Vladimir Putin asked “not to overburden” the volunteer movement in Russia

The Government of the Russian Federation approved the Concept for the development of volunteering in Russia until 2025, and Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the preparation of instructions related to its implementation. “I ask the administration (of the president) and the government of the Russian Federation to look at these instructions from the point of view so as not to bureaucracy this volunteer movement. It must remain essentially a volunteer movement. This is its whole value,” said the head of state, whose quoted by TASS. He thanked volunteers of all directions, addressing special thanks to the people who helped organize and host the FIFA World Cup in the summer of 2018.

The head of state especially noted the “genuine service of volunteers in hospitals, hospices, and social institutions,” calling for the removal of “long-outdated barriers and restrictions” on working with volunteers. He demanded the launch of special educational programs for the interaction of officials with NGOs and volunteers, as well as the preparation of clear and clear rules of interaction “in an extremely short time”: according to him, the Ministry of Emergency Situations and law enforcement agencies are already working on a similar document. In turn, the chairman of the All-Russian public movement "Medical Volunteers" Pavel Savchuk clarified that medical volunteers are now working in 420 hospitals and clinics throughout the country. And the founder of the Vera charity foundation, Nyuta Federmesser, invited officials to become volunteers in hospices.

According to the president, the active involvement of volunteers is also required for the implementation of national projects and development programs. He promised support to volunteer centers in the regions, emphasizing the “very large” demand from young people to participate in the volunteer movement. “Such points of attraction should be in cities, other populated areas, schools, colleges, universities,” Putin said, adding that support should be provided to businesses that create corporate volunteer centers.

Putin noted that while formally completing the Year of the Volunteer, everyone should aim to continue working together. “I hope that this work will continue on your part,” he addressed representatives of volunteer organizations. “And from our side you will feel every support in your noble work.” At the same time, the president joked that the heads of a number of regions are also, to a certain extent, volunteers due to the huge number of responsibilities and salary levels.

Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Tatyana Golikova said that as part of the implementation of the national project "Education" by 2024, the government intends to involve 20% of Russians, or 30 million people, in volunteer activities. She added that in the first half of 2019, regions and municipalities will have to develop special requirements that will avoid cases of unjustified refusal of government agencies to cooperate with volunteers.

“In accordance with the law, the government has approved requirements for the procedure for interaction between government bodies and subordinate state and municipal institutions with volunteer organizations by type of activity... Such procedures have been developed for the provision of assistance by volunteers in organizations providing medical care, in inpatient and social service organizations. They establish the conditions for concluding agreements between state and municipal institutions and volunteer organizations and exclude cases of unjustified refusal to organize such cooperation. The same requirements should be at the level of the country’s regions and municipalities, and we very much expect that such work will be carried out and completed by regional authorities. first half of 2019," Golikova said.

According to her, the activities planned by the project, in particular, are aimed at solving the problem of uneven development in the regions of volunteer centers and launching systematic financial support programs for training volunteers. “As part of the project, an infrastructure will be created to support the activities of volunteers, professional personnel will be trained to work with them, and competitions will be held to involve schoolchildren in volunteer movements,” the Deputy Prime Minister noted. More than 27 billion rubles will be allocated for the development of volunteerism within the framework of the federal project over 6 years. As part of this project, it is planned to create 318 regional resource centers for volunteering, volunteer centers in educational organizations of all types and centers for the so-called silver volunteering, or older generation volunteers.

Earlier, the first deputy head of the presidential administration, Sergei Kiriyenko, spoke about the need to work with young people , whose main value is self-realization. “They want to realize themselves, they want to realize their talent, they want to contribute to the development of their country,” Kiriyenko explained, emphasizing that the state is obliged to create this opportunity for them and learn to work with civil society and volunteers. According to him, over the year the number of people who take part in various charitable volunteer projects has more than doubled, and for this kind of “caring people” a “social elevator” should be provided, which should be the United Russia party.