RESEARCH FOR

POLICIES RELATED TO VOLUNTEER WORK IN LATVIA
Coordination
related to
youth
participation
and leisure
Interaction between dimensions of
participation, leisure and socioeconomic
growth
that with a contract for volunteer’s work one party
- the volunteer - shall undertake to carry out such
tasks set by the other party - organizer of voluntary
work - without remuneration that correspond to an
objective that does not involve material benefits
and that is prescribed in the organizer’s by-law,
articles of association or constitution (Luse, 2010).
However, the amendment does not stipulate all of
the tasks mentioned above delegated by the Cabinet
in 2009; it does not define voluntary work, and it
does not ensure the use of voluntary work for a wider
spectrum of legal subjects, because it might not give a
businessman the right to use voluntary work, because
the purpose of the businessman’s business is to gain
profits. Thus, it is currently controversial whether, in
accordance with the planned amendment, the purpose
of the organizer of voluntary work always has to be
other than gaining profits, or whether the purpose has
to be other than gaining profits only in cases where
there is a wish to use voluntary work. Although at the
moment it is impossible to forecast when the Saeima
might approve the amendment, after the amendment
has come into effect, the practical application of the
law will prove the effectiveness of the amendment in
the development of voluntary work (Berlaus, 2010).
Voluntary Work in Youth Policy
After carrying out the analysis, the author believes
that volunteering is widely discussed in the youth
policy. This is demonstrated not only by existing law
and by the range of structured documents, but also by
included aspects of volunteering as well. Youth policy
aspect of volunteer work is related to a context of a
useful free time spending. This is proved by Figure
2, which includes information that, in accordance
Coordination
related to youth
socio-economic
growth
Figure 2. Dimensions of Youth Policy.
Source: Youth policies guidelines 2009–2018.
Aija Jaunmuktane
with Youth policies guidelines of the year 2009 till
2018, the youth policy in Latvia consists of three
dimensions, of which one is promotion of young
people’s participation and appropriate leisure time
usage. Within these guidelines, volunteering is seen as
one of the ways young people can spend leisure time
usefully.
Leisure aspect has already been discussed within
youth policy in National Youth Policy Program in the
year 2002. The improvement of youth’s useful leisure
time organization is being promoted as one of the
programs’ priorities. According to the activities that
have been set out in reaching programs’ objectives
and targets in 2002, volunteering does not appear
as a leisure form of organization yet, but actual are
for example such measures as projects competition
organizing, providing development of the children and
youth in educational camps with certified programs,
organizing annual competition for talented young
people, vocational training to support music and the
arts.
Voluntary work in its actuality appears in National
Youth Policy Program for the year 2005 till 2009,
where a youth non-formal education system, developed
youth volunteering and increased opportunity for
young people to use their leisure time purposefully has
been mentioned as one of the program’s policy results.
Within the program, volunteering is understood as a
donation of time and skills for public purposes, which
allows using leisure time appropriately, building selfconfidence
and also allows to utilize existing skills
and gain new ones, that can serve as a source of work
experience. Thus, the author believes that within
this program voluntary work is being updated not
only from a point of discussion of the term, but also
232 ReseaRch foR RuRal Development 2012