The EU Aid Volunteers initiative provides opportunities to European citizens and long-term residents, from a wide range of backgrounds and with a diversity of skills and professional experience, to get involved in humanitarian aid projects, support the provision of needs-based humanitarian aid in third countries and engage in volunteering opportunities, through deployment and online-volunteering.
It offers opportunities for NGOs based in the EU and elsewhere, as well as international organizations that are active in the field of humanitarian aid, disaster risk reduction or linking relief, rehabilitation and development. These NGOs need to form partnerships in order to propose projects that strengthen their own capacity in the above mentioned areas and to deploy European volunteers to strengthen humanitarian aid operations globally, outside the EU.
The initiative focuses on strengthening the European Union’s capacity to deliver needs-based humanitarian aid by providing professional support through the deployment of trained volunteers to people in need. Furthermore, it aims to strengthen the capacity and resilience of vulnerable communities in third countries, through the implementation of joint projects between experienced humanitarian operators and local organisations in third countries.