The Volunteering Law adopted seven years ago should be reviewed, consider representatives of nongovernmental organizations working in the field. These propose creating a National Volunteering Center that should be managed by the Government, not the Ministry of Education, Culture and Research.
In the National Volunteering Conference, Nicolae Procopie, public policy consultant at the public association “Youth for the Right to Life”, said the Ministry of Education has a commission for certifying institutions that host volunteering activities, but this is not specified in the Volunteering Law.
Igor Meriacre, director of the association “Motivatie”, said volunteering is not done only when one has leisure time. This becomes part of life. “Volunteering means learning something, doing something and offering something. Volunteering can be practiced whenever one wants and not only. We very well solve the problems faced at home and less those encountered in the community. We are making effort to promote volunteering and hope the number of volunteers will rise,” stated Igor Meriacre.
Attending the conference, Speaker of Parliament Andrian Candu said volunteering strengthens the relationship between the state and civil society. The Republic of Moldova joined the states that recognize the importance of volunteering acts in 2010, by approving the Volunteering Law. “We are now in the process of working out another strategy, for 2018-2020 given that the previous strategy was approved, but not appropriately implemented,” stated the Speaker.
Minister of Health, Labor and Social Protection Stela Grigoras said volunteering changes mentality, but the process is long lasting. Communication platforms are needed to improve the volunteer – society relationship. The concept of employment should be widened so as to cover volunteering. A strategy is also needed to direct the labor force to key sectors and to make sure that the other jobs, of firefighter and rescuer, for example, are occupied by volunteers.
In Moldova, there are about 150 volunteering organizations registered officially.
The National Volunteering Conference, held during December 18-19, is organized by the Platform for Active Citizenship and Partnership for Human Rights, in partnership with members and partners of the Coalition for the Promotion of Volunteering Law and Activities, IPN reports. The program includes plenary and parallel sessions to discuss aspects of volunteering. The most active regional and municipal coordinators of the National Volunteering Week will be awarded on the second day of the event. At the end, the participants will adopt a resolution with recommendations for strengthening policies on volunteering.
