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MayDay #FirstWeds: Workers Solidarity in International Supply Chains Wed 5th May Livestream 7pm Covid 19 has brought the issue of international supply chains to the fore. Given an increasing move to online purchasing in clothes, FirstWeds wanted to look at what this means for workers in garment manufacturing. Exploitation, sweatshops, and dangerous working conditions in […]

On Nicaragua’s Transformation In late 1979 Valerie Roche was invited to go to Nicaragua to work in the Ministry of Planning as an information advisor. For the following 4 years she worked enthusiastically alongside many dedicated people in a variety of projects aimed to bring about positive changes in Nicaraguan society. Here are some of […]

Job Vacancy: Volunteer Engagement Project Officer Job Title:         Volunteer Engagement Project Officer (VEPO)Reports to:     Programme ManagerLocation:        12 Parliament Street, Dublin 2   Comhlámh is the Irish Association of Development Workers and Volunteers. Our mission is to nurture, guide and mobilise development workers and volunteers to work for social justice locally and globally. Comhlámh is committed […]

The True Cost of Fashion – Who’s Paying for It? The Comhlámh Trade Justice group Thursday 22nd April 2021 from 3pm – 4.30pm The global fashion industry is polluting our environment, exploiting workers while making millions for big brands.  Is there a better way to make our clothes? The Comhlámh Trade Justice group are excited […]

Education, Emancipation and Social Change What role does education play in social change? What links learning and emancipation? In this month FirstWeds we are bringing together a diverse panel involved in community, adult and development education to explore different approaches and practice in learning for a better world. They will help us unpack some of […]

Focus Podcast: Women On The March Following the successful referendum to remove the 8th amendment from the Irish constitution, Ireland has become a beacon of hope for women in other parts of the work where abortions are prohibited or allowed in very specific cases, which means that women are too often forced to risk their […]

CETA Trade Deal Requires Scrutiny – Irish Times Letter Published on Saturday 8th March Sir, – I would like to respond to the issues raised by David O’Sullivan concerning non-ratification of the Canada-EU trade agreement (Ceta) in his piece “Causing EU crisis over Canada trade deal would be mistake for Ireland” (Opinion & Analysis, March […]

Solidarity in Action Course Comhlámh, in partnership with UCDVO, is delighted to announce the launch of Solidarity in Action, a new educational offering for 2021. Running from March to June 2021, Solidarity in Action is an extended learning journey open to past participants of Be the Change and Skills in Development Education courses and UCDVO’s […]

Irish Coalition calls for government action on WHO waiver to address COVID-19 vaccine inequality Comhlámh and member group Access to Medicines Ireland have joined call’s for urgent support for the Covid-19 emergency waiver of World Trade Organisation rules so more vaccines and treatment can urgently be produced, in an open letter to Taoiseach Micheál Martin. […]

Just Health: Challenges and Hope for Real Solidarity One Year into a Global Pandemic #FirstWeds 3rd March 7pm “There is almost no area of our lives, our communities or societies that has not been impacted by COVID-19. Similarly, there is no area that has not been untouched by the measures introduced by the authorities to […]

CETA ICS Comhlamh Factcheck This briefing note has been developed by the Comhlámh Trade Justice group. It addresses some of the assertions and misunderstandings there are about the decision facing Ireland on the ratification of the EU-Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, CETA. Download the Factchecker here Help #StopCeta and share our Factcheck Or read […]

We believe that this is anti-democratic. At this urgent juncture of multiple overlapping crises, ISDS erodes our democracies and the power held by ordinary people in favour of multinational corporations.

Comhlamh began the dissemination of the initial research results of the Working For a Better World (W4BW) – Sustaining Civic Response Project this week. W4BW is a 2.5 year, EU-funded consortium of organisations in Ireland, Italy, Greece and Spain which is focused on the psycho-social resourcing of staff and volunteers working with refugee and asylum-seeking […]

Irish Government to push through CETA trade deal Comhlámh is concerned that the government is moving to ratify the EU Canada Trade Deal known as CETA. The Comhlámh Trade Justice Group has highlighted the devastatingly negative impact that Investor State Dispute Settlement provisions will have on the formation of public policy. ISDS is a mechanism […]

Premiere: Social justice in a time of global pandemic The Wednesday 9th December at 7pm we will premiere a conversation between Chiamaka Enyi-Amadi, Amel Yacef and Caoimhe Butterly, hosted by Sive Bresnihan. Through the lens of the Covid-19 pandemic, the the conversation pulls on different threads including Black Lives Matter, #endSARS and the tens of […]

Join us to mark International Volunteer Day whose theme this year is ‘Together we can through volunteering’.

