About VSO

"We have found that voluntary organisations like VSO are indispensable partners in our work. VSO is a model part of what we now call Global Civil Society." Kofi Annan – Secretary General United Nations

VSO is an international development charity with a unique approach. We don’t send short-term aid such as money or food; we send people the most valuable resource of all - people. Every day, around 1,500 highly skilled VSO volunteers from around the world work side by side with poor people in developing countries to help them build a better future for themselves. VSO believes that it is only by empowering the people affected by poverty with the skills and opportunities to tackle their own problems that change can be genuine and lasting.

Sharing skills

VSO volunteers bring professional skills from a variety of backgrounds, including education, health, business and government, and pass these skills on within the community in which they are placed  Working hand in hand with local, regional and national partners, VSO volunteers tackle both the symptoms and the causes of poverty. Our approach aims to strengthen the ability of communities to change their lives and to find lasting, sustainable solutions to their problems.

Working in over 40 of the world's poorest countries, VSO volunteers work in six specific areas: HIV and AIDS, disability, participation and governance, secure livelihoods, education and health. Volunteers come from a range of backgrounds, countries and ages. We recruit volunteers from six bases: the UK, Canada, India, the Netherlands, Kenya and the Philippines.

Help us make a difference

The funds that you work hard to raise for the Everest Base Camp Challenge really will help us make a difference in the fight against poverty.  Fifty percent of these funds will be used to support our secure livelihoods work around the world, in line with Accenture's corporate citizenship programme. As you will visiting a VSO project and trekking in Nepal, the other 50 per cent will support our work in this region.