10 December 2005  - 11 December 2005
Third National Conference on Volunteering in Russia
Moscow, Russia
A National Conference on Volunteering is held in in December every year to mark the International Day of the Volunteer (5 December) inaugurated by the UN in 1985, and to celebrate voluntary work nationwide. The Conference is a rare public acknowledgement of the unique role volunteering plays in society, and contributes to the dialogue about key problems for, and perspectives on, the development of volunteering in the Russian Federation.

This year’s conference will mark the 10th anniversary of Russia’s first celebration of the International Day of the Volunteer and the first forum held in Russia about volunteering. The conference proceedings will include plenary sessions, panel discussions, small group discussions, round tables and master classes.

Discussion will focus around the following general themes:

• Volunteering as a building block for economic and social growth and for the development of civil society in the Russian Federation;
• Strategic partnership between government and local authorities and the voluntary sector;
• Volunteering as a factor in increasing the effectiveness of government social policies;
• Infrastructure to support voluntary work: methods, technologies, best practice models of effective management and administration in the voluntary sector, drawn from both Russian and international experience. Voluntary programmes for any type of organization; corporate voluntary programmes; volunteering for young people and how to integrate this into mainstream education (“Teaching voluntary service”); developing on-line voluntary communities (IT-based projects); volunteer centres and their networks etc;
• Self-regulation as a factor in strengthening and developing the voluntary sector. Discussion of the theory and practice of such instruments of self-regulation as: a Russian code for voluntary work; a general declaration for volunteers; standards governing the work of volunteer centres, voluntary organizations and volunteers; general methods for evaluating the economic value of volunteering.