Health and Wealth Solidarity and justice indeveloping and deliveringvaccines for COVID19   The race for a vaccine for COVID19 is a regular feature of the airways and newsprint since the outbreak of the pandemic in February and March this year. But what  will happen after an effective vaccine is developed – do these headlines inform […]

Access to Medicines Ireland Calls on Government to Halt ‘Vaccine Nationalism’ C-TAP Initiative for Global Equitable Access to Covid-19 Healthcare supported by President Higgins and Leading Irish Health Experts The Access to Medicines Ireland (AMI) campaign group calls for the Irish government to take immediate action to support the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) ‘Solidarity Call […]

Comhlámh joins call for urgent practical solidarity with people on Lesbos. Comhlámh have co-signed an open letter calling for immediate action from the Irish government following the fire in Moria, Lesbos which has left over 13,000 people destitute. If Ireland seeks to live up to the platform of promoting human right and being a voice […]

Conversations with volunteers.  Eoin Ryan  In 2018, Eoin Ryan came to the Irish Aid Volunteering Fair at Dublin Castle and spoke to Comhlámh about his international volunteering options.  Below he reflects on his placement in Zambia, and gives advice to other people thinking about international volunteering options (online and onsite) Taking shelter from the sun after planting soya […]

Comhlámh’s Justice for Palestine presents ‘Why BDS?’ Livestream Monday 28th Sept 7pm YouTube Comhlámh’s Justice for Palestine member group presents this free online event to discuss the international movement of Boycott, Divestment and Sanction (BDS). BDS will be discussed by three well-respected speakers: Fatin al Tamimi, Richard Falk and Omar Barghouti. BDS has been described […]

“Stories From Home” Culture Night 2020 with Comhlámh and Ireland Says Welcome Comhlámh and the Ireland Says Welcome group are delighted to be hosting our annual multi-cultural Culture Night. For our 2020 event we will be moving online so please join us virtually for an evening of “Stories from Home” with stories and pieces written […]

Is Free Speech Racist October FirstWeds: In Conversation With Gavan Titley. We all know what free speech means. Or at least that’s the way the term ‘free speech’ gets bandied about. But is there more to unpack about meanings and intentions of the term. Who gets to decide? Who is excluded? And why has racism […]

Online, virtual and remote debriefing.  Comhlámh’s information and support officer, Ruth Powell, reflects on delivering online, virtual and remote debriefings during a pandemic.  I didn’t want to do online debriefings at first.    I didn’t think I could do them and I worried they wouldn’t work; but on the 12 March 2020 Covid–19 changed the way we live and work indefinitely in Ireland, and doing debriefings online, virtually […]

Project Officer, Capacity Building & Volunteering Quality (Career Break cover – 13 months) Job Title:         Capacity Building & Volunteering Quality Project OfficerReports to:     Programme ManagerLocation:        12 Parliament Street, Dublin 2 Comhlámh is the Irish Association of Development Workers and Volunteers. Our mission is to nurture, guide and mobilise development workers and volunteers to work for […]

Comhlámh joins the “Stop Hate for Profit” campaign against Facebook. Comhlámh also calls for other organisations to suspend paying advertising revenue until tech giant takes substantive action. While Facebook likes to promote itself as bringing people together, mounting evidence shows its products are having the opposite effect across the globe. Comhlámh has halted all advertising on […]

‘Stop Filming Us’ screening and discussion – July #FirstWeds Wednesday 1st July from 7pm Watch ‘Stop Filming Us’ Here at 7pm Join the live post screening panel here at 8pm The Black Lives Matter movement has lit a fire under international conversations about the nature of our societies, including questions about the under-representation and indeed […]

Virtual, online and remote volunteering for international development On 20 May Comhlámh attended a webinar on remote volunteering, hosted by FORUM which is the global network of organisations involved in international volunteering for development.  There were a number of presentations from a variety of the FORUM organisations, namely; Cuso International Canada, the UNV Online programme, […]

#FirstWeds Migrant Voices Across Europe Make sure and subscribe to Comhlámh’s YouTube channel by clicking here to ensure you dont get notified about our live feed videos Streaming from 7pm Wed 3rd June, we will be in conversation with people self organising as migrants and looking at what solidarity work is happening and how it […]

Children in orphanages at specific risk of Covid-19 Comhlámh and the Orphanage Working Group: Supporting the Global Movement to Keep Children Safe Children in orphanages at specific risk of Covid-19 An estimated 8 million children currently live in orphanages worldwide.1 They are at specific risk of Covid-19, both in terms of infection and the socioeconomic […]

