Our Objective:
Ka hono a Te Tūao Tāwāhi i ngā tūao pūkenga ki ngā whakahaere me ngā hapori i te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa me tua atu, hei tautoko i ngā wawata kua tautuhia ā-rohe, ā, kia tutuki ai te panoni toitū.
Volunteer Services Abroad (VSA) connects volunteers with organisations and communities in the Pacific and beyond to support locally identified aspirations and achieve sustainable change.
We are New Zealand's largest and most experienced volunteering agency working in international development, placing over 100 volunteers each year. For the last twenty years the VSA has been operating our Univol programme, a volunteering programme with assignments specifically designed with recent graduates in mind. Each assignment represents an amazing opportunity to develop your skills in enhancing and supporting capability and capacity uplift.
For all of our volunteers deployed in country, the VSA provides standard support package that includes international flights at start and end of assignment, in-country accommodation, living allowance to support basic living costs, comprehensive pre-departure preparation through a through recruitment and onboarding process, health and travel insurance as well as ongoing mentoring and support throughout the assignment.
As this assignment is a part of our Univol programme, it is one of eleven assignments we will be aiming to deploy to in early 2027. This assignment will be focussed on working across a youth programme seeking ways to support and enhance youth development in Santo, Vanuatu.
Our Partner and Assignment Summary:
For this assignment we have Youth Challenge Vanuatu (YCV) is a leading youth organisation in Vanuatu providing quality, inclusive training and leadership programs and services to youth since 2001. YCV assists marginalised youth to meet their life goals, reach their full potential, and assists communities to address development challenges, overall contributing to the economic and social development of Vanuatu.
YCV has a drop-in Youth Centre in Port Vila and a number of well-established programmes in place including Ready for Work – a practical programme for young people between 18- 35 years old to gain skills and experience to find employment as well as Ready for Business aimed at youth between 18 - 35 years old who wish to develop their own business idea or enterprise.
A UniVol volunteer on this assignment would be deployed in 2027 to help support the team with their programme and outreach development, in addition to this support with organisational and process design would also be something the volunteer on this assignment could be assisting with.
The skills a volunteer would bring with them would be utilised to help support the organisation, to develop further in areas the team in country have identified. By the end of the assignment the aim would be for the team at YCV to have improved and strengthened a number of their processes.
About Vanuatu:
Vanuatu is a volcanic archipelago of 86 islands, where traditional lifestyles exist alongside modern tourism. With over 100 different indigenous languages, Vanuatu has one of the highest language densities of anywhere in the world. The population is predominantly Melanesian, with strong cultural traditions and a largely Christian society. Vanuatu is also one of our longest standing programme countries, the VSA and our volunteers have had a presence in country going back as far as 1965.
In terms of the economy of Vanuatu it is built around the agricultural sector, with approximately 80% of the population working in this space. Key exports are copra, kava, and beef. In terms of location this assignment would largely be based in and around Luganville in Santo, one of the key population centres the VSA operates for all of our assignments including the Univol programme. The Vanuatu programme also has a Programme manager and Programme Coordinator based in country to support volunteers over the course of their assignment.
Skills we are seeking:
We believe that for a volunteer to succeed on this assignment they would need a number of key skills. First and foremost amazing organisational and planning skills, ideally in a youth development or community programme setting. Communication skills would also be key in both the ability to connect with who you are communicating with but also someone who can also pick up languages quickly, willingness to learn Bislama will be key to a volunteer having a positive experience on assignment. Success on this assignment will also rely heavily on a volunteers ability to work in a team and collaborate with others when working towards a common goal, proven experience working in a team setting either professionally or in a more academic setting would required to be considered for this assignment.
Application Instructions:
If this opportunity is of interest, please apply through the link below. If you have any questions about this assignment or the Univol programme as a whole you are more than welcome to check in with the Recruitment team via email at volunteer@vsa.org.nz.
Please note applications will be closing in early August 2026, so get any applications or queries in prior to that as the team will be assessing applications and queries as they arrive.
Ka hono a Te Tūao Tāwāhi i ngā tūao pūkenga ki ngā whakahaere me ngā hapori i te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa me tua atu, hei tautoko i ngā wawata kua tautuhia ā-rohe, ā, kia tutuki ai te panoni toitū.
