The role of volunteering in developing a healthy and balanced society
KEY CONCLUSIONS
Volunteers are the talent pool of the country
“Volunteers are positive minded and proactive people. For them social elevator is an opportunity to change their status, develop their career, search for a job,” Nikolay Lubimov, Governor of Ryazan Region.
“Volunteering is a very important social elevator. About 15% of Russians have volunteered, and 7% identify with volunteering,” Alexander Bugaev, Head, Federal Agency for Youth Affairs (Rosmolodezh).
“Volunteers score high on such competencies as interpersonal skills, teamwork, 8.5 out of 10, which are crucial for future leaders. Volunteers are the talent pool of the country,” Tatiana Gomzyakova, Head of the Volunteer Department, 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia Local Organising Committee.
Volunteering makes a big contribution to the economy of the country
“The global contribution of volunteers to GDP is about 2.4%, which is two times more than the global contribution of such alternatives as charity,” Toily Kurbanov, Deputy Executive Coordinator, Management Services, United Nations Volunteers Programme (UNV)
Volunteering affects all aspects of public life
“Volunteering is practically everywhere: in sports, health and social care, culture, education, urbanization, IT,” Artem Metelev, Chairman of the Council, Association of Volunteer Centres; Member of the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation.
“The uniqueness of the volunteering phenomenon is that it is totally pervasive. Today, volunteering has no boundaries, including age,” Ksenia Razuvaeva, Director, "Russian Centre for Civil and Patriotic Education of Children and Youth" (Rospatriototsentr).
Senior volunteering
“Senior volunteering is of strategic importance, it is what we call ‘silver volunteering’,” Toily Kurbanov.
Volunteering is popular all over the world
“Up to one billion people are involved in some form of volunteering all over the world. But, given that many of them are engaged in volunteering for several hours a day or several days a year, this translates into the equivalent of 109 million people employed full-time,” Toily Kurbanov.
“Sixty three percent of volunteers are doing it consistently,” Tatiana Gomzyakova.
ISSUES
Limited awareness of society and public authorities
“Often, limited awareness of who volunteers are, how to work with them and how to perceive them is the reason for limited support of volunteerism in general,” Ksenia Razuvaeva.
Lack of competent volunteer coordinators
“Not only volunteers need their training, but also people who coordinate their work,” Nikolay Lubimov.
SOLUTIONS
Turn volunteering into a grass-root movement
“Our global task is to turn volunteering into an integral part of live,” Ksenia Razuvaeva.
“Millions of people can unlock their potential, spiritual, creative, intellectual through volunteering,” Artem Metelev.
Pave way for volunteer projects
“Over 50% of the country’s population claims that they are willing to volunteer. We need to pave way and provide tools to enable volunteering, so people know what to do and how to do it,” Ksenia Razuvaeva.
“There must be a clear mechanism for introducing practices to the communities. It is important to have the infrastructure in the regions,” Alexander Bugaev.
Exercise corporate volunteering
“Corporate volunteering is an effective management practice for the Managers Association. <…> This is the right thing to do both, for the state and for the business,” Vadim Kovalev, First Deputy Executive Director, Russian Managers Association.
Interaction between business and NGOs through volunteer projects
“Volunteering is the first step towards communication between business and NGOs,” Vadim Kovalev.
