Service Volontaire International (SVI) is a Belgian non-profit association. We do one thing: connect people who want to give their time with organisations that host volunteers, and make sure neither side is left on its own once the placement starts.
What we do
We are not a travel agency and we do not sell trips. We maintain a catalogue of host projects, check the organisations that publish them, and follow each volunteer file from the application to the return.
- Publish and keep up to date the projects of our partner organisations, with their real conditions: dates, minimum age, languages, tasks and what the host provides.
- Review each application, forward it to the host organisation and follow the exchange until the placement is confirmed or declined.
- Stay reachable during the placement, and mediate with the host organisation when reality does not match what was announced.
Where we come from
SVI belongs to the long tradition of international volunteer exchange: associations in different countries host each other volunteers, on the principle that a placement is an exchange and not a service bought from a provider. Our catalogue grew project by project, through partnerships built over the years with local organisations that host volunteers themselves.
Our network of partners
Every project published here belongs to a host organisation, not to SVI. That is deliberate: the people who welcome you are the ones who know the ground, the language and the needs of the community.
- Host organisations remain responsible for the content of the placement: tasks, supervision on site, accommodation and meals when they are provided.
- SVI is responsible for the relationship: checking the project sheet, handling your application, and intervening if the placement does not go as announced.
- Some partners also run group projects and workcamps, which can be joined with a group leader.
What we hold to
These are not slogans but working rules: they decide which projects we publish and which we refuse.
- Usefulness before experience: a placement must answer a need expressed by the host community, never create one for the visitor.
- No volunteering that replaces paid local work, and no project involving direct, unsupervised contact with vulnerable children.
- Transparency on conditions: what is included, what is at your expense and what is expected of you is written on the project page before you apply.
- Accessibility: the catalogue is free to browse without an account, and the conditions of each project are public.
Who to talk to
The association runs with a small permanent team and volunteers, several of whom went on a placement themselves. There is no call centre: the person who answers your message is the person who follows your file. That is also why we ask you to check the FAQ first, so that our replies go to the questions it does not cover.
In short
Four things worth knowing before you apply
What the association does, and what it does not.
Projects on every continent
Short workcamps, long-term placements and permanent projects, hosted by partner organisations in Europe, Africa, Asia and the Americas.
A contact, not a booking form
The association follows your file, answers your questions and steps in with the host organisation if something goes wrong during the placement.
Open to everyone
No diploma and no previous experience required. Each project page states its own conditions: minimum age, languages, skills and dates.
A non-profit by statute
SVI is a Belgian non-profit association. Membership and fees pay for the placement work and the support, not for shareholders.
Have a look at the projects
Browsing the catalogue is free and needs no account. You create one when you decide to apply.