Volunteer Services Abroad (VSA) connects volunteers with organisations and communities in the Pacific and beyond to support locally identified aspirations and achieve sustainable change.
We are New Zealand's largest and most experienced volunteering agency working in international development, placing over 100 volunteers each year. For the last twenty years the VSA has been operating our Univol programme, a volunteering programme with assignments specifically designed with recent graduates in mind. Each assignment represents an amazing opportunity to develop your skills in enhancing and supporting capability and capacity uplift.
For all of our volunteers deployed in country, the VSA provides standard support package that includes international flights at start and end of assignment, in-country accommodation, living allowance to support basic living costs, comprehensive pre-departure preparation through a through recruitment and onboarding process, health and travel insurance as well as ongoing mentoring and support throughout the assignment.
As this assignment is a part of our Univol programme, it is one of eleven assignments we will be aiming to deploy to in early 2027. This assignment will be focussed on working across a youth programme seeking ways to support and enhance youth development in Santo, Vanuatu.
Our Partner and Assignment Summary:
For this assignment we have Youth Challenge Vanuatu (YCV) is a leading youth organisation in Vanuatu providing quality, inclusive training and leadership programs and services to youth since 2001. YCV assists marginalised youth to meet their life goals, reach their full potential, and assists communities to address development challenges, overall contributing to the economic and social development of Vanuatu.
YCV has a drop-in Youth Centre in Port Vila and a number of well-established programmes in place including Ready for Work – a practical programme for young people between 18- 35 years old to gain skills and experience to find employment as well as Ready for Business aimed at youth between 18 - 35 years old who wish to develop their own business idea or enterprise.
A UniVol volunteer on this assignment would be deployed in 2027 to help support the team with their programme and outreach development, in addition to this support with organisational and process design would also be something the volunteer on this assignment could be assisting with.
The skills a volunteer would bring with them would be utilised to help support the organisation, to develop further in areas the team in country have identified. By the end of the assignment the aim would be for the team at YCV to have improved and strengthened a number of their processes.
About Vanuatu:
Vanuatu is a volcanic archipelago of 86 islands, where traditional lifestyles exist alongside modern tourism. With over 100 different indigenous languages, Vanuatu has one of the highest language densities of anywhere in the world. The population is predominantly Melanesian, with strong cultural traditions and a largely Christian society. Vanuatu is also one of our longest standing programme countries, the VSA and our volunteers have had a presence in country going back as far as 1965.
In terms of the economy of Vanuatu it is built around the agricultural sector, with approximately 80% of the population working in this space. Key exports are copra, kava, and beef. In terms of location this assignment would largely be based in and around Luganville in Santo, one of the key population centres the VSA operates for all of our assignments including the Univol programme. The Vanuatu programme also has a Programme manager and Programme Coordinator based in country to support volunteers over the course of their assignment.
Skills we are seeking:
We believe that for a volunteer to succeed on this assignment they would need a number of key skills. First and foremost amazing organisational and planning skills, ideally in a youth development or community programme setting. Communication skills would also be key in both the ability to connect with who you are communicating with but also someone who can also pick up languages quickly, willingness to learn Bislama will be key to a volunteer having a positive experience on assignment. Success on this assignment will also rely heavily on a volunteers ability to work in a team and collaborate with others when working towards a common goal, proven experience working in a team setting either professionally or in a more academic setting would required to be considered for this assignment.
Application Instructions:
If this opportunity is of interest, please apply through the link below. If you have any questions about this assignment or the Univol programme as a whole you are more than welcome to check in with the Recruitment team via email at volunteer@vsa.org.nz.
Please note applications will be closing in early August 2026, so get any applications or queries in prior to that as the team will be assessing applications and queries as they arrive.
We are looking for a volunteer with:
- Leap into a new cultural experience volunteering in Vanuatu
- Become part of an international development programme built for graduates
- VSA covers costs associated with travel, accommodation and basic living costs
VSA covers flights, accommodation, insurance and some expenses. A living allowance is also provided.
Does volunteering with one of the largest and most experienced agency in international development interest you?