Waste picker outside her house

Help ensure women’s lives in Kenya aren’t thrown away

Creating lasting change by unlocking the power of people

At VSO we harness the skills and expertise of volunteers to deliver long lasting change. We put people first and empower them to be in the driving seat of their own development. Our volunteers work in collaboration with marginalised communities in every aspect of project design, delivery and evaluation, enabling the world's poorest communities to take charge of their own change. 

Areas of work

Purnima at a catch up class
Suraj Shakya

Inclusive education

Making sure everyone gets the skills they need to live a fulfilled, dignified life.

We helped almost 3.6 million people to access the quality education they deserve using our current strategy.

Young female farmers in Kenya
VSO/Paul Wambugu

Resilient livelihoods

Ensuring people have the skills needed to support themselves and their families.

Over 400,000 people benefited from our work supporting livelihoods using our current strategy.

Girls at the She Club, a safe space for girls to learn about SRHR
Chosa Mweemba

Adolescent and youth health and wellbeing

Improving health services and empowering people to exercise their right to quality care.

We helped almost 200,000 people access better healthcare using our current strategy.

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Latest news

Hear stories from volunteers and communities and stay up-to-date with the latest VSO news.

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Raj films a couples session in Nepal
VSO/Suraj Ratna Shakya

The year 2024 in photos and the stories behind them

Here we share some of VSO’s iconic imagery over the past year that capture the resilience and determination of the communities and volunteers we support. It’s also an opportunity to pay tribute to some of the people behind the lens who have helped bring their stories to light.

Lawrence Ochieng

'Here's to every volunteer' - an inspiring song from volunteer and artist Larry Dwayne

Known in the music industry as Larry Dwayne, Lawrence Ochieng is a Kenyan volunteer, hip-hop artist, and activist who uses his platform to raise awareness about climate change. Listen to his original song, 'Volunteer'.

Dev accepting his Active Citizenship Award

Meet the 2024 Volunteer Impact Award winners

Our annual Volunteer Impact Awards celebrates the incredible impact made by VSO volunteers across the world. Learn more about our four 2024 winners.

Our impact

Using our current strategy (2022-28), VSO has reached 24.8 million people, including over 20.6 million indirectly and nearly 4.2 million directly.

Find out more in our impact report

3.6m

Nearly 3.6 million were reached through our education projects.

400,000

Over 400,000 people were reached through our resilient livelihoods programme.

200,000

Almost 200,000 people were reached through our health projects.

Volunteering with VSO

Make an impact by sharing your skills and experience with some of the most marginalised people in the world. Become a VSO volunteer.

Browse all current opportunities

More ways you can support VSO

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