What challenge inspired this recipe?
Conflicts and crisis are part of almost every volunteer experience. The important thing is to take preventative measureas as well as carefully manage any conflicts and crises that arise. For volunteers conflicts that occur while being abroad can be especially challenging due to the fact that they are in an unfamiliar environment.
Ingredients :
- Time for research and if necessary, translation
- Printer/E-Mail
Step by step guide
Create an infosheet that briefly describes how to handle crises or conflicts. Volunteers can use this resource in those situations as guidelines.
In order to implement this best practice, you need to:
- Gather steps and measurements taken in your organisation to handle conflicts.
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Gather useful information about conflict management to put on the handout.
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Create the infosheet with a step-to-step guide on what to do in case of a conflict or crisis, additional information and emergency contacts from your organisation, local authorities, etc.
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If not already available in multiple languages, translate the information into English and the most common languages of your volunteers
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Send the infosheet to volunteers via e-mail before the project start and give them a printed version at project start
Important to highlight!The infosheets are used as an additional information and reminder for the volunteers, complementing the information presented at pre-departure and on-arrival trainings, or any other personal meetings with the volunteers. Often times volunteers forget this information over time or didn’t pay enough attention. That’s when the infosheet comes in handy as a reminder and document the volunteers can come back to in critical situations. |
Before you start cooking, keep in mind…
It is challenging to get volunteers to read info sheets. Make sure to create the info sheet in a visually appealing, yet accessible and easy to understand way. Even though the volunteers might at first not pay much attention to the info sheet, in actual situations of conflicts or crises, the volunteers have the infosheet as resource at hand. That’s why it is important that volunteers receive this information.
