Derek Evans, CUSO-VSO's E.D.
Derek Evans is available to speak to the media about:
international volunteering
Canada's role in the developing world
how foreign aid can work
human rights & conflict resolution
the importance of civil society
If you would like to speak to our Executive Director or a media spokesperson about CUSO-VSO, our work overseas, our global awareness programs in North America, or about a particular development issue, please contact:
Sean Kelly, Head of CUSO-VSO Communications & Media
Email: media@cuso-vso.org
Tel: (902) 850-2510 (Nova Scotia) | Cell: (902) 293-7790
About CUSO-VSO's Executive Director
Derek Evans comes to CUSO-VSO with an extensive background in both senior management and governance in the NGO sector, nationally and internationally. His primary background is in education and human rights. He served through the 1990s as Deputy Secretary General of Amnesty International, and has led more than 70 international delegations in all world regions, primarily dealing with human rights and conflict resolution. From 2000 to 2005 he was Executive Director of the Naramata Centre for Continuing Education, one of Canada’s foremost experiential learning institutes.
In 2005 Evans was appointed an Associate of the Centre for Dialogue at Simon Fraser University, and established an independent professional consultancy, Evans & Associates, providing training, resources and leadership in human rights, conflict transformation, and strategic development. Projects were carried out in some 25 countries, and included policy development and strategic planning for UN agencies, strategic evaluation of major international human rights NGOs, and capacity building with educational and indigenous people’s organizations.
In 2010, Derek chaired a summit that is being recognized as an historic moment. Leaders from all of the world’s major religious traditions have agreed to help eradicate AIDS. He is also the author or co-author of some 14 books on human rights and international development.
In May 2010, Derek will recieve an honorary Doctorate from the Vancouver School of Theology, which is connected to the University of British Columbia. The citation recognizes his work in human rights and inter-faith dialogue.
A message from Derek Evans
The images flicker out from the nightly news: footage of famine and war, shots of disaster and sorrow. The stories we usually see about the developing world can make you reach for the remote. But each year thousands of North American volunteers turn off the TV and go see for themselves. What they see isn’t a reality show, it’s reality. It’s a more complex, sad yet hopeful picture than you could ever appreciate from a 30-second clip. These volunteers are witnessing firsthand the news that doesn’t make it to air. And while this may come as a surprise, sometimes the news is good.
There is a lot of criticism about foreign aid these days. And admittedly, there are far too many examples of failed development assistance. Zambian economist Dambisa Moyo’s book Dead Aid is just the latest to cause waves in global waters.
To say that foreign aid can be bad is not controversial. But to say that all aid is harmful risks throwing the baby out with the bathwater, along with malarial drugs, microcredit projects, schooling for girls, and sustainable farming techniques.
Volunteer-cooperation agencies such as CUSO-VSO know firsthand that in every corner of the developing world, committed citizens with few resources are facing down extreme poverty and striving to build better futures. And in many communities, volunteers are working shoulder-to-shoulder with these people to make positive change happen.
Volunteers like Bob Sutton, who served in Honduras as a natural resource management advisor with the Atlántida Model Forest. He helped community stakeholders develop a common plan for environmental conservation and sustainable jobs.
Volunteers like Darlene Gage, who worked with the Rwenzori Forum for Peace and Justice in Fort Portal, Uganda. She helped train, support and empower village elders to use modern methods like mediation to reclaim their role in society as wise counsellors.
Volunteers like Richelle Matthews, who collaborated with the Kenyan Association for the Intellectually Handicapped (KAIH). She helped parents identify problems, get the support they need, and join forces to more effectively advocate for their children.
And volunteers like Jasminder Virdee, who was posted in Mongolia with the local NGO Green Spot, which provides training for women and helps them get involved in community development. She helped improve volunteer management and organizational capacity.
These are just four of the more than 15,000 volunteers who have served abroad with CUSO-VSO since 1961. Today, around 200 people are posted through us to Africa, Asia, the Pacific, Latin America and the Caribbean.
What all volunteers have in common is the belief that each person can make positive change, and the commitment to make that belief a reality.
At one time, the majority of international volunteers were youth and recent college graduates. The original impetus for many volunteer-sending agencies was the notion of filling the skills gap in newly emerging societies. As countries in the developing world gained their political independence, they needed to build up their infrastructure, especially in health and education. International volunteers were a valuable resource in those early years.
Over time, the needs of Southern communities changed. While developing countries no longer need or want great numbers of general volunteers from places like Canada or the United States, there is still demand for specialized technical and professional skills, and for international collaboration on global issues. These days most of the people who donate their time are experienced professionals.
Volunteers help build the social infrastructure – the individual skills and institutional capacity – that is so critical to a nation’s future.
And since our volunteers work on programs designed in the developing world – not projects parachuted in from outside a nation’s borders – the benefits of their work continue to be felt by local people long after the volunteers have passed on their expertise and returned home.
Service overseas is a chance to use individual skills to make a contribution to fighting poverty. Working alongside women and men in developing communities, volunteers see first-hand the kind of impact that international service can have in improving people’s lives.
Volunteers also return to their own country with invaluable professional experience, a wealth of memories, and a broader perspective on the world. They develop international and cross-cultural understanding essential for success in a globalized world. Once back home, these returned volunteers are often very active in their communities; research has found that they volunteer significantly more than the average Canadian.
From decades of experience, we know that volunteers contribute to poverty reduction. This may be a shocking truth, but sometimes development assistance does indeed work.
And that’s some good news worth watching.
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