The nongovernmental organizations in Moldova lack qualified volunteers because there is no appropriate volunteering management. In Moldova they do not yet use volunteer cards. But there are many persons who need these official certificates to show that they worked as volunteers and could thus enjoy exemptions or concessions at universities or when being employed for example, said Veronica Harea, coordinator of the Association “Youth for Right to Life”.

Contacted by IPN, Veronica Harea said that volunteering is not appreciated in Moldova. A problem is related to the database about job offers in the field. The Association “Youth for Right to Life” intends to work out a database for volunteers, which will include all the volunteering offers as well as possibilities of applying to international programs. “Even is some of the organizations in Moldova face problems in the field of international volunteering, there are associations that managed to exchange experience with foreign volunteers. There are also Moldovan volunteers who went to another country to familiarize themselves with a different culture and to work directly with organizations’ beneficiaries,” she stated.

According to Veronica Harea, foreign volunteers spend by six months in Moldova within international programs. More than 20 Moldovan volunteers last year took part in volunteer programs abroad. “Foreign specialists said the number of Moldovan volunteers who go abroad is low because, compared with other countries, the young people in Moldova have access to Work &Travel programs within which they can earn money. The volunteer programs are not very known and do not yield incomes and thus are not very attractive to them,” said Veronica Harea.

The Moldovan volunteers who go abroad within volunteer projects are issued with certificates showing that they did volunteer work, but this work in Moldova is not appreciated. There are now no statistics in Moldova about the exact number of volunteers and the areas where volunteering is done.