EU Aid Volunteers (EUAV) supports humanitarian aid organizations as a practical expression of solidarity with communities vulnerable to humanitarian crises. EUAV projects, run by partners of EU-based and non-EU based structures, strengthen the capacity of non-EU based organizations to prepare for and respond to humanitarian crises and to improve their volunteer management. EUAV connects volunteers and organizations from various countries in joint project areas such as resilience-building, disaster risk management, and linking relief, rehabilitation and development (LRRD). EUAV participants are not deployed to emergency response operations, nor areas of armed conflict.

Individuals can apply to volunteer to take part in humanitarian projects worldwide.

EUAV vacancies are announced throughout the year.

Funding opportunities with the EUAV initiative are managed by the Commission’s Education, Audio-visual and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA).

Participants in the EUAV program must be over 18 years of age and be a national of an EU Member State or a long-term resident in the EU. Volunteers get accommodation and travel expenses, insurance, ongoing learning and development, a monthly allowance, and a resettlement allowance to help with expenses when returning home.

Millions are affected by natural and man-made catastrophes each year. In the aftermath of a catastrophe, an impacted population needs clean water, shelter, food assistance, and protection. Humanitarian organizations are the first on the ground to address these basic needs. Humanitarian disasters have significantly increased the pressure on humanitarian organizations and there is a necessity for a wider proportion of skilled people. EU Aid Volunteers allow European citizens to harness their solidarity by cooperating in humanitarian projects worldwide. EU Aid Volunteers enables organizations to cover their particular staff needs as well. The humanitarian community benefits from an enhanced number of competent people trained by the EU Aid Volunteers initiative.

ADRA from Slovakia is the organization that is responsible for implementing the TEHV project, and apart from Volunteer Center Skopje, other participating organizations are from Kirgizstan, Armenia, France, Nepal, Cambodia, the Czech Republic, Serbia, and Lebanon.

VCS is the first and only organization from Macedonia, which participates in the certification process. Thus, VCS continues its active participation in various humanitarian actions and remains dedicated to the sphere of volunteering and offering assistance where it is needed. With this project, the human resource capacities in the organization itself are enhanced, but it also contributes to raising the public and civic awareness of strengthening the democratic structures and is an initiative intended to build capacities of 7 organizations from third countries, specifically from various regions across the world. The capacities of these organizations will be built and reinforced in dealing with humanitarian crises and effective volunteers supervision.

The relevance of the project and the call resides in the frame of selected activities. The objective of the project “Towards Effective Humanitarian Volunteering” (TEHV) is to build capacities of 7 organizations from Non-EU countries, specifically from the Caucasus, the Western Balkans and different areas of Asia. The capacities of these organizations will be built and reinforced in terms of certification, dissemination, preparedness and the ability to respond to humanitarian crises and effective and sustainable volunteers management.

We seek to strengthen the capacity and resilience of vulnerable and/or disaster-affected communities in the Non-EU countries. It also aims to improve opportunities for EU citizens to participate in humanitarian aid activities and operations through volunteering

The goal is to support non-EU project partners in elaborating tools necessary for obtaining EU Aid Volunteers certification or other EU volunteering certifications. Non-certified organizations will have a chance to elaborate these tools during the first two capacity building trainings.

The goal is to boost the capacity and resilience of vulnerable and/or disaster-affected communities in 3^rd countries by enabling the skills countries organizations involved in the project. Indeed, the ongoing training activities reinforce 3^rd countries’ organizations in local and international volunteering management.

All the sending organizations have proven and relevant experience in humanitarian aid and volunteers management. All sending organizations have more than 5 years of experience in deploying international volunteers to Non-EU countries. Both EU and non-EU organizations are involved in the project with relevant skills in hosting international volunteer.

We expect to successfully implement this Capacity building project and that all partners who will apply for the certification will also obtain it. We intend to participate with all the involved partners (EU partners as sending organizations and Non-EU countries organizations as hosting organizations) in a deployment project that will allow expert and junior volunteers from France, Czech Republic, and Slovakia to support our partners in the Balkans, Caucasia, Central Asia, Middle East, and South-Eat Asia in humanitarian aid context. The project has aims to foster young people from the Czech Republic and Slovakia to get involved in EU Aid Volunteers, as the ratio of volunteers from these two countries is very low.