Conversations with Volunteers and Development Workers Áine Lynch left Comhlámh in mid 2019 to take up a role as project coordinator with Médecins Sans Frontières.  This is her second deployment with MSF and we caught up with her over email, to ask her a few questions about her role in Pakistan during Covid-19.  Áine Lynch, […]

#FirstWeds Green New Deal, Just Transition and COVID-19 Watch below with Dr Lorna Gold, Dr Conor Mc Cabe & Sean Mc Cabe Wednesday 6th May, 7pm. Can be played above. Press play now to set a reminder 7pm Live streaming from Comhlámh YouTube Channel Subscribe to our channel here to get a reminder and notification […]

The Art of Listening In the first of two pieces reflecting on her time working with Comhlámh Hannah R a student from Maynooth University’s Youth and Community Work Programme, writes about the art of listening. Since the beginning of your time, you were listening, hearing. Hearing the murmurs of your mother’s voice through the thin […]

In times where we see a rise of nationalism and isolationism in many places, it is important to redouble our commitment and efforts around principles of international solidarity and cooperation. The idea and practices of the WHO are an integral part of those principles and play an invaluable role in helping peoples of the world face the shared multiple challenges ahead of us.”

My human library book experience with Comhlámh I had never heard of a ‘human library’ book and when the opportunity came to speak about my recent volunteering experience in this experimental event, I jumped at the chance! I volunteered as a human library book at International Volunteer Day and this was a very enjoyable and […]

Virtual #Volops Since the launch of VolOps at the Irish Aid Volunteering Fair in 2014, we have used the social media platforms of Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn to post updates about international volunteering opportunities from the volunteer sending agencies in the Comhlámh code of good practice.  We also post updates from International Non-Government Organisations (INGOs) […]

Press Release: Defending the Public Interest in Vaccine and Medical Development Access to Medicines Ireland are hosting a Web Conference here on Tuesday, 7th April, from 10am to 1pm, entitled: “Defending the Public Interest in Vaccine and Medical Development,” specifically focused on COVID-19. Leading international experts will explore how best to support research that ensures effective vaccines and medicines are developed rapidly […]

Access to Medicines Ireland – LIVE Web Conference 10.00 am to 1.00 pm 7 April 2020    Available on ZOOM via the link: https://zoom.us/j/996912898 Adapting to Covid-19:  Defending the Public Interest in Vaccine and Medical Development COVID-19 has shone a light on a fatal weakness in our health system: the profit-driven pharmaceutical innovation model that we rely upon […]

International volunteering has played a key role in working to address social injustice and building resilience in the face of multiple local and global challenges. We are now facing an unprecedented global challenge which requires true solidarity to make decisions in the best interests of all, but particularly for those who are most vulnerable. Many […]

Comhlámh call for immediate action to end Direct Provision People that seek state protection in Ireland under international law should not have to live in circumstances that contradict the government’s own health advice to people. Cramped overcrowding within direct provision is a long-standing and well-publicised issue that remains a source of day-to-day indignity for individuals […]

Comhlámh condemns attacks on humanitarian workers in Greece; offers practical support in Ireland Comhlámh condemns the recent spike in attacks on humanitarian workers in Greece.  We have witnessed volunteers attacked in their cars, solidarity support projects burned to the ground and organised intimidation of people assisting those arriving in Greece.  This includes volunteers who are, […]

“Protect our laws and humanity!” – Open Letter by 152 Organisations about the situation in Greece. Comhlamh co-signs the following. To: Prime Minister of the Hellenic Republic, Kyriakos Mitsotakis President of the European Parliament, David Sassoli President of the European Council, Charles Michel President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen Athens, 6 March […]

Young People Developing Collective Actions The project focuses in particular on young migrants and international volunteers, drawing on their experiences of living in other cultures. At the end of February, we had the privilege of heading to Palermo, Sicily, to collaborate with more than 30 trainers and facilitators from around the world.  As part of […]

Coronavirus (COVID-19) and International Volunteering Preparing for the almost inevitable global spread of this virus, now dubbed COVID-19, is one of the most pro-social, altruistic things you can do in response to potential disruptions of this kind. We should prepare, not because we may feel personally at risk, but so that we can help lessen […]

Fifteen Children Killed in Haiti Orphanage Fire Comhlamh and its Orphanage Working Group were shocked and extremely saddened at the deaths of 15 children killed in a fire at an unlicensed orphanage in Port Au Prince, Haiti.  Living conditions at the orphanage, operated by a US based Christian Group, were described as ‘truly, truly neglected’.  The […]

