On this page

1. Forthcoming policy developments

2. Ongoing debates

Forthcoming policy developments 

In December 2021, a public debate on the Draft of the new Law on Volunteering commenced. The rationale behind this draft emphasizes the necessity to align the Law on Volunteering with the goals of the National Youth Strategy, as outlined in Chapter 2/2.3 National Strategy on youth volunteering. The draft identifies current shortcomings in regulations and public policies contributing to low citizen involvement in volunteering activities. These issues include administrative hurdles, vague legal categories, insufficient monitoring, difficulties in mobilizing volunteers during emergencies, and ambiguous conditions for engaging vulnerable groups. The new law will aim to address these challenges, emphasizing the need for improved recognition of innovative volunteering methods and increased societal acknowledgment of volunteer work.

Notably, both the National Youth Strategy for the period 2023-2030 and the Action Plan for its implementation for the period 2023-2025 underscore the amendment or adoption of regulations, specifically highlighting the Law on Volunteering as pivotal for the Strategy's successful implementation. 

The forthcoming steps in establishing the new Law are anticipated in the near future.

Ongoing debates 

Thanks to the inclusion of the youth worker profession in the Classification Register, and activism of numerous civil society and youth and for youth organisations, debates regarding key mechanisms for recognition of skills gained through informal channels are taking place. 

At the same time, civil society organisations are tackling different issues on volunteering and initiating changes in the volunteering infrastructure of Serbia. In that terms, the Young Researchers of Serbia - Volunteering Service of Serbia implemented the project “National Programme of Youth Volunteering” (Nacionalni program volontiranja mladih MLADI SU ZAKON) aiming to contribute to the development of a favourable environment for youth volunteering through coordination of partnerships within the Youth Rules programme and the organisation of numerous volunteering camps in Serbia.