FAQ

VOI Social Impact, Lda. is a social enterprise whose mission is to promote social cohesion, improve the well-being of local communities, and ensure the effectiveness of public sector development projects and private sector investments in fragile and conflict-affected settings.

VOI licenses an innovative, effective and award-winning methodology developed at the University of Cambridge. The VOI methodology was embedded into a VOI platform, an end-to-end software designed to facilitate the implementation of VOI projects and efficiently monitor and assess their impact. The licensing of the VOI methodology includes access to the VOI Platform and training by VOI experts and culminates in a certification process. In addition, we provide tailored advisory services per project, at the request of the customer.

The VOI Platform is a software that integrates project and task management management functionalities with a comprehensive guided manual and explanatory videos. Each new project initiated on the platform is pre-loaded with specific steps and actions designed to maximize impact, ensuring consistent and effective implementation of the methodology. Key features include automatic step-by-step project guidance, robust task tracking, user assignment and a streamlined evidence upload system for project certification. This allows for real-time monitoring and validation of project outcomes, ensuring that every VOI project meets our high standards for impact.

Multiple layers set VOI apart from other approaches and led to its recognition with a prestigious prize for innovation in peace and security from the Geneva Center for Security Policy. These include: It is based on a robust and validated three-step systematic procedure that has delivered exceptional results in practice, bridging the gap between theory and practice – it adds science and rigour to peace and development while maintaining its simplicity; Effectively engages communities through decisive involvement of local communities in the decision-making process and implementation of key aspects of the project (e.g. definition of the indicators to be measured and of the socioeconomic interventions); It is fast and cost-effective, ensuring partners can quickly achieve tangible results and value for money. By providing a scalable, user-friendly interface, the VOI Platform empowers organizations to efficiently manage multiple projects in parallel, driving exponential growth in social impact. The technology not only simplifies project execution but also enhances transparency, accountability and reporting, making it indispensable for achieving the local impact VOI intends to have in the communities. This technology-driven efficiency makes our solution superior to traditional, manual methods.

Companies, especially multinational corporations, often have business operations, projects and investments in fragile and violent areas or where local communities are affected by the implementation of the companies’ projects. These operations risk being affected by, as well as contributing to, tensions between and within communities, disrupting workplans and threatening the safety and security of people and assets. In addition, responses might lead to allegations of human rights abuses and reputation costs. With VOI, companies ensure an adequate social license for operating in fragile settings. VOI addresses these issues as a stability and social impact solution for companies at any stage of their projects. A preventive solution in new and ongoing projects (project preparation and management): where there is no conflict, but the inherent risk is high and needs to be mitigated to ensure the security of the company’s operations and assets; A corrective solution in conflict-affected and disrupted projects (project remediation): where tensions and conflicts between communities have been observed and solutions to prevent escalations are required. VOI is also a means to ensure that businesses can do good. Companies nowadays should have a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) vision and Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) targets. VOI increases the success and positive impact of social programs and actions systematically and consistently.

VOI projects follow the same validated and scientific methodology and include three Phases and core activities. However, the methodology implies adaptations to better reflect local realities. For instance, the composition of groups for VOI workshops will be adaptable to address specific traditions and cultural sensitivities (e.g. joint or separate participation of men and women, or elder and younger adults). Furthermore, VOI projects always aim to strengthen social cohesion and the projects ensure the effective engagement of local communities in the decision-making processes throughout implementation. This makes each VOI project context-specific: the measurement of impact and progress is based on community-generated indicators of social cohesion (Phase I), and socioeconomic interventions are defined (Phase II) and implemented (Phase III) by communities themselves. Instead of imposing a menu of solutions to choose from, as is often done (and criticised) in externally funded operations, VOI projects culminate in socioeconomic interventions that are not pre-defined. With VOI, there is no one-size-fits-all. In short, the methodology is thus simultaneously systematic and flexible: it responds to the needs of each client, project, and the context of the targeted area. VOI projects promote local agency, legitimacy and sustainability, and only offer a canvas – it is up to participants to complete it.

VOI targets local communities: relatively small geographical areas (rural villages, small towns, urban neighbourhoods, etc) that have been, were, or are threatened to become affected by tensions or violence. VOI projects seek to stabilise and support the development of local areas, rather than focusing on national or international issues: we create pockets of peace.

