Matt Baillie Smith is Professor of Global Development and Dean of Research Culture at Northumbria University. His research focuses on the relationships between civil society, citizenship and development, with a particular focus on voluntary labour in humanitarian and development contexts. Recent work has addressed the role of volunteering in skills development and employability amongst young refugees in Uganda and the role of voluntary labour in climate adaptation in the Indian Sundarbans. He is also co-leading the development of the 2026 State of the World’s Volunteerism Report.
Posts
International volunteering in development: why it isn’t voluntourism and why this matters
The issues raised in a recent BOND blog are important and its recommendations sound. But not all international volunteering is voluntourism – and failing to recognise this risks a valuable aspect of development work.