The M.I.L.E. report (Measuring Impact of Long and Medium-Term Engagement) presents findings from a one-year CCIVS research project on Long and Medium-Term Volunteering (LMTV) in International Voluntary Service.
It opens by explaining the project's purpose and its youth-led participatory method: young activists and former volunteers were trained as researchers, then interviewed over 50 volunteers, hosts and organisations across 16 countries.
The bulk of the report organises findings around three perspectives. Volunteers describe transformation, autonomy, and personal growth, alongside real mental health and wellbeing challenges. Communities reflect on co-creation, reception, and the impacts volunteers bring (and what would be lost without them). Organisations discuss structure, funding constraints, safeguarding, and power dynamics.
It then draws cross-cutting themes, including autonomy, the balance between mutual learning and task delivery, decolonisation, privilege, funding imbalances, mental health, and long-term value.
It closes with strategic recommendations built around four levers (preparation, care, inclusion, funding) plus advocacy messaging, and reflects on youth-as-researchers as a key legacy. Annexes include the interview guides and a breakdown of participating countries and organisations.
