Welcome to SPW Australia - Volunteer Work in Africa and Asia

SPW Values & Practice
Monitoring & Evaluation
Policy Agenda
Programmes
Countries
	India
	Nepal
	Sierra Leone
	South Africa
	Tanzania
	Uganda
	Zambia
	Zimbabwe
	Support Offices
Impact
Partners

SPW is an international development charity that recruits and trains young adults (aged 18-28) as volunteer Peer Educators, to lead programmes that address urgent health and environmental issues in Africa and Asia.

SPW currently has more than 800 volunteer Peer Educators in the field reaching 400,000 young people each year at an annual cost of just AUD$12 per child.

Our Vision:

That young people's energy and talents are valued and harnessed so that they take a lead role in the development process.

Our Mission:

To mobilise young volunteers to empower rural youth to take control over their own lives and shape the future of their communities.

The Issues:

Young people make up 30 per cent of the world's population; 85% of whom live in developing countries. 59 million young people in the developing world are unemployed. Opportunities for a good education and career are extremely limited, exacerbating the health and environmental risks that young people face daily.
11.1 million young people in developing countries between the ages of 15-24 are currently living with HIV and AIDS. It is estimated that 60% of all new HIV infections occur in this age group.
Preventable illnesses, like HIV, malaria and diarrhoeal diseases, cause millions of deaths each year, and millions of families lack information about how to protect themselves.
Rural communities throughout the developing world suffer from environmental degradation and poor use of community resources. Deforestation, lack of access to safe water and inadequate sanitation cause ill health and exacerbate poverty for millions in the developing world.
Successful HIV prevention, health promotion and sustainable resource usage can only be accomplished by addressing issues holistically with sustained long-term efforts.

Our Response:

Trained young people, living for long periods of time in rural communities, are best positioned to communicate life saving information, demonstrate Appropriate Rural Technologies and lead comprehensive behaviour change programmes that bring about improved livelihoods for young people and their families including:

Lower HIV infection rates
Better health outcomes
Improved use of community resources

SPW is new to Australia. In the past many volunteers on SPW programmes have come from Australia and their involvement has been invaluable! Now there is a permanent SPW office here in Australia to provide training, fundraising, awareness-raising, recruitment and de-briefing. The office is located at Borderlands Co-operative in Melbourne.

For further information feel free to email SPW Australia:
spw@spw.org.au

Australian Volunteers International (AVI) and Students Partnership Worldwide have recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding which brings us together to explore further opportunities for young people with a commitment to volunteering and active involvement in community life, both overseas and in Australia .

Australian Volunteers International is Australia 's largest and most experienced volunteer sending organisation. Over the last 50 years AVI have provided more than 6,000 placements for Australian Volunteers in 68 countries throughout Asia, Africa, Latin America, the Middle East and in Indigenous communities in Australia .

Australian Volunteers are women and men of all ages from diverse backgrounds who are willing to put up their hand, move outside familiar boundaries and, at some personal cost, offer a contribution towards building a peaceful and just world.

Volunteers contribute their skills and experiences, live and learn in partnership with local people, make lifelong friendships and links and bring the benefits of their experience back home to Australia.