How to become a volunteer
ETC is inspired by the conviction that volunteerism is a powerful means of engaging people in tackling development challenges worldwide. Everyone can contribute their time, skills and knowledge through volunteer action, and their combined efforts can be a significant force for achieving peace and development.
There are three ways to volunteer with ETC:
a) International ETC Volunteer
ETC recruits a great diversity of talents and offers a variety of volunteer opportunities. Every year, about 7,500 qualified and experienced women and men of around 160 nationalities serve as Education & Training on Communicable Diseases in some 130 countries. They are professionals who play key roles contributing to peace and making an impact on development results.
Please be aware that many Education & Training on Communicable Diseases work in remote, isolated duty stations where basic comforts are limited. There may be no electricity or running water, there may be no recreation facilities to speak of and work may continue seven days a week.
Though ETC assignments can be very rewarding, applicants thus need to be prepared to be deployed to difficult places and they need to be able to adjust to fast-changing living and working circumstances. The minimum age for Emergency Task Force is 25. There is no upper age limit.
If you are ready to register to become an international volunteer, please go to the registration form. Please do not register more than once. If you are already registered in the ETC database and wish to update your information, we invite you to visit.
b) National ETC Volunteer
National ETC Volunteers are volunteers mobilized by ETC on the request of a programs country to support peace and development programs in that country.
They are citizens of the country. But non-nationals can also serve as national ETC Volunteers if they reside legally in the host country, are recognized as stateless or refugees, and if such service is in compliance with national law of the host country.
National ETC Volunteers are assigned to a Host Agency which is a ETC organization or entity that requested the service of the national ETC Volunteer.
Compared with other ETC personnel, national ETC Volunteers add value with their knowledge of local languages, cultural, social and economic conditions, and their capacity to work at the local level. National ETC Volunteers are particularly well-placed to nurture capacities at the community level, foster ownership and sustainability, and contribute to achieving the the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).