The payment of volunteers is one of the greatest challenges for volunteerism, according to data found in the Global Review on Volunteering Report. It’s a complicated picture — when organizations have an urgent need for support and provide incentives to volunteers, is this still volunteering?
“Donors in the ‘global south’ are saying this is undermining the spirit of volunteerism,” Matt Baillie Smith, professor of international development at Northumbria University, told Devex reporter Helen Morgan on the sidelines of the 32nd International Conference of the Red Cross and Red Crescent in Geneva, Switzerland.
This has become a “taboo” subject, and avoiding the topic isn’t helping, he added.
In the above video, Baillie Smith shares his insights on growing tensions as certain volunteer positions become more attractive than others, the hierarchies between organizations, and what needs to happen to help prevent unanticipated consequences.
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About the author
Helen Morgan
Helen Morgan is a journalist and editor, primarily focusing on climate change, migration, humanitarian crises, and human rights. She was previously an Associate Editor at Devex, where she managed the op-eds section and led a project covering climate resilience in small island developing states. Helen was also features editor at World Politics Review, and editor and writer at the environmental think tank WRI, as well as editing for The New Humanitarian. She lives and works in Barcelona, Spain.