Adventures in Volunteering

PROFESSIONALS NEEDED

CANADEM
If you are a Canadian professional looking for overseas work experience but don’t have the time to rifle through the myriad of organizations out there, CANADEM can help. Acting as a “matchmaker” between skilled individuals looking to work or volunteer and the various agencies seeking help, this non-profit government-funded agency compares its roster of registered Canadian professionals with the requirements of agencies including the United Nations, Oxfam, and other NGOs.

CANADEM recruits Canadian experts for positions worldwide with skills in human rights, peace building, democratization, administration logistics, security, and reconstruction. The gigs vary in length, although most are six-month placements requiring a professional leave of absence. A few of the latest job-postings include a Human Rights Officer in Cambodia and a Public Health Engineer in Pakistan. Although most positions are paid, volunteers are often needed for International election observation missions.

Once candidates have registered online, CANADEM uses applicant skill profiles and resumes to locate the ideal match for open positions – hassle-free and free of charge.
Tel: 613.789.3328

Journalists for Human Rights
The only recognized NGO of its kind, Journalists for Human Rights (JHR) is using the power of the media to combat human rights abuses through training African journalists to report effectively and truthfully on the issues that negatively affect their populations.

Volunteers are generally journalism students and graduates or seasoned reporters who work together to conduct human rights reporting workshops to members of the local media for six to eight months at a time. Available positions are posted on JHR’s website and require at least two-seven years of experience in journalism and an interest in international development.

Since its foundation in May 2002, JHR has run projects in nine African countries and worked with over 150 local journalists in human rights reporting. The ultimate goal of JHR is to eliminate the need for itself by working side by side with journalists to transfer their reporting skills, putting a stop to human rights abuses.
Tel: 416.413.0240

United Nations Volunteers
As the world’s most complex and comprehensive international organization, the United Nations depends on the dedication of professionally qualified volunteers to cooperate with governments and communities in order to provide humanitarian relief, rehabilitation, peace-building and human rights support around the world.

The United Nations Volunteers (UNV) program was created in 1970 to “serve as an operational partner in development cooperation at the request of UN member states.” With a roster covering over 115 professional volunteer categories, UNV and its volunteers receive technical input and supervision from UN agencies such as the Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Health Organization.

UNV has a variety of opportunities in development work, relief and peace efforts, humanitarian work, private sector development, technical service as well as an expatriate return volunteer program. Candidates must be at least 25 years of age to apply and can do so online. Most placements require at least five years of professional experience and generally last for 24 months.
Tel: +49.228.815.2000

This entry was posted on Sunday, October 21st, 2007 at 5:01 pm and is filed under Volunteer. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site. Add to del.icio.us.