IVCO Think Piece "Volunteering for Solidarity: The Power of Women’s Reciprocal Mentorship to Trigger Transformative Change"

This think piece is part of the materials produced in advance of the 2024 International Volunteer Cooperation Organisations Conference (IVCO 2024), hosted by Northumbria University in partnership with Comhlámh. It is available in English, Spanish and French.

The think piece “Volunteering for solidarity: The power of women’s reciprocal mentorship to trigger transformative change” is written by Cecilia Thompson, Nancy Lafrance and Marcela Vallejos who work at CECI (Centre d’étude et de coopération internationale). This think piece starts by posing the question: How can the power of volunteering for solidarity go beyond merely giving, by driving mutual growth, learning and reciprocal collaborations? The authors discuss innovative examples of reciprocal collaboration: i) reciprocal mentorship among women from the global North and the global South where participants are contributing equally, with each assuming the role of mentor and mentee; and ii) horizontal and equitable relationships between organisations from the global South and global North, which are collaborating to tackle shared challenges.