Matching Highly Skilled Volunteers with Opportunities Abroad

Coordinated and administered by the Office of Volunteers for Prosperity at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), federal departments and agencies overseeing major U.S. development initiatives in countries abroad seek ways to expand and enhance volunteer service opportunities for international development activities. Volunteers for Prosperity helps to match doctors, nurses, teachers, engineers, economists, computer specialists, and others with U.S. organizations working on specific U.S. development initiatives such as:

• The President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief
• African Global Competitiveness Initiative
• Water for the Poor Initiative
• Digital Freedom Initiative
• Middle East Partnership Initiative
• Millennium Challenge Account
• President's Malaria Initiative

Examples include:

• A doctor in Pennsylvania who wants to volunteer for three months to help HIV/AIDS patients in Uganda can contact Volunteers for Prosperity and be matched with a medical organization that is working in Uganda and needs highly skilled volunteers.
• An information technology professional from Florida could spend two weeks in Peru training small businesses to use computer applications effectively.

A New Model of Private-Public Cooperation in Foreign Assistance

Volunteers for Prosperity supports a new model of private-public cooperation in foreign assistance. Organizations representing a wide range previously not involved in official foreign assistance - including smaller faith-based and community groups, trade associations, and corporations - are joining to help highly skilled American volunteers answer the President's call to service.

After completing tours of service in Volunteers for Prosperity, skilled Americans can qualify for public recognition of their contributions through the President's Volunteer Service Award.

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