COVID-19 will restructure the volunteer landscape - Cirillo

THE FUTURE of volunteerism is likely to change as the COVID-19 pandemic has forced the restructuring of the volunteering landscape, said Nichole Cirillo, executive director of International Association of Voluntary Effort (IAVE).

“Change and unpredictability are going to be the hallmarks of future volunteering. So we are not just going to go back to a situation in which we can predict our year and what’s going to happen and how to run our volunteer programmes, it will be just the opposite,” she said, while addressing a Council of Voluntary Social Services (CVSS) ‘Expert Speaks’ webinar recently.

Cirillo was reporting on recent research that looked at how volunteer organisations across the world responded to the COVID-19 pandemic. Volunteer leaders across 137 countries were canvassed for the research, which also looked at the challenges and the roles these organisations played during the pandemic.

She said the voluntary sector has recognised that they have to embrace change and unpredictability as part of their everyday work. She noted that there needs to be more reliance on strategic partnerships and relationships.

“Preparing for future crisis is going to be at the forefront of their minds, so it is not just the pandemic; it is climate change and it is continuing racial inequality. It is all sorts of issues that will likely to be exacerbated in the years to come,” she explained.

She reported that the volunteers have come to the understanding that they have to be more prepared for eventualities, and how they can be at the forefront of helping to respond, especially in a pandemic.

The IAVE executive director said that this meant being more meaningfully responsive in a government-led response or at the corporate level. She further pointed out that technology has been critical in the responses mounted during the pandemic and continues to be embraced going forward; however, it will not replace face-to-face, as this is at the heart of volunteerism.

Citing other findings of the research, Cirillo said that out of 70 volunteer leadership organisations surveyed, 71 per cent reported that they were part of coalitions to strengthen their advocacy; 60 per cent were part of a new coalitions to support volunteer mobilisation; 64 per cent strengthened partnerships with governments; and 52 per cent developed strategic partnerships with companies.

INCREASE COLLABORATION

“We found that these leaders spoke about their ability to increase collaboration as an important part of their survival and success during the pandemic. They told of partnerships that they drew on and how these trust-based relationships became critical on the ground,” she said.

Cirillo will be the guest speaker at the National Volunteer Conference being organised by the CVSS, to be held virtually on November 30. She will speak on strategies and recommendations for effective and impactful collaboration to drive action on COVID-19.

The CVSS is partnering with the United States Embassy to host the conference, which is being held under the theme ‘Effective Collaboration as a tool for National Development’. The goal of the 2021 CVSS Volunteer Conference is to convene with voluntary organisations to gain consensus on strategies and approaches for inclusive and effective multisectoral collaboration.