VOLUNTEERING INFRASTRUCTURE

year, in a ceremony, taking place on 5 December – International Volunteer Day. The same Lawdefines that local municipalities in Republic Srpska have a legal obligation to establish some kindof awarding system for volunteers and organisations at the local level.In the past,the communistpolitical systemcreated adistorted perceptionof volunteering,giventhe use of theterm for obligatory“volunteer”work. Thisheritage stillhas a negativeimpact on thepromotion anddevelopmentof volunteeringin Bosnia andHerzegovina.The Law on Volunteering in Republic Srpska also sets the type of costs that can be coveredby organisations or reimbursed to the volunteer, if incurred in direct link to the volunteeringprogramme or activity. These costs are broadly defined and can include for instancecompensation for accommodation, food, travel, insurance, material and working clothes. Thecoverage of these costs is not obligatory for the organisation hosting the volunteer, but issubject to mutual agreement between the volunteer and volunteering organiser and needs to bedefined in the Volunteering Contract. It is obligatory to have such a contract signed, regardlessof the type and the length of the volunteering programme or activity.Neither the law on volunteering, nor other legislation in Bosnia and Herzegovina has anyprovisions on possible benefits related to tax exemption.According to the research “Pro social dimension of volunteering in Bosnia and Herzegovina”, 2011,the largest percentage, 36.6% of volunteers interviewed participated in volunteering activitiesfor helping other people, 25.2% participated in promotional campaigns, 16.9% providedassistance in the education area and 15.3% participated in environmental activities. The mainvolunteering motivations pointed out were: wanting to help other people, meeting new peopleand socialising, having a feeling of usefulness, contributing to the improvement of the society 3 .In Bosnia and Herzegovina, the majority of volunteering organisers are civil societyorganisations but some governmental organisations and public institutions can also be addedto this category. According to the Law on Volunteering in Republic Srpska, volunteering is notallowed in the private, for-profit sector. Since in the other entity within Bosnia and Herzegovinathere is no Law on Volunteering there is confusion with regards to the definition of volunteeringand difficulties in its promotion and development. Moreover, there is no statistical data onvolunteers or volunteering organisers in Bosnia and Herzegovina.Regarding the promotion of volunteering and its coverage in the media, we can say thatvolunteering is not considered as an interesting topic to cover. From time to time, mediafollows up on some of the volunteering programmes; this is not done on regular basis and it ismore sporadic and ad hoc. Furthermore, there is a general lack of information and knowledgeresources available on the Internet in the local language, especially in relation to volunteermanagement system, legislation and research.Aiming to improve this situation, the Youth Communication Centre (OKC) launched a webportal on volunteering which can accessed at www.volontiram.ba. Besides general informationon volunteering and its benefit to the society and the individuals, visitors can find a lot ofinformation on legislation in Bosnia and Herzegovina and other European countries, examplesof good practice, research and methodologies on volunteering. A special section is dedicatedto the presentation of the Network of local volunteer centres in Bosnia and Herzegovina“Volontiram!” and its members. The web portal also provides news related to volunteering, notonly from Bosnia and Herzegovina, but also from other European countries.3. Youth Communication Centre (OKC) and Network of local volunteer centres in Bosnia and Herzegovina „Volontiram!“, 2011. „Pro social dimensionof volunteering in Bosnia and Herzegovina“. Available at: http://www.okcbl.org/publikacije/pdf/pro_social_dimension_of_volunteering_in_bih.pdf52 Volunteering infrastructure in Europe 4 Bosnia-Herzegovina