VAP News > News archive > 7th May 2019: Volunteering in the Middle East: Solidarity in Action
Peace in the Middle East remains one of the major challenges to be solved for the international community today. After years of Intifada, peace agreements and ongoing occupation, young people are the part of the population most affected by the stalemate. International voluntary service is a way to express solidarity and transmit hope, energy and creativity for young people to construct their citizenship under difficult circumstances through day-by-day co-operation among people of different backgrounds.
18 young volunteers from 11 countries and 13 organisations will have a chance to spend six months in four different locations in the West Bank in Palestine. The 13 projects will all be related to inter-cultural dialogue through daily interaction with the local people in their projects. As a group and with the help of CCIVS, the volunteers will be encouraged to put their daily experiences into perspective through reflections about the concepts of cultural identity and cultural heritage. This reflection will deepen their understanding of and interaction with the people they work with and will develop their sense of their own European identity and cultural heritage.
Thanks to the support of our long-standing partner organisation, IPYL, which is well established and recognised in Palestine and has a strong network of partners and institutional contacts in the region, we are able to work with various partners on the ground and ensure cohesion among the different projects at the same time.
The volunteers will return to their countries with a more thorough and deep understanding of the Muslim-Arab world and the socio-political situation of the Middle East in general. The project will also be an occasion for the volunteers to develop their individual capacities on different levels and to gain a better understanding about themselves and possible personal and professional paths to follow afterwards. The project will combine action with moments of reflection, and this will allow them to experience a new reality and to see things from a clearer perspective. It will also suggest ways in which they can use their new capacities and knowledge after their return.
VAP is the only UK based organisation participating in this European Voluntary Service project. We have 2 places available for our members so if you are aged between 18-30 and consider yourself mature enough to spend 6 months (13 May to 14 November 2009) in a worthwhile project in Palestine, do not hesitate in contacting us by clicking here.
The DEADLINE to receive applications is Wednesday, April 8th
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+44 0208 123 5927
