About VSO
VSO is a global development and humanitarian NGO that has been operational for over 60 years. It works in remote areas of Africa and Asia to improve access to education, healthcare and livelihoods for excluded and vulnerable groups. In the Netherlands, VSO Nederland supports the global network through fundraising, recruitment of volunteers and strengthening programme support in partner country offices. | Source: VSO
Its mission is to create a fair world for everyone, by working with local changemakers (volunteers and professionals) to improve essential services including health-care, education and decent work. | Source: VSO
Collaborations with GHH-partners
NGOs:
- Wemos: VSO is one of six core partners in the Make Way strategic partnership on intersectionality and SRHR, together with Wemos, Akina Mama wa Afrika, the Circle of Concerned African Women Theologians, FAWE and the Liliane Foundation, funded by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs. | Source: Make Way Wemos and VSO jointly commissioned research on an intersectional Community Score Card for SRH services within Make Way. | Source: Wemos
Overview of characteristics
Activities:
- Countries: VSO states projects are active in approx. 26 countries in Africa and Asia, including Sudan, Ethiopia, Pakistan and Myanmar. | Source: VSO
- Activities: VSO deploys local and international volunteers (“Volunteering for Development” model) to support healthcare, education and livelihoods. | Source: VSO
Also, VSO works to improve health-care access (especially for excluded groups) by strengthening community health, training local health workers, supporting facility care in remote areas. | Source: VSO - Focus groups: Emphasis on the most marginalised: women, youth, people with disabilities, LGBTIQ+ persons and people living in poverty. | Source: VSO
CoP (community of practice):
CoP1: Strengthening Health Systems
CoP2: Pandemic Preparedness
Themes & subthemes within CoP1 and CoP2
CoP1 – Strengthening health systems
Themes:
- Improving access to health services in underserved/remote settings.
- Capacity building of local health workers and health-care facilities.
- Community-based health-systems strengthening (through volunteers, local changemakers).
Subthemes:
- Maternal and child health, sexual & reproductive health and rights (SRHR). (E.g., VSO’s program in 2023/24: 350+ vulnerable youth gained access to sexual-health services.) | Source: VSO
- Training and exchange of health professionals (volunteers working alongside local staff) to build local capacity for sustainable care delivery. | Source: VSO
- Strengthening remote and fragile-setting health care (e.g., in Africa/Asia) by improving facility readiness, and linking community and health facility services.
CoP2 – Pandemic preparedness
Themes:
- Supporting health-systems resilience and preparedness capacities (especially in remote/fragile settings) via volunteer expertise, training and service delivery.
- Strengthening access to essential health products, services and diagnostics in underserved contexts through capacity building.
Subthemes:
- Training of health professionals and community workers to respond to outbreaks/infectious disease threats in remote settings. (Volunteering model provides human resource surge capacity)
- Support for health-care continuity in crisis situations (fragile states, emergencies) which is an element of preparedness and response.
- Linking community health and facility-based health systems to reduce vulnerability to pandemic/disaster impacts in underserved areas.
Available resources:
Organization type:
NGO
Available resources:
Knowledge & expertise
- Specialist understanding of volunteer-driven capacity building in health systems in underserved settings (Africa & Asia). VSO uses the “Volunteering for Development” approach to embed external expertise locally. | Source: VSO
- Programmatic experience in maternal, newborn and adolescent health, SRHR, and improving health-care access in remote communities. | Source: VSO
- Experience in crisis and fragile contexts: VSO combines humanitarian and development approaches, relevant for health-system resilience and preparedness. | Source: VSO
Networks
- Global network of volunteers and partner country offices; Netherlands office supports global network by recruiting professionals, raising funds, and linking Dutch stakeholders to global programmes. | Source: VSO
- Membership in GHH and DGHA, providing access to broader global health partner networks and advocacy platforms. |Source: VSO
Influence / advocacy capacity
- VSO’s annual report indicates it engages in advocacy for SRHR, youth employment and development policy, aligning with global health agendas and Dutch development policy. | Source: VSO
- Through its partnerships and voice in the Netherlands and globally, VSO can influence policy on community health access, volunteer capacity in health systems and preparedness in under-resourced contexts.
Financial & operational capacity
- The Netherlands branch mobilises professionals and institutional partners and supports global programmes; it manages fundraising and volunteer deployment infrastructure. While specific large grants aren’t detailed publicly in what I found, the organisation demonstrates operational capacity for multi-country programmes.
- Example: In 2023/2024 the programme dashboard showed 200,000 people reached by their health-care programmes. | Source: VSO
Coordination capability
- VSO coordinates volunteer engagement programmes, community-facility health systems interventions in remote settings, and can link local-global flows of knowledge, volunteers, and system strengthening support.
- It has experience integrating development and humanitarian approaches (e.g., bridging immediate aid and long-term systems strengthening).