Whats my job in Vanuatu?

What am I doing in Vanuatu?

I am assigned a Support Officer Australian Volunteer with the AVP and my task is to add capacity to the host organisation. I work with the national disability advocacy organisation, assigned fr a year or so in 2019. Vanuatu Disability Advocacy Association represents the rights and interests of all people with disability. My role is to support the organisation by building a solid governance, finance and project management system and advising day to day on the events, workshop and conferences we are engaged in.

What is Capacity Development?

Building and strengthening people and systems so that when I leave they continue functioning at higher capacity than before.

How is it going?

It’s slower than you would first expect. Arriving here from Australia you have a fast paced, task focused cultural framework and that has to be modified to fit the slower more relationship based culture of Vanuatu.

Vanuatu has its own desired rate of development, and its own priorities of stability, sustainability and prosperity. These are laid out clearly in "The People’s Plan: 2030", a development plan that embraces relevant SDGs. So I am learning too what is important here in this Pacific nation context. My base is the island of Espiritu Santo, away from the busy hub of Port Vila.

This blog Further North will record the professional learnings and experience of my time it Vanuatu. It’s not all work though, so my Facebook and Instagram posts will show some of the community life experiences we find along this journey.

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