On November 20, 2021, Fareena Feroze, Senior Manager, Global Engagement Office (GEO) was invited to a panel discussion for students hosted by Western University on “An Interactive Case Study on Ethical Global Volunteering.” She was joined on the panel by Maria Rodriguez Medina, Western Heads East​ Programme Coordinator, and Maricarmen Valdivieso, Founder and President of Nexos Comunitarios.
The discussion focused on ethical considerations while on international placements. It included sharing experiences of institutions that send students, as well as the host institution’s perspectives. The goal of the session was to showcase and discuss the complexities that come from placements in culturally diverse countries.

 

Fareena’s presentation discussed ethical dilemmas facing Global Mobility Programmes and the way in which AKU has addressed some of these dilemmas. She built on research AKU’s Global Engagement Office has worked on with Western and other academic consultants including a paper titled Building Ethical Global Engagement with Host Communities: North-South Collaborations for Mutual Learning and Benefit which was presented at the 2016 Global Internship Conference in Boston, Massachusetts. Taking this research into account, Fareena was able to dive right into the issue with participating students mainly:

• The importance of researching the culture, customs, and traditions of a country prior to arrival;
• Taking a solidarity approach as opposed to a charitable one;
• Being open minded, flexible, and considerate;
• Engaging in critical self-reflection to mitigate asymmetrical power relations;
• Focus on building strong, mutual, reciprocal relationships and;
• Thinking globally while acting locally.

She highlighted AKU’s holistic approach to its mobility programmes using a partnership-based framework, which considers the interests, goals, and priorities of the student, the programme, the sending institution, and most importantly, the host partner. AKU’s Global Mobility Programmes have been implemented in close collaboration with our academic partners in various parts of the world and AKU/AKDN is perfectly placed to provide access to learning opportunities in the developing world in a structured and formal manner.
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