"There are often mistakes in our quality, but rarely quality in our mistakes" - with this statement, Martial Kouderin concludes his lecture on the internal organisational standards that the Beninese environmental organisation CREDI-ONG has set in recent years.
From 25 to 28 March 2019, the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) and the Beninese office for youth volunteer services, Office Béninois des Services de Volontariat des Jeunes (OBSVJ), hosted a workshop on quality management in voluntary service and youth exchange. According to a mapping by the OBSVJ, 144 civil society organisations offering youth exchanges or voluntary work were registered in Benin.
In order to develop a quality seal for this type of exchange, the workshop offered the opportunity to discuss different approaches to quality management.
In Ouidah, representatives of Beninese civil society organisations active in youth exchange and voluntary work met with the OBSVJ, Engagement Global, the GIZ and experts from quality associations and quality seals from Germany and Benin.
“The work does not end once quality standards have been specified, rather, that’s when it starts.” stressed Dr.Uta Wildfeuer from Germany with her lecture on the quality features of the working group of non-profit youth exchange (AJA).
Amand Vignon, Director of the Maison de la Socité Civile, explained the three stages of the Beninese quality seal for civil society organisations, and Susanna Hölscher of QUIFD presented the quality seal for German organisations in voluntary service.
Ibrahim Tchan from the Corps des Volontaires Béninois received much praise and support for his current project to create an online platform for volunteer placement. The examples and the exchange with the experts enabled the participants to jointly develop characteristics for good quality in voluntary service and youth exchange in Benin.
During the three-day workshop, a catalogue of criteria and indicators was compiled to serve as a basis for further work.
