Maailmanvaihto is a religiously and politically non-aligned non-governmental organization whose core values are global responsibility, intercultural learning, and equality.
Participation in international volunteer programs, international youth work, and youth organization activities promotes young adults’ awareness and agency in development, equality, and environmental issues, as well as their active role in society.
Long-term volunteer programs provide young adults with an intercultural learning experience that supports personal growth and development and offers new perspectives. Intercultural learning promotes cross-cultural cooperation and equality and supports questioning and dismantling prejudices and stereotypes.
Equality is promoted in all of Maailmanvaihto’s activities. Our work encourages cooperation between people from different backgrounds and dismantles discriminatory thinking and structures. Our activities are inclusive and aim to be accessible to as wide a range of groups as possible, regardless of any reasons related to their person.
For a more equal world through intercultural learning
In our work, we take participants’ individual needs into account and provide personalized support. We enable people from diverse backgrounds and life situations to participate in Maailmanvaihto’s activities.
The high quality of Maailmanvaihto’s activities and the organization’s expertise as an organizer of international volunteer work are based on long-standing experience and long-term cooperation networks. Monitoring the quality and ethical standards of our activities is an ongoing part of our work. Quality and ethics are monitored, among other things, through regular feedback collected from stakeholders.
Open communication and transparency in decision-making increase the reliability and quality of our activities.
At Maailmanvaihto, it is important to us that our activities are ethical from the perspectives of volunteers, host organizations, and the target groups of volunteer work. Maailmanvaihto has been an initiator in developing the ethical guidelines of the ICYE network. Ethical issues are a central part of volunteer training and communications.
We invest in the quality of our programs through, for example, quality descriptions and cooperation on academic theses. We implement the principles of equality in our activities in accordance with our Equality Plan (2024). We increase participants’ environmental awareness and strive to minimize our own environmental impact.
Safer space guidelines are followed in Maailmanvaihto’s activities and events to support an environment where everyone can feel welcome as themselves. The goal is for every participant to take responsibility for creating a safer atmosphere.
An electronic reporting form is available for reporting harassment, unequal treatment, racism, or other inappropriate behavior in Maailmanvaihto’s activities.
