Project profile — Uniterra - CECI & WUSC - Volunteer Sending 2015-2020

The expected intermediate outcomes for this project include: (1) increased capacity of developing country partners to deliver sustainable development results, in response to local needs, by making use of the skills and expertise of qualified Canadian volunteers; and (2) enhanced participation of Canadians in Canada’s sustainable development efforts.

Results achieved as of March 2020 include: (1) 2 511 volunteer mandates have been carried out in 14 developing countries; (2) 81.71% of volunteers perceive their contributions to the capacity development goals of local organizations as moderate or significant; (3) a total of 4479 tools were created or adapted according to the needs of partners in developing countries (manuals, strategic plans, websites, training content, datasets, etc.); (4) over 119,220 person-days of training were offered by volunteers to staff and members of partner organizations; (5) 89% of people among local market actors were trained by volunteers, declaring improved skillsand knowledge or networks contributing to women and youth inclusive market systems; (6) the percentage of partners with a gender equality strategy approved by their Board or leadership increased from 47% to 67.4% and the percentage of partner organizations with a dedicated budget for gender equality increased from 46% to 76,8%; (7) 355,010 Canadians undertook an action in support of Canada’s international development efforts as a result of public awareness activities. These results have contributed to the increased capacity of project country partners to achieve sustainable development results that meet local needs. For example, In Malawi, Uniterra volunteers worked with member tea companies, establishing committees to promote the Gender Equality, Sexual Harassment and Discrimination Policy on their tea estates and informed workers of guidelines for reporting incidences of harassment and discrimination. In total, 291 Gender Committees were formed on private tea estates and 433 trainers were trained on the new Gender Policy. Tea workers have reported that they feel empowered in their ability to speak up about sexual harassment in the workplace.