“Reconciliation is dead”: Wet’suwet’en peoples respond to Canadian military backing of pipelines As a wave of solidarity actions crossed Canada, James O Neill, has written this piece. James was a long term resident of Sinixt territory, British Columbia who recently returned to Ireland while remaining in contact with pipeline struggles “A huge militarised police raid […]

Comhlámh’s 2020 Outreach Programme Comhlámh’s 2020 Outreach Programme began on 16 January at the Volunteer Fair in NUI Galway.  Comhlámh was one of 30 organisations showcasing their work to students, staff and lecturers in the James Hardiman Library, in Galway.  It was a rainy day outside, but that didn’t prevent warm interactions between the participating […]

Dympna Meaney Women’s Leadership Development Fund: 2020 Bursaries Each year the Dympna Meaney Women’s Leadership Development Fund* awards skills building bursaries to human rights activists in the global south. We are passionate about supporting grass roots women working to combat gender based violence among migrant, displaced or refugee populations. Since 2015 we’ve helped more than […]

Caoimhe Butterly

Focus Podcast: Visiting Achill Island, global health and growing inequality Focus headed to Achill island for the the second International Health and Development Training for Healthcare Workers. Organised for people interested in volunteering or working in healthcare in less developed countries, this two day residential workshop of the west coast of Ireland looks at the […]

Fracking, Neocolonialism and International Resistance Fracking gas has been banned in Ireland. So why is the government driving through plans to build a fracked gas refinery plant in Shannon?  What does this mean for communities still fighting to defeat fracking in their communities and country?  And what does that international resistance look like? These are […]

Comhlámh Drivetime interview calls for an end to volunteering in orphanages

Focus Podcast: The Cambodia-Ireland Changemaker Network Focus dropped into Donabate-Portrane Educate Together National School (DPETNS) and PEPY  Empowering Youth during an exchange visit to speak about the work of the  Cambodia Ireland Changemaker Network. The network  has developed from 2013, when four young Irish teachers from Dublin travelled to Cambodia seeking to establish an educational […]

Live recording of

Focus Podcast: Rethinking the divide between International and Community Development Focus has a chat with Dr Eilish Dillon, exploring some of the ideas, assumptions and practices underpinning much of the work of the international development sector in Ireland and elsewhere. We explore the problematic and artificial divide between community and international development that has evolved […]

Comhlámh shortlisted for a Good Governance Award We are delighted to be nominated for a Good Governance Award connected for our 2019 Annual Report. Our strategic plan 2018-2021 laid out our values and one of these was Legitimacy: “At a time of great questioning of the legitimacy and credibility of not-for-profit organisations, we re-commit ourselves […]

Extinction Rebellion, Civil Disobedience & Social Change Subscribe To Focus Podcast: Android | RSS ¦ Apple Podcast Show Info: “Civil Disobedience and Social Change” took place in the Teacher Club in Dublin a few weeks ago.  While the discussion looks at civil disobedience in the general sense, a lot of the conversation revolved around challenging preconceptions of the term as […]

Focus Podcast: Ending Volunteering in Orphanages It is estimated that around 80% of children and young people living in orphanages and other institutional settings, have at least one parent alive.  It is known now that institutional living is really damaging for children and young people.  They are more vulnerable to abuse and very often forced […]

Heineken in Africa: Our November First Weds We are delighted to have investigative journalist Olivier van Beemen to speak about his book “Heineken in Africa” for our November #FirstWeds Where: Teachers Club, 12 Parnell Square West When: 6th Nov. 7-8.30pm Facebook event here. For Heineken, ‘rising Africa’ is already a reality: the profits it extracts […]

Dates: Thursday 7th, 14th, 21st, and 28th November 2019 ‘This course is well organised and presented. I loved the opportunity to contribute and to hear others’ Are you thinking about volunteering internationally? Are you unsure about where to start? Are you wondering about whether it is a good thing to do? Or maybe you are […]

Our new online course on ethical communication is almost here! Thinking about or preparing to volunteer internationally? Interested in reading (and communicating) our increasingly image and news saturated world more skilfully? We’re delighted to say that our new E-TICK e-learning platform on ethical communication is almost here! A collaborative effort between Društvo Humanitas (Slovenia), Zavod […]

Psychosocial resilience: sustainable activism and building resilience In May, I took part in a 10-day training up the Pyrenees Mountains in Catalonia. The training was called ‘Regenerative Activism.’ A new partner of Comhlámh called Ulex ran it. Ulex is the Latin for gorse. A thorny evergreen shrub that is extremely adaptive and resilient. It cannot […]

FirstWeds: Civil Disobedience and Social Change In a society and world of overlapping crisis, ecological and political, what role does civil disobedience have to play? With increasing numbers of people feeling that formal politics is exacerbating growing inequality and injustice, can civil disobedience be harnessed as collective action? We are kicking off a new season […]

