Listening to the voices of Volunteers in Conflicts and Emergencies

Professor Matt Baillie Smith writes about his recent visit to Stockholm to share findings from the ViCE Initiative.

When I packed my bags for our project conference in Stockholm on Volunteers in Conflicts and Emergencies (ViCE), I was mostly focused on the incredible stories volunteers have been telling us about living and volunteering in a conflict zone. I probably should have focused more on the weather forecasts and flight delays. Because 37 hours after I left Newcastle, I finally landed in Stockholm, travelling via London, then Stavanger and Oslo in Norway, without my luggage, and with a strong sense that I should have stayed at home.

Most research on volunteering and development focuses on international volunteering and the ‘gap year’. But our research focuses on the experiences of volunteers who live and volunteer in conflict and emergency settings – Afghanistan, Honduras, Myanmar, Sudan, South Sudan and Ukraine.

But from the first day of the event, held at the Swedish Red Cross offices, our partner on the project, I was reminded of why the event and research were worth some discomfort. The workshop brought together people from different parts of the Red Cross Red Crescent movement, as well as from NGOs and other humanitarian and development actors, to explore what we have been doing on the ViCE Initiative. Most research on volunteering and development focuses on international volunteering and the ‘gap year’. But our research focuses on the experiences of volunteers who live and volunteer in conflict and emergency settings – Afghanistan, Honduras, Myanmar, Sudan, South Sudan and Ukraine.

Picture credit: © IFRC, Victor Lacken

The workshop was the first opportunity to discuss some of our findings, and how they could help develop policies and practices to support the wellbeing and effectiveness of these volunteers. But what also stands out is their personal stories on the frontline of conflicts and emergencies, often when the international aid community has left, or cannot gain access.

For example, volunteers talk about the stigma that results from being involved in dead body recovery and burial teams, about how their families feel about what they do, and about how they themselves are often attacked and get caught between the warring sides. They also talk about how they survive and improvise in order to both survive and deliver aid and support to communities.

Their experiences don’t fit established research and thinking on volunteering … But they are critically important to humanitarian and development efforts, and have much to teach us about what volunteering means in different places and moments.

So when someone next talks about volunteering and development, perhaps try and think of these volunteers too. Their experiences don’t fit established research and thinking on volunteering, and they don’t always make the headlines. But they are critically important to humanitarian and development efforts, and have much to teach us about what volunteering means in different places and moments.

To find out more about the project, visit: www.rcrcvice.org

Matt Baillie Smith is Professor of International Development in the Department of Social Sciences, Northumbria University.

Twitter: @mbailliesmith