News

VSO are delighted to be an official charity partner of this year’s Rose of Tralee festival. The partnership follows on from the highly successful VSO ambassador role undertaken by the Rose of Tralee over the past two years.

As schools re-open after the Christmas break, a major recruitment drive for teachers has been launched in Ireland by VSO, the largest independent volunteer placement agency in the world.
Expressing concern about the current shortage of Irish volunteer primary school teachers, VSO has moved to reassure teachers that pension, PRSI and increments are covered while they serve in developing countries and that their jobs will still be there when they return to Ireland.

Rose of Tralee Charmaine Kenny is VSO’s newest ambassador. Charmaine, originally from Athy, but represented London at this year's festival, has a business background, which is an ideal fit for VSO.

Charmaine has just returned from visiting VSO programmes in Malawi in November.

VSO welcomes the positive steps the UN General Assembly has taken in expressing unanimous support for the creation a UN women’s agency to be headed by a new Under Secretary-General (USG). 

Over the summer, hundreds of Irish people will visit Thailand on holiday but Paul O'Keeffe from Glanworth is planning a more extended stay by volunteering with VSO Ireland.

VSO officially opens its programme office in Tajikistan on 25 June 2009 following its official registration in Tajikistan last September. The British ambassador, His Excellency Mr. Trevor Moore, will host the official launch of VSO’s newest country programme. 

VSO announced today that it sees the job losses in ACC and other financial institutions as positive for the developing world. 

VSO announced today that Lucinda Ledgerwood, the former contestant in the 2008 TheApprentice BBC TV show, is to take up a VSO placement in New Delhi. VSO volunteers are experienced professionals, often from the business sector.

Her excellency Ambassador Ms Catherine Muigai in partnership with VSO is hosting a garden party at the Kenyan residence on Friday 12 June.

VSO, the charity that recruits volunteers to work in developing countries, has announced that it sees the job losses in the education sector in Ireland as a positive for the developing world.

VSO, the charity that recruits volunteers to work in developing countries, said that the €100M cut to the Irish government’s ODA budget announcement is too severe and will ultimately cost the lives of poor people living in developing countries. The charity also stated that due to rising unemployment, more Irish people are interested in volunteering overseas but VSO will be unable to send as many people abroad as planned. Today’s cut, as announced in the government’s ‘mini-budget’, means that the ODA budget has been reduced by a total of 30% (€195m) since June 2008.

The 2008 Rose of Tralee, Aoife Kelly, visited Kenya as part of her role as official ambassador for Irish development charity VSO. Aoife spent a week visiting VSO funded programmes in two of its main goal areas – secure livelihoods and disability. The visit took place in March 2009.

VSO, the charity that recruits volunteers to work in developing countries, announced today that it has seen a dramatic increase in enquiries from Irish professionals looking to volunteer during the month of March 2009. VSO is an international development charity that places professional people on challenging work placements across Africa and Asia.

In March 2009 VSO sent a series of four postcards to TDs and Senators followed by a letter, highlighting the need for them to protect and support the Irish Official Development Assistance (ODA) budget in the upcoming ‘mini budget’, which took place on 7 April.

To mark International Women’s Day this Sunday, 8 March, VSO (Voluntary Service Overseas) wishes to thank all its Irish female volunteers working in developing countries in Africa and Asia, plus all local organisations it supports in the developing world that focus on empowering women in their communities. VSO is an international development charity that recruits volunteers to work the world’s poorest and most deprived communities.

Waterford man Colm Halley has decided to beat the recession and share his marketing skills in Kenya with VSO, the charity that recruits volunteers to work in developing countries.

Cork girl Emma Donavon has decided to beat the recession and share his marketing skills in Kenya with VSO, the charity that recruits volunteers to work in developing countries.

VSO, the charity that recruits volunteers to work in developing countries, announced today that it has seen a 40% reduction in applications from Irish professionals looking to volunteer since the beginning of 2009. VSO wants to remind professionals that volunteering won’t affect their income or career prospects, as all costs are covered and placements are professionally challenging.

A delegation of Sri Lankan peace builders has visited Dublin and Belfast in a joint initiative organised by VSO and the Glencree Peace and Reconciliation Centre.