Comhlámh’s Access to Medicines: Corbyns proposals “major moment in a wave of reform” Comhlámh member group ‘Access To Medicines’ have welcomed proposals set out by the UK Labour party leader Jeremy Corbyn.  At the annual party conference Corbyn launched Labour’s plans to “public health before private profit” aiming to challenge rampant profiteering and inequality around […]

Focus Podcast: Ethical Living and Social Change If you want to keep up to date with Focus podcasts, be sure and subscribe via you favourite podcast app. Please share and like to. Give us a rating and some comments if you really like (or maybe not) what we are covering on Focus. It helps others […]

Culture Night 2019 Ireland Says Welcome @ Comhlámh “Following the great success of the human library and music from Kaleidoscope Collective at Culture Night last year we are delighted to announce our entertainment for Culture Night 2019! We look forward to welcoming both return visitors and new faces to Culture Night at Comhlamh, Parliament St, […]

Nepal Day 2019 Comhlamh attended Nepal Day over the weekend just past. This from Ruth Powell. We had a terrific time at Farmleigh Sunday with the Nepal Ireland Society celebrating Nepal day and talking about #volopsThere was a lovely atmosphere, some wonderful dances and music and of course, great people – thank you for the invite Nepal Ireland Society – […]

IC4LOP Launch On June 21st, we held the launch event for our latest Erasmus+ funded project, ‘International Citizens for Local Perspectives’ (IC4LOP).  We were delighted to host over 50 representatives of migrant support organisations, volunteer sending agencies, and other national organisations in Wood Quay for a very engaged programme.  The project aims to create innovative […]

The Deliberate Rebellion is a short film commissioned by Extinction Rebellion UK and made by All Hands On. The film examines Extinction Rebellion’s demand that Government must create and be led by the decisions of a Citizens’ Assembly on climate and ecological justice.  The film is directed and produced by ex-Reuters reporter Patrick Chalmers. Music […]

When : Thursday evenings 18:30 – 21:30pm 16th Sep – 24th Oct 2019 Where: Comhlámh offices, 12 Parliament Street, Dublin 2. Book Your Place Places are limited and fill fairly quickly so click Here This course is open to anyone interested in learning about the impact of international trade on the global economy. Are you […]

Comhlámh would like to invite you to an information day about our new Erasmus+ funded project, ‘International Citizens for Local Perspectives’.Join us to: Examine how we can develop connections between young return international volunteers and young migrants from the global south to develop global justice action projects; Learn more about a new app that’s mapping integration […]

“Myself and some friends in ATD Ireland (All Together in Dignity) are organising the Dublin to Paris cycle for a few reasons. Officially we are raising awareness about the SDG’s or as I prefer to call them “The 17 Global Goals” which basically aim to eradicate extreme poverty everywhere, make the world a fairer place […]

Three events on Wednesday 17th July that our members and supporters might be interested in. In our own offices, MASI – Movement of Asylum Seekers Ireland are hosting an open conference planning meeting.  MASI are having its first conference in Liberty Hall on Saturday 5th October  “marking five years since we first came together in […]

To coincide with World Refugee Day 2019 Comhlámh’s ‘Ireland Says Welcome’ group would like to share this Direct Provision Explainer to highlight some of the continuing issues with Ireland’s system for accommodating people seeking asylum in this country. This one page graphic is a resource to help people fill in any gaps they may have […]

The purpose of this submission is to express our conviction that DP is not an adequate system and should be ended – and to make recommendations for improvements which would be led by the rights of the asylum-seeker rather than the economics of the state. Ireland Says Welcome submission paper. May 2019 In May past […]

Previous Annual Reports can be found in our About Us section here

On the 27 June, author Séan Ó Tuathaigh will be here in the Comhlámh offices for an evening of questions and answers about his new book “Outlanders: Stories of the displaced”. Beforehand we caught up with him to ask him a few questions about his book. Can you tell us what the book is about […]

Julius Arega is chair of a community based organisation in Ngong, Kenya called Rays of Hope. Rays of Hope works to support proper family and community based care for children. He speaks about the situation in Kenya, and his input was part of the launch of ‘Children First: A Global Perspective on Volunteering in Orphanages […]

Climate justice, Independent Living Movement Ireland, volunteering and orphanages, Direct Provision, the housing crisis and much more You can read or download Focus 104 below. The editorial team would like to thank all our contributors: In this issue we have WILLIAM HEDERMAN on the states attempt to import hydraulically fracked gas from outside the country […]