VOI is a three-phased internationally recognized methodology that promotes social cohesion and development in local communities: Phase I aims to familiarise participants and relevant stakeholders with VOI, leading to the development of a survey based on community-sourced indicators to create a baseline. This M&E tool allows us to analyse progress and impact with scientific rigour. To embed local ownership of real meaning from the outset, the indicators are generated through community consultations. Surveys are exclusive to each context and reflect local nuances while being intelligible externally to national and international actors. In Phase II, we search for consensus between communities about what could improve the lives of all through the VOI exercises. These exercises occur in focus groups. In the groups, representatives of the communities and their groups seek to find common ground through an innovative exercise that offsets differences and places everyone in the same initial position, detaching participants from identities associated with tensions and searching for what could be beneficial for all. As a sort of game, in the VOI exercises participants are asked to imagine that they do not know what specific group they would belong to (e.g. which village, which religion, …), inducing them to think for their entire community. The goal is to find consensus around two fundamental ideas that could improve the lives of all, with no pre-existing options. Phase III turns the consensus into tangible outcomes: socioeconomic interventions to be jointly implemented by local implementation committees – communities themselves spearhead implementation to benefit all members. In the end, these are transformed into local peace committees to ensure sustainability. Results are measured at the end of each Phase.

The implementation of VOI projects is expected to last from six months to a year. The two successful VOI pilots that were implemented in Guinea-Bissau with the UNDP lasted 6 to 9 months from start to end, covering in full the three phases of VOI.

Socioeconomic interventions implemented in VOI projects are not pre-defined: they are context-specific and decided by local communities, who then implement them with the financial support of the project sponsor. To this date, socioeconomic interventions – chosen consensually by the communities – have focused on a mixture of social and economic ideas. To illustrate, in one VOI pilot in Guinea-Bissau, the communities agreed that (i) it would be fundamental to rehabilitate the rice fields to improve the lives of all; and that (ii) joint football tournaments and traditional dance festivals were seen as key to renewing inter-communal relationships. To rehabilitate the dikes, the team sponsored a visit from an agrarian engineer and provided funds to purchase tubes to ensure the irrigation of the fields. The communities organised themselves to work on the rice fields in mixed shifts: as the VOI team visited the project site, we found the village chiefs working side-by-side over the sound of a small radio to the benefit of all. The football tournament also showcased the principles of VOI projects: without explicit guidance, communities decided to host the tournament with mixed teams, instead of having the villages play against one another.

The expected results of VOI projects include: For the communities: Community members increase their perceptions of peaceful coexistence over time; Emotion regulation strategies decrease levels of negative affect and increase positive affect; Social cohesion is strengthened and civilians, including youth and women, work together to improve their communities; Individual perceptions and attitudes towards “the other” are changed; The number of violent incidents and involvement of community members in the conflict decreases; Two interventions address the fundamental needs of the community, as consensually defined by its members, and contribute to its development. For clients: VOI provides a clear, scientific way of measuring and demonstrating progress and impact; Strengthens the toolkit of the institution to address peace and development issues. For the private sector, it also guarantees compliance with ESG and CSR requirements; Ensures the replicability of a cost-effective process in different target locations; Improves community engagement and trust between communities and institutions; Increases the Return on Investment by minimising violence and stabilising the working environment; Offers sustainability of results and continuous channels of communication through local bodies created from the VOI projects.

VOI has been implemented with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Guinea-Bissau to promote the peaceful coexistence and development of communities divided by violent land disputes. Furthermore, the VOI was also integrated into a competitive funding proposal that was awarded over $2 million by the Government of Canada to promote social cohesion in communities affected by violent extremism in Burkina Faso. The implementation was conducted by Search for Common Ground, whose team was trained by a VOI expert. In Guinea-Bissau, VOI projects achieved outstanding results: 98% of community-sourced indicators of peaceful coexistence improved significantly from the baseline. In Burkina Faso, the projects led to 26 socioeconomic interventions chosen by the communities, focused on infrastructure development, based on consensual communal agreements achieved through the VOI exercises

As with any intervention in a sensitive and volatile setting, success is never guaranteed. There could be unpredictable events (political events, power dynamics, natural events such as cyclones or droughts, etc.) that could threaten the VOI works, e.g. suspending the socioeconomic interventions. The success of a VOI project is also dependent on the competence, diligence, and timeliness of the implementing partner – which can be supported by VOI experts and will always have the VOI Platform to ensure that risks are mitigated to the minimum. In addition, the completion and success of each stage is a necessary condition to proceed to the next phase. By relying on communities for final decisions, their agreement is necessary for the correct continuation of the projects. VOI projects manage expectations from the outset and engage extensively with representatives of communities to ensure the smooth roll-out of the process. So far, in all VOI experiences – and despite occasional setbacks – results have consistently exceeded expectations.

