Expectations & Realities of International Development Volunteering: Cosmopolitan Development: The Impacts of International Volunteering Project Findings Part 1

The research sought to capture the distinctive contributions of international development volunteerism (IDV) to development assistance and people-to-people links. It asked: 1. How does IDV enable the building of development partnerships? 2. To what extent does IDV produce or consolidate cosmopolitan orientations in volunteers and host organisations? This report presents a preliminary analysis of data collected in two surveys of volunteers – one conducted a week or so before the volunteers’ departure from Australia, and the other conducted within 6 months of their return to Australia. The response rate for the Pre-Placement Survey was 66 percent while the response rate for the Returned Volunteer Survey was an estimated 20%. Comparisons between the surveys should therefore be drawn with caution.