The staff of the Institute for Youth Development KULT celebrated International Volunteer Day in the most fitting pursuit – volunteering. This decision was driven by the need to draw attention to volunteering and aim advocacy efforts towards government institutions and CSOs working with volunteers, especially youth.
The Institute’s comprehensive state-level research on youth needs, the first survey of its kind since 2013, shows that one in three young people in BiH volunteer, and that youth consider volunteering an effective tool for achieving positive social change.
Volunteers of all ages are very important in every society! This is particularly evident in crisis situations. We have spent the past two years dealing with challenging circumstances that showed us just how important volunteers are in overcoming challenges such as the ones brought on by the pandemic.
In 2021, International Volunteer Day is celebrated under the slogan Volunteer now for our common future. This is more than a slogan – it’s a call to action. We firmly believe that encouraging people to get involved in problem-solving results in lasting and implementable solutions.
In addition to several initiatives that the Institute has implemented with partners, which promote and encourage volunteering and the development of volunteer policies in BiH and the region, for the past two years have been working on popularizing corporate volunteering in BiH.
To lead by example, the staff of the Institute for Youth Development KULT spent over 50 hours volunteering at 5 locations with associations and institutions caring for people in need. Our staff spent a day preparing and distributing meals in a Merhamet soup kitchen, took part in occupational therapy and creative workshops in Sentivo, Vitalis and the Center for Healthy Aging, and joined the staff of Red Cross of the Istočna Ilidža Municipality in their field work. This experience encouraged us to reflect on volunteering as a way to contribute to building a better future for all of us.
The Institute for Youth Development KULT invites partners and friends, businesses and civil society organizations to join us in corporate volunteering. If you are interested in volunteering, or would like to host volunteers, you can register and explore your options on the online platform VOLONTIRAJ.BA.
Corporate volunteering is a type of social engagement that is planned, organized and executed by employees and approved, encouraged and financially supported by the management of their company. To support corporate volunteering, we launched Volontiraj.ba, an online platform created through the initiative “Improving Human Rights in the Business Sector in Bosnia and Herzegovina”, implemented by the Institute for Youth Development KULT in cooperation with the the Association of Employers of FBiH and with support of the European Union.
Volunteering was the final activity in our celebration of the International Volunteer Day 2021, completing an array of activities designed to promote and celebrate volunteering, volunteers, and all other participants in the volunteering process. The Institute’s partners UN Volunteers and the RYCO Regional Youth Cooperation Office supported us in the celebration of this year’s International Volunteer Day.
