CIVIL SOCIETY: 269 PRACTICES
AIESEC is the world's largest non-profit, independent and non-political youth organisation and is run entirely by young people aged 18-30. Since 1948, its vision has been a world of peace in every form and maximizing human potential. To achieve this, it aims to develop leadership qualities in young people by offering them practical experiences of intercultural exchange in a network of 120+ countries.
The aim of the program is to offer the opportunity to young people from abroad to come to Greece and offer a practical social impact, participating voluntarily in social projects lasting 6-8 weeks, in NGOs, schools and other social institutions, aiming to address challenges and problems in areas such as education, gender equality, reduced inequalities, poverty, environmental protection and health.
The incoming Global Volunteer program is addressed to organizations in Greece like NGOs, schools, etc.) who want to develop and strengthen their impact, as well as to young people aged 18-30, from 120+ countries and regions all around the world, who want to contribute to this, through a developmental, cross-cultural volunteer experience. Volunteers have the opportunity to develop skills such as leadership, time management, critical thinking, as well as gain experiences that will enhance their personal and professional development.
6-8 weeks/each project
The Incoming Global Volunteer Program in AIESEC is a program that allows young people from around the world to volunteer in a foreign country for a certain period of time. It provides an opportunity for individuals to contribute to projects and initiatives that aim to create a positive impact in local communities.
As incoming global volunteers, participants have the chance to work on various projects related to social issues such as education, environmental sustainability, youth empowerment, and community development. These projects are typically organized in collaboration with local NGOs or community-based organizations.
“Heartbeat” project aims to impact the SDG #3 by raising awareness on prevention of non-communicable diseases and the importance of mental health and is addressed to NGO, non-profits, hospitals, anti-drugs centers, youth centers, wellness institutions. Global Volunteers will be involved in community outreach in the public health field by creating and running outreach activities that aim to raise awareness on prevention of non-communicable diseases, healthy lifestyle habits and mental health in the community.
“Equify” aims to impact SDG #10 by fostering educational spaces on the basics of inequality as well as promoting local initiative to tackle discrimination and inequality in the community & is addressed to NGO, community centers, non-profits, schools, youth centers. Global Volunteers will be responsible for delivering workshops and dynamics on human rights, inequality and inclusion issues. Volunteers will support students on becoming agents of change by creating local initiatives to tackle inequality in the community.
“Scale Up” aims to contribute to SDG #17 by building up the capacity of local NGO, non-profit organizations and/or foundations to contribute to social impact in their communities by collaborating with local social projects and engaging with grass-groot initiatives. Global Volunteers will be responsible of running analysis on the needs of the NGO/non-profits/foundation, identifying points for improvements in their social projects and targeting the deficiencies by presenting realistic solutions that will directly impact the capacity of these organization to contribute to the development of the community they work with.
“Rooted” aims to impact SDG #15 by building up communities' capacity to respond and act upon the degradation of natural habitat, diversity loss, and the protection of wildlife. Global Volunteers will be responsible of fostering educational spaces about life on land, ecosystems biodiversity and wild animals protection. They will promote and support communities to take actions towards the protection of wildlife and the preservation of biodiversity in the region.
“Global Classroom” project aims to contribute to SDG #4 by providing and opening space for quality education for people of all ages, ensuring educational opportunities from initial literacy to other subjects such as mathematics, science and languages. Global Volunteer will directly contribute towards upscaling the literacy of the community on basics of mathematics, science and languages. Activities will be ran with a non-formal education method, addressing both the knowledge acquired and the development of the beneficiaries views in an intercultural environment.
Volunteers have the opportunity to grow personally, meet and interact with new cultures, expand their network and gain experience taking action on important social issues in their host country.
Partners/organizations gain access to international volunteers from around the world who bring their passion and knowledge, create a cross-cultural working environment that enables innovation and enhances the social impact.
During 2022, (01/01/22-31/12/22), AIESEC has collaborated with numerous stakeholders, creating within this year, more than 80 intercultural youth exchanges. 80 young people from abroad have already experienced the Global Volunteer experience in our country during 2022, while in total, more than 130 young people were accepted in the same period of time, in one of the above projects. Also, many partners choose to take part more than once in our program, with more than 50 being traditional partners consistently renewing their cooperation with AIESEC.
Athens, Piraeus, Thessaloniki, Patras, Crete, Volos, Tripoli etc
The implementation of the program is carried out in collaboration with a number of organizations such as «People Behind», «AGAPE», «Πολιτιστικός Φιλοζωικός Σύλλογος-Τρίπολη», «Πίνδος», «Junior Einsteins Preschool», «Open your mind camp», «International Metropolitan School»
AIESEC Greece has an average of 200 active members annually. For the program, approximately 700 members have been in the sector since 2015
For AIESEC in Greece the Global Volunteer program contributes significantly.
AIESEC Greece was awarded for this specific program in September 2019 with a Silver Award at the Volunteering Festival, in the "Humanitarian Crisis in Greece" category. Also, in November 2019, the program was placed under the auspices of the Ministry of Tourism. These awards and recognitions are a milestone for AIESEC Greece but also for the country, as the Global Volunteer and the positive social impact it offers to our country is recognized globally too.
