Triumph, heartbreak and breakthroughs: Reflecting on 2019

As the year draws to a close, it's a time when many of us like to take stock and evaluate. We celebrate what we have to be thankful for, and look at what we can learn from those things that didn't go to plan.

For VSO, it was another year in which thousands of inspiring individuals took collective action as volunteers, reaching millions more with better education, health and livelihoods opportunities. But there were also several milestones which we'll remember when we look back at 2019.

1. Our biggest humanitarian response to date

Community volunteers who were recruited in the wake of Cyclone Idai

Cyclone Idai made landfall in Mozambique on 14 March 2019, bringing with it three months' worth of rain in just 24 hours. Homes, crops and classrooms were all lost to the floodwaters. Hundreds of people tragically lost their lives.

While no one could have predicted then the ferocity of the storm that would come, natural and climate-related disasters are becoming more common around the world. A year before Cyclone Idai hit, VSO began training its hundreds-strong network of community volunteers in resilience and disaster response.

Community volunteers in the field to conduct surveys after Cyclone Idai.

In photos: Grassroots recovery in Mozambique

The devastating effects of March’s cyclones linger on but it is community volunteers who are leading the march towards recovery and ongoing resilience.

This strong network of trained volunteers on the ground and ready to respond allowed VSO to deliver its biggest humanitarian response to date. More than 13,000 people received a month's worth of emergency food aid, along with items like soap. Community volunteers cleared debris, distributed mosquito nets and worked on improving hygiene to prevent the spread of disease.

Just as inspiring was the amazing generosity of everyday VSO supporters, who dug deep to give more than £130,000 to our emergency appeal, without which the response would not have been possible.

While nothing will bring back the family members, homes and possessions lost to Cyclone Idai, the aftermath reminded us of the generosity and ingenuity of the human spirit.

We also responded to many lesser-reported disasters.

While Cyclone Idai hit the headlines, there was less coverage of floods in Myanmar, Nepal and Sierra Leone, or of the drought in Pakistan that affected five million people. In each of these cases, VSO was on the ground and able to respond. In many cases, community volunteers provided vital support coordinating the distribution of lifesaving aid and information.

2. The climate crisis entered the public consciousness

Children and young people in Bangladesh march for action on climate change as part of the global Fridays for Future movement

2019 was the year that the issue of climate change had a major breakthrough with the global public. From 'climate strikes' in Dhaka, London and Manila, to a state of climate emergency being declared at the highest levels of government, a sense of urgency and anger about the lack of action on mitigating climate change and adapting to its impacts pervaded much of 2019.

Abdul Latif, pictured here standing outdoors, is a farmer working with VSO on the Growing Together project.

How we're prepping the world's poorest for climate change

People in developing countries are bearing the brunt of global climate change, but VSO is supporting communities to become more resilient to changes in their natural environment.

Much of the grassroots action has been led over the past year by the world's youth, with figureheads around the world calling for older generations to consider the world they will leave for younger people to inherit. VSO and ICS youth volunteers took action in countries as diverse as Bangladesh and Nigeria.

VSO recognises the urgent challenge posed by climate change, and the fact that the world's poorest and most marginalised are the most at risk. VSO programmes are helping people adapt and survive among changing conditions, and will continue to do so for years to come.

3. Global prize for innovation in education technology

Children in Malawi use education software designed by partner onebillion, which in 2019 was awarded the Global Learning XPRIZE

The award-winning tech that’s transforming education

The technology that powers one of VSO's biggest education projects has been awarded a multi-million dollar prize funded by Elon Musk. We find out more about the Unlocking Talent project and ask what answers technology could offer to solve what has been called the 'global education crisis'.

On May 15 2019, onebillion was announced as one of two grand prize winners in the $15M Global Learning XPRIZE.

Onebillion is a UK-based non-profit creating the revolutionary software that powers VSO’s Unlocking Talent education programme, with the goal of providing literacy and numeracy to at least one billion children around the world. Its CEO, Andrew Ashe, is a former VSO volunteer who was inspired by his time volunteering in Papua New Guinea.

Since the first pilot in Malawi, we have now reached over 90,000 learners across 110 learning centres in 14 districts in the country. There are plans to significantly increase reach by 2023, helping onebillion to move ever closer to its goal of one billion children, and VSO to its vision of a world without poverty.

We're looking forward to celebrating more successes in education in 2020. Over the past year, exciting new partnerships have been agreed to deliver large scale education impacts in Kenya, Mozambique and Myanmar.

4. Setting a global standard for volunteering

ICS youth volunteers in Kratie, Cambodia

At VSO, we live and breathe volunteering. We know that, applied responsibly, it can be an incredibly powerful tool to build fair, equitable and resilient communities.

Setting the standard: Leadership in responsible Volunteering for Development

Over a billion people across the world volunteer each year. Creating a new Global Standard for Volunteering for Development will help ensure that their work is as responsible, effective and impactful as it can be.

But the efforts of volunteers must be properly supported to make sure their hard work and energy is harnessed in the most positive and impactful way. That's why we were proud to play a leading role in launching the world's first 'Global Standard for Volunteering in Development' at the International Volunteer Cooperation Organisations’ Conference (IVCO) in Kigali, Rwanda in October 2019

Over a billion people across the world volunteer each year. The new Global Standard will help ensure that their work is as responsible, effective and impactful as it can be.