The International Volunteer Exchange Programme (Ivep)

About the Programme

For Prospective Volunteers!

Apply on-line here»

The Child Rights Information and Documentation Centre (CRIDOC) is now welcoming volunteers and interns from abroad to carry out various activities to enhance the capacity of the organisation and its local institutional partners.

The International Volunteer/Internship Exchange Programme is based on a model in India for a child rights organisation called Global March Against Child Labour, where the current CRIDOC’s Executive Director worked as a media intern in 2002-2003 prior to founding the organisation.

Volunteers are expected to make important contributions to CRIDOC and its partners in many ways; they add a multi-cultural environment to the project’s staff and bring in lots of innovative ideas and enthusiasm.

For Local Hosting Partners

Apply on-line here»

The Programme aims to provide volunteers with unique opportunities to do something positive about human rights, particularly child rights related issues, and to share their skills.

How the Programme Works

CRIDOC endeavours to provide a conducive multi-cultural environment for the international interns/volunteers both at its secretariat as well as, where need be, at any of its partner institutions. Where the volunteers/interns are placed at the partner institution, CRIDOC is responsible for administrative matters, i.e. processing of residential permit, accommodation, language and cultural orientation, etc.

CRIDOC shall endeavour to provide a conducive multi-cultural environment for the international interns/volunteers similar to the one at the Indian based Global March Against Child Labour as shown in the picture.

CRIDOC publicises and promotes the IVEP initiative on its website (www.cridoc.net) as well as links the website to other numerous similar websites designed to promote development through social integration.

Such websites include, among others, One World (www.oneworld.net), NetAid (www.netaid.org), Development Gateway (www.developmentgateway.org), Eldis (www.eldis.org), DevJobs (www.devjobsmail.com), American Peace Corps [Malawi] (www.friendsofmalawi.org), International Volunteer Programs Association (www.volunteerinternational.org), international volunteering directory (www.volunteerabroad.com), and many more.

Role of Interns/Volunteers

• Volunteers have support roles within different teams of CRIDOC and/or its partner institutions.
• Their roles, tasks and responsibilities are clearly defined prior to the volunteer’s arrival/commencement

Requirements for the Volunteer Programme

CRIDOC welcomes volunteers/interns with background in the following areas:

• Human Rights
• Journalism
• Information and Communication Technology (ICT)
• Social Sciences
• Anthropology
• Sociology
• Development Studies
• Public Health (HIV/Aids focus)
• Education Policy and Law

In addition, CRIDOC welcomes volunteers/interns with Computer Sciences, Natural Science and Humanities background to add broader perspectives on child rights development.

Applicants to the Volunteer Programme should have:

• A background or strong interest in human rights issues, at least with a bias on child rights
• A knowledge and ability to work in the English language or in a language necessary to work in the particular environment.
• A good knowledge of computer
• An ability to work independently and take initiatives
• Be creative and global thinking
• The Interested volunteers must to provide two references.

Period of Volunteering

Minimum duration for volunteering is 6 months, but we strongly recommend volunteers to stay for one year. Volunteering for a shorter period may be considered in exceptional cases only.

Work Permit, Visa and Insurance Requirement

A foreign national interested to volunteer with us is required to obtain appropriate visa from the Malawi Embassy in his/her country. CRIDOC facilitates an appropriate letter of invitation / contract to help the prospective volunteer in acquiring the visa.

A foreign national with visa for more than 180 days needs to get registered with the Department of Human Resource Management and Development (DHRMD) in Malawi within 14 days of arrival. DHRMD issues a residence permit on the basis of documentation provided by the person and the organisation employing him/her.

Volunteers are advised to get medical insurance done in their countries before leaving for Malawi.

Application fee

Prospective volunteers/interns are required to pay a fee of US$ 600 (At least for six months).

The fee will enable CRIDOC to be able to process administrative issues before and during the stay of the volunteers/interns, including paying/renting for the volunteers’ shared accommodation (guest wing) in a relatively high-security low density township of Lilongwe; facilitating for working space (desk, chairs and a computer), etcetera.

However, this fee may be reduced if there are more than one applications at the same time as shown below:

Note also that the amount quoted above is already too small to cater for all administrative matters, especially in the event that CRIDOC has to provide computer for the volunteer/intern. In this context, to prevent instances where the volunteer shares a computer with other staff, we sincerely encourage them (at least those who can!) to voluntarily contribute their resources in terms of bringing/using their own laptops so that the fee can be used for other pressing administrative issues as highlighted above.

Follow up Formalities

The Interns/Volunteer Coordinator at the CRIDOC Secretariat, in consultation with the Executive Director and the Department Heads, is responsible for to coordinate the programme by performing the following tasks:

• Selection, hiring and orientation of the volunteers.
• Selection and liaising with the local partner institutions interested in hosting the volunteer/intern.
• Coordinating all communications with the prospective volunteers/interns such as;

(i) Obtaining the passport details and arrival details.
(ii) Providing copies of invitation letter, CV, job description and arrival details to the Administration, who completes all formalities and make necessary arrangements for the coming intern/volunteer – such as providing accommodation.