There have been instances where large-scale projects and foreign investments have been disrupted by violence and instability. This can happen when external investment is not accompanied by effective community engagement and tangible benefits for the communities as a whole. Such situations can negatively impact a company’s reputation and fuel local resentment, which can lead to increased risks, costs, and delays for the project. The VOI can help minimize risks before, during, or after specific events. An example of such an instance is the $20 billion natural gas project in the north of Mozambique, which was sponsored by a consortium of leading global energy companies after the discovery of extensive offshore gas reserves in the area. The project area was sensitive, with high poverty rates and socioeconomic inequalities. In 2021, the project was severely impacted by violent attacks from extremist insurgents. These attacks resulted in the suspension of the project works, evacuation of its personnel and contractors, and declaration of force majeure on the project. While the VOI does not deal directly with the security situation, it could have been used to manage pre-existing social tensions and economic conditions at the community level. In particular, once the situation had been stabilized militarily, the VOI would have contributed to ensuring that peace efforts were sustainable and meaningful for all the stakeholders.

VOI works based on the licensing of its methodology for individual projects or annual subscriptions. The VOI methodology is embedded into software, the VOI Platform. A licensing agreement gives the customer access to the VOI Platform, which is pre-loaded with project-specific information as well as implementation guidance (see FAQ 3 at Getting Started Category).

The license agreement can focus on a specific project or be open-ended: the customer can get access to the VOI Platform to implement a single VOI project in a given area or for all its operations. A subscription allows the customer to use the VOI methodology in multiple locations simultaneously over a period of time. Subscriptions renew annually or as defined in the licensing agreement.

Yes. Each contract will include specific clauses concerning the cancellation of subscriptions.

The costs are defined ad hoc with each customer per license agreement – either for individual projects or renewable subscriptions. Pricing criteria include the value of the project and the number of projects expected to implement VOI. With the license, the customer gets full access to the VOI Platform, personalised in-person training, and certification services. In addition to licensing, the customer might want to include potential consultancy advisory services. Further, the full cost of VOI projects depends on the value the client wishes to attach to the socioeconomic interventions to be implemented by the communities in Phase III. To illustrate, each pilot in Guinea-Bissau earmarked 2,500$ for socioeconomic interventions. This amount differs based on the goals of the client. For instance, it could want to sponsor larger development efforts, such as infrastructure investments, and thus allocate more funds to socioeconomic interventions. Nonetheless, VOI projects focus on improving relationships as the basis for development and sustainability: the VOI ethos is people. What is key is to manage the expectations of communities from the outset regarding the extent of financial support. Our experience has shown that even smaller material contributions can have exponential positive impact on communities – they symbolise peaceful coexistence and joint efforts towards a better, shared future.

Each licensing agreement includes a three-day in-person training conducted by a VOI expert. The training is organised by modules that cover each VOI Phase and their core activities. It includes mock exercises to train the customer and its implementation team in the specificities and nuances of implementing a VOI project in a fragile setting.

With the certification process, we want to offer customers proof that they correctly implemented a Cambridge-based, UN-validated, and internationally recognised methodology designed to promote social cohesion and the development of local communities. With VOI certification, we thus confirm that the customer followed the methodology diligently and was committed to seeing positive results. The certification can be included, e.g., in ESG reports. Our certification process is embedded into the VOI Platform. The Platform includes a streamlined evidence upload system for project certification. This allows for real-time monitoring and validation of project outcomes, ensuring that every VOI project meets our high standards for impact.

VOI was developed at Cambridge by João Costa, a Founder and Director of the social enterprise. With the help of others and institutional support, he validated the VOI approach and created training materials that were field-tested in different scenarios. Based on these materials, he assembled a team of experts who have been trained on the VOI approach. These are the VOI experts, who bring decades of experience in the peace-humanitarian-development nexus and know how to engage the public and private sector with local communities in fragile settings. VOI experts will help the customer with VOI training, account management, and advisory services to support implementation if required.

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