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EU Aid Volunteers – Let’s Act Out!

Are you motivated to make a difference in the world? Do you have the skills, values and passion to tackle global challenges like climate change and poverty? Let’s Act Out!

EU Aid Volunteers

The EU Aid Volunteers programme is an initiative of the European Commission, who similarly offer European youth the opportunity to join a humanitarian mission in the field by volunteering with a partner NGO. The EU Aid Volunteers programme offers:

  • Opportunities for European citizens to become volunteers in humanitarian projects worldwide, showing solidarity with people in need of assistance,
  • Professional support by trained and well-prepared volunteers to communities affected by disasters
  • Capacity building for local staff and volunteers of aid organisations in countries hit by disasters
  • Technical assistance for organisations (like ACTED) based in Europe to strengthen their capacities to participate in the EU Aid Volunteers initiative.

This program reflects ACTED’s mission to engage youth in humanitarian responses while offering the opportunity to gain valuable technical skills and to learn and develop their capacities.

ACTED is a certified EUAV partner organization along with our Alliance2015 partners, Concern Worldwide and People In Need. ACTED has deployed 20 volunteers to missions in Myanmar, JordanHaitiKyrgyzstanLebanonSenegal and Tajikistan.

Ariane, current EUAV in ACTED Myanmar

What was your motivation to become a EUAV?

“For me, the EUAV initiative served as an entry point to the humanitarian world and gave me the opportunity to get closer to the field and experience how projects work on a day-to-day basis.  Another thing that surprised me was the amount of training and support you are offered as an EUAV volunteer. I think this is key in actually being able to contribute to something and to ensuring that you have the capacity and skills needed to make a difference.”

What are your expectations for your deployment as a volunteer?

“I expect to gain as much knowledge and experience as possible from this opportunity and insights on how ACTED and its stakeholders address humanitarian challenges in Myanmar. Also, I hope to see the impact of the work carried out by ACTED and the rest of the humanitarian world while finding my place within this sector.”

What does volunteerism mean to you?

“Volunteerism, to me, is seeing yourself as an active citizen of the world and giving back.  By volunteering your time, effort and expertise you recognize that there are people in the world, who just because of their place of birth never will have the same privileges as you. Volunteerism is, in a small way, contributing to the development of a more equal and fair world.”

Juliette, Project Coordinator for ACTED, former EUAV

What has your time as a EU Aid Volunteer brought you professionally and personally?

“Being part of the EUAV initiative was a great opportunity for me to grow personally and professionally. It increased my self-confidence and gave me a sense of accomplishment.”

Do you feel like your experience as an EUAV prepared you for a career in the humanitarian sector?

“It was a real stepping stone, as I was exposed to areas of humanitarian work which you can’t get from studies alone. It really helped me build the skills that I needed to enter the humanitarian sector. It was also a great opportunity to meet new professional connections.”

What are the benefits of participating to the EUAV initiative according to you?

“The EUAV experience expands your horizons, giving you access to new places and people, helping you to understand their needs and problems from a much closer perspective.”

Almudena, current EUAV in ACTED Myanmar

What was your motivation to become a EUAV?

“It happened when I realized that the only and safest place we have is the present and that I should fight for what I believe in and what makes me a little happier every day.”

What does volunteerism mean to you?

“I would tell you that it is a free choice against an imposed life model. It is choosing to look, recognize and accept the person next to us. And it is a pity, but we should remember more often that there is no need to take a 14 hours-flight, nor a good dose of to put it into practice.

If we were a little more human with the people around us, we would eradicate much suffering. As a philosopher well said: ‘If you assume that there is no hope, you guarantee that there will be no hope. If you assume that there is an instinct for freedom, that there are opportunities to change things, then there is a possibility that you can contribute to making a better world.’”

Two ACTED EUAVs present the initiative at the Convergences World Forum 2019
Two ACTED EUAVs present the initiative at the Convergences World Forum 2019
ACTED
Prospective EUAVs signing up for more information.
ACTED
ACTED staff and volunteers support community response to disaster and development.
An EU aid volunteer in Haiti visiting agricultural cooperatives to prepare future activities for a climate-smart agriculture project.
ACTED field staff checks supplies of distribution materials.
ACTED field staff checks supplies of distribution materials.
ACTED 2017
An EU aid volunteer in Haiti visiting agricultural cooperatives to prepare future activities for a climate-smart agriculture project.
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