RECONCEPTUALISING VOLUNTEERING, CRISIS AND PRECARITY: THE EXPERIENCES OF REFUGEE YOUTH IN UGANDA DURING COVID-19

We are pleased to announce the publication of a new open access journal article in Social & Cultural Geography, led by Prof Sarah Mills and co-authored by Prof Matt Baillie Smith, Dr Bianca Fadel, and Dr Moses Okech. 

This new paper from the Refugee Youth Volunteering Uganda (RYVU) project provides a new perspective on the relationship between volunteering, crisis, and precarity, with a focus on the experiences of young refugee volunteers in Uganda during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Drawing on mixed-methods data, the paper reveals how the Covid-19 crisis exacerbated existing inequalities in access to volunteering and significantly impacted the livelihoods of young refugees. The findings emphasise the importance of recognising the often-overlooked economies of volunteering in the global South, particularly among young people.

Adopting a geographical lens, the paper highlights the importance of spatial and economic context in understanding volunteer engagement. It contributes to ongoing debates in geography and the social sciences by revealing the structural precarity embedded within refugee youth volunteering, and by calling for a more critical and context-sensitive approach to the study of voluntary labour.

Click here to read and download the full open access article.