VOLUNTEERING INFRASTRUCTURE

A National Strategy for Volunteering is underway in Hungary, and this is a policy milestonefor the voluntary sector, as it reflects the commitment of the government to work togetherwith stakeholders on volunteering development. Civil society representatives, including forinstance ÖKA and Talentum Foundation, businesses, religious groups and the government,have developed the draft National Strategy for Volunteering jointly. On the 5th of December2011, the International Day of Volunteering, the final draft of the strategy was sent for publicdebate, to give all interested parties the opportunity to comment on it or propose amendments.The strategy is now in the phase of reviewing and its adoption is envisaged in 2012. TheNational Strategy for Volunteering will cover the period of time from its adoption to 2020 andvolunteering infrastructure is part of this strategy.11. RecommendationsAn enabling volunteering infrastructure in Hungary is impossible to achievewithout an appropriate policy framework and funding support. Programmesdesigned by policy makers should concentrate on volunteering development,training, knowledge and capacity building, with particular attention givento host organisations, to enable them to manage good quality volunteeringprogrammes. These programmatic priorities need to also be translated intoan increase in the financial involvement of the government in the supportof volunteer development organisations. More is still to be done also in thepartnership between volunteer organisations and businesses, for qualityemployee volunteering and projects funded under the corporate socialresponsibility policy of companies.Identifying recommendations relevant for the European level is achallenging endeavour when working at the local, regional and nationallevel. Except for the involvement in the work of the European VolunteerCentre (CEV), Hungarian volunteer organisations are situated outside of theEuropean policy discussion. Recommendations should come as a result of astructured framework, evenly involving stakeholders at different levels andin all countries. In that sense, we recommend the European Commission todevelop a White Paper on Volunteering in Europe.There are currently European programmes, such as the European VoluntaryService (EVS), that foster volunteering; they are invaluable and shouldbe maintained and if possible reinforced. European programmes shouldregard more quality guidance, volunteering programmes and partnerships.A similar programme to EVS should be developed for Adult and SeniorVolunteers, beyond what the Grundtvig programme is currently providing.Monitoring quality volunteering development in different member statesshould also be a concern at the European level. Such as assessment wouldhelp EU member states to understand the needs and particularities of thesector at different levels and foster the exchange of good practices. In thatsense, an online platform such as the CEV managed Online Community, canprovide the space for the knowledge sharing.183 Volunteering infrastructure in Europe 13 Hungary