“Peers to Peace: Peer learning and Peer support for Capacity Building in international volunteer work” was a worldwide project that involved 25 different partners in 24 countries from Asia, Africa, Australia, and Europe. The key focus of the project was the peer approach. Through peer-learning and peer-supporting in the following areas of expertise: knowledge management, volunteer management, project management and fundraising the capacity of project partners was improved. This applied on small scale in the single events and on a large scale with upgrading the online tool for peer-support. This tool facilitates an easier access to resources and (exchange of) information and further stimulates possibilities for innovation and capacity building of project partners and International Voluntary Service movement as a whole. The project spanned over 21 months and included 3 main mobility events: a Peer university on volunteer and knowledge management in May 2017 in Poland, a Learning seminar on knowledge management and fundraising in July 2017 in Malaysia, and Training on project management in March 2018 in Greece. Besides these mobility activities, 3 capacity building events were organized as part of the project: 1) a steering team meeting in January 2017 in Germany, 2) a crucial Technical Meeting in November 2017 in the UK, as well as 3) an Evaluation meeting combined with a final event in June 2018 in Belgium. Moreover, exchange of EVS volunteers took place between Europe and Asia (3 volunteers from Asia hosted in Belgium and Greece; and 1 European volunteer hosted in Malaysia), promoting transnational non-formal learning mobility and supporting an exchange of experiences between Program and Partner Countries. The main target group of the project were youth leaders, youth workers, volunteers and activists, for a total of more than 100 people directly involved, who acted as multipliers within their sending organizations and contributed to the setting up and implementation of the peer learning system thanks to their experience. Participants came from a great variety of countries and this increased the intercultural dimension of the project and its impact, guaranteeing a real exchange and strengthening the networking capacities of the organizations. Projects results were shared among partners and within the networks they belong to. These included: 1) SCI-Moving Forward - a handbook for volunteers and staff members in SCI and partner organizations focusing on increasing the understanding of how SCI works internationally intended to support greater participation and knowledge transfer among International Volunteering Service organizations, including important chapters on finances, knowledge management and volunteering within SCI; and 2) innovative online peer- learning platform that has been newly integrated in SCI’s Members Area allowing for direct exchange of knowledge and experience among SCI members. The participation of other major IVSO networks, such as Coordinating Committee for International Voluntary Service (CCIVS), Network for Voluntary Development in Asia (NVDA), and Voluntary Workcamps Association in Nigeria (VWAN, central NGO in Africa) enriched the project with diverse inputs on volunteering and youth work in their context.

STEP to Change is a project which aims at starting an empowerment process for International Voluntary Service (IVS) organisations, bringing competences on organisational management, impact measurement and improvement, and by allowing to make a first global diagnosis of the existing needs and capacities of IVS members and regions worldwide.The proposal follows the mission of the CCIVS which is, among other functions, to empower its members and IVS orgs so that they will have better capacity to reach their goals and achieve their vision as ngo's and as a movement. The General Assembly of the CCIVS 2014 in Korea approved a plan for the CCIVS to implement an Empowerment & Monitoring system which should allow to assess the needs of IVS ngo's, provide them with support, trainings and synergies, which may turn weaknesses into strengths and opportunities.This project aims at being the start for the implementation of such a system within the CCIVS. It will also allow to complete a global Impact research on IVS.The general process, priorities and baselines will be arranged by a Steering Team (ST), which will be formed by representatives of 4 IVS networks and a team of 4 experts, in the seminar Setting the Path (France, March'17). There, experts will finetune and develop the tools, and implement a peer-training, to ensure a highlevel of quality for the next phases.The central events of this project will be the regional STEPs (Strategic Trainings for Empowerment Processes), which will happen one in each region(Africa, America, Asia, Europe), led by the team of experts. Each of these STEPs will consist on a first international training on organisational management and impact measurement, for partners in the region,which will allow also to complete a needs-assessment of the participating ngo's. The training will be followed by a field itinerary, which will lead experts to visit each of the countries of the participating ngo's, to lead training, impact measurement of IVS projects and field visits.Outcomes of the STEPs will be global/regional needs-assessment and impact measurement of ngo's in 20 countries, worldwide, and trained professionals.All these materials will be processed by the team of experts, with the help of the ST, to create a first global diagnosis of needs in the movement, and a global report of the impact of IVS.The final seminar Build the Common Path (Hungary, May'18), will have two main goals: first, to process, discuss and valorise the results of the global research-training; second, to build common strategies to set up the long term Monitoring and Empowerment programme of the CCIVS, including fundraising and sustainability strategies adapted to each region and donor.STEP to Change will leave empowered multipliers in 4 continents, trained professionals, a global report on Impact of IVS and a first global diagnosis of the IVS movement, basis for a common strategy for a long-term Empowerment & Monitoring programme for the movement.