Measuring volunteering during multiple global crises.

 

Volunteering during multiple interlocking crises.

 In recent years there has been growing awareness of the effects that multiple global crises such as climate change, conflict and economic instability can have when they are no longer separate but are causally entangled. The United Nations Environment Programme has described the compounded nature of these events as when “two or more crises that may be independent or not, become causally entangled – i.e. the interactive effects among them escalate the severity of impacts of each – and thereby significantly degrade global planetary health and thus humanity’s prospects for well-being in a relatively short period of time. These interacting, cascading series of events or sudden (non-linear) crises, across space and time, occur simultaneously and therefore produce harms greater than the sum of those the crises would produce in isolation, were their host systems not so deeply interconnected.” Although this interaction between crises is not new, since the COVID-19 pandemic the world has seen an unprecedented increase in the number of interconnected challenges. Effects vary globally, with communities in the Global South often being disproportionately affected. Volunteers are at the forefront of efforts to confront these crises and respond to their combined effects. More than other actors, local volunteers often work within and between different crises simultaneously, providing immediate relief and long-term recovery as well as bridging these priorities. Grassroots efforts are central to holding communities together when systems are overwhelmed, drawing on local knowledge to deal with the combined effects of crises on societies. Local, national and international volunteers play critical roles in crisis response, bringing new capacities, skills and knowledge to deal with sudden threats and the risks that compound the existing stresses faced by affected communities. These responses to overlapping crises can create a new set of opportunities, generating innovation, cross-sector collaboration and action that go beyond that which responses to single-crisis scenarios might achieve

How volunteers experience crises does not necessarily align with the ways organizations respond to crises. Volunteering cuts across the usual boundaries of humanitarian and development thinking and practice and volunteers often play roles that could be classified as both or neither humanitarian, nor development focused. The same volunteer who rescues people spontaneously from the rubble after an earthquake can also be involved with an organization that cleans beaches to prevent waste from polluting the sea. They may deliver food to neighbours in hospital and foster social cohesion by providing psychosocial support to bereaved individuals, often despite their own mental burdens. In a world fractured by intersecting crises, volunteers are important because they work across multiple challenges and contexts, flexibly and responsively. The agility and flexibility of volunteering, particularly during crises, create challenges for measuring and understanding its scope and impact. Volunteer contributions are often perceived as part of everyday coping strategies and solidarity rather than being recognized as volunteering. Because so much of this voluntary labour remains unaccounted for, the impact of volunteers on meeting current crises remains only partially understood. Volunteers’ contributions cut across the priorities of different organizations, may not match the timescales of projects and can vary in the depth of their engagement depending on their circumstances. Volunteers may play a pivotal role in addressing the consequences of crises but are not immune to these same consequences. In some instances, volunteers might face increased risk, as evidenced during the COVID-19 pandemic. Assessing the impact of a crisis on volunteering is also critical to ensuring that the environments which enable volunteering to take place are protected and nurtured.