• Complete the follow-up formalities upon arrival of the selected volunteers/interns. This includes sending the invitation letter and other necessary documents to the selected candidate to help him/her get the appropriate visa from the Malawian Embassy/High Commission in his/her country.

The volunteers with appropriate visa are allowed to work for CRIDOC and/or its local partner institution in Malawi. The volunteers with tourist visa are NOT allowed to work.

If the volunteer/intern is to be hosted at CRIDOC Secretariat, the CRIDOC Administration allocates space and computer if required. Computers in the departments may be shared, if possible.

The Administration also provides shared accommodation to the volunteers on arrival. No food allowance is paid to the volunteers. They are not entitled to any other benefits, except free decent accommodation.

Orientation of the Volunteers

If hosted at CRIDOC Secretariat, the Interns/volunteer Coordinator is responsible for coordinating the orientation of the coming volunteers as follows:

• A brief introductory walk through the office building
• Formalities with administration, including submission of passport and visa details by the intern/volunteer.
• Orientation on the rules and regulations of the office.
• Introduction to Administration and Finance.
• General introduction on human rights in Malawi, with a detailed overview on the child rights situation, and the role of the CRIDOC Information Centre/Library.
• Sharing relevant documents and screening of films and documentaries.
• An orientation on the socio-political, cultural and legal environment of the country in which the organisation and staff members work and live.
• An introduction and orientation with the Executive Director and various departmental heads.
• An orientation on the district offices, whenever established, and possibly arrange for a field visit to some of its projects at district level whenever available.
• Meeting with the Departmental Heads, who explain about their work, responsibilities, plan of action, expectations, any other details. Set of appropriate papers/documents may be handed over to the volunteer by the departmental head. Orientation with other team members.
• IT orientation – the IT Officer provides the new intern/volunteer with email account information, explain about network and email systems, safety precautions (against virus) and any other relevant information.
• Share a manual for the volunteers with all relevant information forming part of the manual. Information on places for tourism, visa rules/requirements, health, emergency and other important contact numbers are contained in the manual.
• Attempts are made to make the stay as comfortable, pleasant, productive and safe as possible.

If hosted at a CRIDOC’s local institutional partner, the Interns/volunteer Coordinator is responsible for coordinating the orientation of the coming volunteers as follows:

• Formalities with CRIDOC administration, including facilitation of accommodation, submission of passport and visa details by the intern/volunteer, etc.
• Provide the intern/volunteer with general introduction on human rights in Malawi, with a detailed overview on the child rights situation.
• Sharing relevant documents and screening of films and documentaries.
• Provide the intern/volunteer with an orientation on the socio-political, cultural and legal environment of the country in which the organisation and staff members work and live.
• Share the volunteers’ manual with both the partner institution and the volunteer/intern containing all relevant information, such as information on places for tourism, visa rules/requirements, health, emergency and other important contact numbers are contained in the manual.
• Closely work with the partner institution throughout the internship/volunteer period to make the stay as comfortable, pleasant, productive and safe as possible.

Evaluation of Work and Exit Interview

The volunteers/interns undergo through a mid-term and final evaluation of work. Guidelines for evaluation are prepared separately. The Executive Director holds an exit interview at the time of departure of the interns/volunteers.

The volunteers are required to hand over their charge to the concerned departmental heads. A certificate/letter of work/appreciation may be given to the volunteers at departure, accompanied by a farewell party.

Alumni of CRIDOC Interns/Volunteers

The interns/volunteer Coordinator maintains a database of all the volunteers/interns (whether they were hosted at Secretariat or at the partners' institutions) and creates opportunities to the volunteers to interact with each other even after they leave. They can be meaningfully involved with both the CRIDOC's and/or partners' activities even after they leave. They can also become Online Volunteers.

CRIDOC Online Volunteers may share their time and expertise to help CRIDOC and its partners in different ways. These volunteers may help without having to leave their homes. They may volunteer on weekends, in the evenings, on their lunch break, or whenever their schedules permit. They may volunteer from home computers, work computers, or computers in public access centres. These concepts are to be further developed and strengthened.

Applying for the programme

There are two kinds applications under this programme. Applications are accepted from the prospective international volunteers interested to participate in the IVEP initiative as well as the institutional partners interested to host a volunteer/intern.

Both prospective volunteers interested to work with us or with any of our institutional partners, and the local partners interested to host a volunteer, please download application forms at the top right corner of this page, or alternatively you may apply on-line. Either way, we promise to get back to you within 48 hours upon receipt of your application.

Contact Us

For more information, you may contact the Interns/Volunteer Coordinator at our Secretariat at the following contacts:

Child Rights Information and Documentation Centre (CRIDOC) Secretariat
P. O. Box X204
Post Dot Net, Crossroads
Lilongwe
Malawi

E-mail: info@cridoc.net
Website: www.cridoc.net