International Citizen Service (ICS) is a global

volunteering Volunteering is a voluntary act of an individual or group freely giving time and labor for community service. Many volunteers are specifically trained in the areas they work, such as medicine, education, or emergency rescue. Others serve ...

programme. It is aimed at young people aged 18-35 and supports them on 12-week long sustainable and locally-owned volunteering placements focused on working towards the Sustainable Development Goals. ICS works with projects that have specifically requested help, with emphasis placed on measures that combat poverty. Funded by the

Department for International Development , type = Department , logo = DfID.svg , logo_width = 180px , logo_caption = , picture = File:Admiralty Screen (411824276).jpg , picture_width = 180px , picture_caption = Department for International Development (London office) (far right ...

, ICS is led by VSO, in partnership with a number of development organisations. Prime Minister

David Cameron David William Donald Cameron (born 9 October 1966) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2016 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2005 to 2016. He previously served as Leader o ...

has said the program was inspired by the

Peace Corps The Peace Corps is an independent agency and program of the United States government that trains and deploys volunteers to provide international development assistance. It was established in March 1961 by an executive order of President John F ...

. The forerunner programme to ICS was Platform2, which was initiated under the previous Labour government. ICS and ICS Entrepreneur are led by VSO in partnership with a group of development organisations. Volunteers to the ICS are asked to fundraise, and receive support to help them meet their fundraising goals. The programme has been on pause since the Covid-19 pandemic.

ICS consortium

The ICS consortium are a group of organisations that aim to use their experience in running overseas volunteer programmes to work towards the

Sustainable Development Goals The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) or Global Goals are a collection of 17 interlinked objectives designed to serve as a "shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet, now and into the future".United Nations (2017) R ...

. Collectively, the ICS agencies work directly with around 3000 international volunteers every year and have partnerships in over 60 countries. While a number of agencies ran volunteer programmes as part of ICS by 2020, only three agencies were still part of the consortium;

Raleigh International Raleigh International is a youth expedition organisation based in the UK. On 19 May 2022 Raleigh International Trust ceased operations and entered Creditors' Voluntary Liquidation. The Raleigh International brand was bought by Impact Travel Group ...

, VSO and

Restless Development Restless Development (formerly known as Students Partnership Worldwide) is a non-governmental organization which organizes volunteer placements for young people in the areas of civic participation, livelihoods and employment, sexual rights, and l ...

Criticisms

The International Citizen Service was criticized for a lack of value and basically providing holidays on taxpayers expense. Questions have been raised as to whether the cost of £7,633 per volunteer for the flights, visas, accommodation, food, insurance, a certain amount of living expenses and training of young people offers good value for money. The same report showed however that those volunteers raised £2.148 million to support the programmes during that period which covered the majority of that cost.

References

Attribution *{{OGL-attribution, {{cite web , author=DFID staff, date=9 March 2010, url=http://www.dfid.gov.uk/Media-Room/Press-releases/2011/Young-people-to-make-a-difference-to-the-worlds-poorest-International-Citizen-Service-opens/, title=DFID - Young people to make a difference to the world's poorest – International Citizen Service opens , archiveurl=http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20130128103201/http://www.dfid.gov.uk/Media-Room/Press-releases/2011/Young-people-to-make-a-difference-to-the-worlds-poorest-International-Citizen-Service-opens/ , archivedate=28 January 2013

External links

ICS website

VSO
Department for International Development Development charities based in the United Kingdom National Citizen Service Volunteering in the United Kingdom