Individuals and organizations who believe in the power of volunteering abroad are coming together to help plan for the future of international volunteer service through a new initiative called ServiceWorld. Alongside exciting new research findings revealed by the Center for Social Development at Washington University in St. Louis on the impact of international volunteering, ServiceWorld was unveiled at a Brookings Institution forum in June 2010.
This initiative aims to expand international service opportunities for individuals of all ages and socio-economic groups to learn about global problems and find more effective ways to address them. When the Peace Corps was first envisioned in 1960, John F. Kennedy saw it as a way to engage 100,000 volunteers each year in service abroad. However, today there are fewer than 8,000 Peace Corps volunteers. The ServiceWorld initiative looks to make up the difference, and increase the movement to volunteer abroad to be closer to the goal of 100,000 participants a year.
One part of this initiative is the creation of a policy platform which includes several plans for the future of international service. Below are the principles that the ServiceWorld initiative and plans are based on:
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Partnerships, not Paternalism: Getting volunteers from different nations to serve together side-by-side
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Global Service 2.0: Supporting the Peace Corps, but also increasing opportunities for shorter-term international volunteering
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Next Generation of Global Leaders: Strengthening international service as an integral part of quality education in the United States
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Interfaith Service: Bringing people of different faiths together in shared work to foster peace and reconciliation
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Creating Opportunity: Spreading the word about the value of international service as an experience with concrete career benefits
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Innovation and Technology: Using new media and technologies to strengthen the impact of international volunteer service
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Fiscal Responsibility: Helping to make volunteering abroad more affordable
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Measurable Results: Aiming for achievable goals, and reporting on the results; discovering what the impact of international service is on volunteers, host organizations, and host communities
CCS is a proud supporter of ServiceWorld and will continue to share updates on this new campaign and how to become involved.
