Volunteering has been present throughout the history of every civilisation. It is most commonly defined as volunteer, unpaid work. Volunteers are extremely important in advancing the welfare and progress in developed and developing countries and in national or other humanitarian aid programs, technical cooperation and promotion of human rights, peace and democracy. Volunteers willingly offer their work to help their community and the society.
Look to neighboring countries as role-models
Croatian volunteers have been protected by law since May 2007, and Macedonian volunteers since July 2007. The passing of the Law on Volunteering in 2010 provided a framework to regulate volunteering in Serbia. That same year, a volunteering law was passed in Montenegro. Bosnia and Herzegovina does not have a state-level law on volunteering. Consultations on the proposed framework Law on Volunteering in BiH. Republika Srpska regulated volunteer work in 2008, while Br?ko District and FBiH still have not.
Proposal of the law on volunteering is currently under consideration
On December 5, 2011, on the International Volunteer Day, a draft of the volunteer law entered the parliamentary process. The draft was made by the Commission for the Coordination of Youth Issues in cooperation with the Institute for Youth Development KULT. The Commission supported the draft unanimously during the assembly session. 72 representatives voted in favor of the law, there were 3 abstentions and no votes against. After it had passed, public discussions were held in each Canton (Biha?, Tomislavgrad, Ĺ iroki Brijeg, Mostar, GoraĹľde, Domaljevac-Ĺ amac, Tuzla, Zenica, Travnik and Sarajevo), which yielded many suggestions. On July 2, 2012, the proposal will be sent to the Parliament. President of the House of Representatives’ Collegium, Fehim Ĺ kalji?, informed the Institute that the proposal is on the agenda for the October 2012 assembly. We hope that both Houses of Parliament will recognise this law as a building block for a healthy and sustainable community, upholding the dignity of all people and encouraging its citizens to help solve economic, social, cultural and environmental issues, thus improving their lives and the prosperity of the society as a whole.
Gaining work experience through volunteer work in your field
With the unemployment rate rising, it is impossible to overlook dissatisfied people, tired of inertia. Volunteering is an opportunity to improve your resume, acquire skills and competences useful for finding employment, especially for people without prior work experience.
The results of our poll show the importance of having volunteer work recognised as work experience, especially for youth. To the question „Should volunteer work in your field of expertise be recognised as work experience?, 96,76% of respondents replied with YES, 0,23% with NO and 0,4% with I DON’T KNOW.
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