Volunteer role description template

1.    Introduction to VSO

VSO is the world’s leading international non-governmental organization that works through volunteers to create a fair world for everyone.

Our work centres on those who are left out by society – those living in extreme poverty or with disability and illness. Those who face discrimination and violence because of their gender, sexuality, or social status. Those who are at risk from disaster, disease, and conflict. But they are not passive beneficiaries of aid; they are the “primary actors” at the heart of our efforts. From their perspective, we define the issues, opportunities, and solutions that drive sustainable, local-led change. These individuals are the key agents of their own transformation.

Our Approach

Our Volunteering for Development (VfD) method supports the most vulnerable and marginalised to achieve their rights and bring about lasting change to create a fair world for everyone. Rooted in addressing the fundamental causes of - marginalisation and vulnerability, our three core approaches – social inclusion and gender, social accountability, and resilience – guide our work in inclusive education, health, and resilient livelihoods. 

Our Volunteering for Development method recognises the importance of relationships in forging a shared understanding and commitment and building collective action to lasting change. With most of our volunteers being national, we build blended teams of community, national, and international volunteers, uniting diverse perspectives, and experiences to generate insight, innovation, and action that tackles the complex issues faced by our communities. This kindles the potential for active citizenship worldwide, encouraging people to step forward and lead the change that fosters a fair world for all.

1.    Project background and contextual information (Please change this information as per project detail and requirement)

The ACTIVE Extension Project is a multi-country programme across Asia & Africa focused on strengthening the capacity of CSGs by fostering volunteerism and civic engagement while simultaneously improving the capabilities of governments and services. Making the system accountable to their collective needs through VfD interventions.

ACTIVE supports CSGs to lead their own development pathways, engage in civic and policy spaces, and build inclusive systems that reflect community priorities. Empower them to foster inclusion, apply participatory practices, strengthen accountability, build resilience, adapt to risks, mobilise resources and secure fundings for sustain the development impacts.

Volunteering plays a role of collective catalyst—where volunteers accompany CSGs in building confidence, fostering peer learnings, and accessing tools and networks. Volunteers do not deliver services but contribute to locally led development by enabling CSGs to organise, collaborate, and advocate—always centring their voice, pace, and leadership. Volunteers support a shift in power through equitable partnerships and mutual respect.

 2.    Role outputs

1. Capacity Building/Strengthening through Relational Volunteer Model, to build trust and accompany CSGs through holistic capacity strengthening inputs using relational volunteer model, system analysis and participatory approaches for capacity self-assessment, reflective process, peer-learnings, group dialogues, coaching, mentoring, and experiential learning, conduct Community of Practices and connect CSGs to technical support.  Visit each CSG at least 2 times per month—spending an average of 15 hours with each CSGs monthly.
2. Organisational Capacity; Empower CSGs with inclusive leadership and governance, strategic planning, equitable decision-making, and adaptive management, among others.
3. Participatory Practices; Through collective volunteer leadership, enhance CSGs’ capacity to adapt and apply participatory practices to foster social inclusion (youth, women, people with disabilities etc), strengthen social accountability and build resilience using VfD tools such as Volunteer-led SEGA, Washington Group Questions, & Intersectional Analysis & Community Scorecard / Resilience Risk Mitigation Tools etc.
4. Facilitate systems thinking and critical reflection, to help CSGs, volunteers, VSO & partnersto recognize patterns, power structures, and cultural norms that inhibit progress. This diagnostic work leads to more strategic and transformative interventions rather than reactive fixes.
5. Co-facilitate workshops and reflective forums with youth network/CSGs that nurture shared leadership, participatory governance, and collective action while forming consortiums within CSGs. These spaces serve as safe environments to practice collaborative decision-making, strategic foresight, and equitable leadership—essential for more resilient civil society.
6. Network, Advocacy and Policy engagement; Facilitate linkages, build CSGs confidence to expand network, increase civic participation, drive CSG advocacy and engagement with duty-bearers for greater accountability and policy influence.
7. Resource Mobilisation and Financial Sustainability; Link CSGs to technical assistance to co-create financial sustainability, resource mobilisation and funding strategies.
8. Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning; Enable CSGs to embed participatory MEL, adopting VSO’s MILE process. Support them to access digital tools for CSG/citizen-led monitoring, bottom-up evidence generation, process-outcome documentation, and locally owned learnings system.

 3.     Experience and skills required for this volunteer placement (no more than 8 bullet points)

• Experience in working with youth network/ youth-led organisations / grassroot civil society groups) through sharing of lived experience in KP and Punjabi youth-led climate actions/ youth and women economic empowerment.
• Understanding of civil society capacity for locally led development, equitable local partnership, sustainability and rights-based approach.
• Ability to apply participatory tools and link CSGs to relevant technical support based on needs and contexts (familiarity with inclusive governance, participatory planning, adaptive management, citizen-led monitoring, community-led advocacy, resilience risk mitigation, will be an advantage).
• Skilled in facilitation, coaching and mentoring, able to create safe and inclusive spaces where all voices feel heard and valued and ability to apply inclusive digital tools for development action.
• Basic understanding of the values of volunteering in driving collective actions, local governance, public policy and evidence-based advocacy. Awareness of power dynamics, and a commitment to inclusion and power shifts to local actors.
•  Demonstrated ability to build network partnership and connect CSGs to the relevant technical resources for developing resource mobilization strategies, including funding plans, donor engagement, relationship-building and networking acumen.
• Commitment to Volunteering for Development approach, VSO’s mission, values, upholding safeguarding policies, Code of Conduct, and demonstrated VSO’s behavioural competencies.