshop, or to share your thoughts on the challenges and/or best practices for volunteer engagement and management, please email: Karena.Cronin@civicus.org.  Also, please see www.worldvolunterweb.org for a broad range of information on volunteerism.

(1) Volunteerism is grounded in the principles of choice and free will and encompasses a range of actions including mutual aid or self help, philanthropy or service to others, participation and advocacy and volunteering.  For more information on this please see: Smith, Justin Davis.  “Volunteering and Social Development: A Background Paper for Discussion at an Expert Group Meeting” New York; United Nations Volunteers. November 29-30, 1999.