Singapore City, Singapore: The Singapore Commissioner of Charities (CoC) has said tightened charity registration will not discourage the spirit of volunteerism. Nine in 10 Singaporeans support stricter charity and volunteering rules.   Read article

The revised legal framework for the Voluntary Organisations Act and the amendments to the Civil Code were discussed during Tuesday’s parliamentary session. The Voluntary Organisations Act describes an organisation as being a group of people who share a common goal and vision. Such groups may come together for philanthropic, social or private purposes.  Read article

"Should the salt of the earth be managed?" asked the National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO) in 1983, referring to the trend for formalising the training of those who gave their spare time to help a worthy cause. The response to this question when repeated since has always been 'yes'. And the trend towards professionalism has continued and appears to be welcomed by volunteers.  Read article

Volunteering England supports the concept Cheryl Gillian raises of encouraging citizen volunteers to help decide the form public spending should take.  Read article

Washington, D.C., USA: Today more than 90 percent of Fortune 500 companies have employee volunteer programs to leverage the power of service and volunteering in the corporate sector. The Corporate Community Involvement Summit, a coalition of nonprofit organizations, has developed a set of standards that will help to track trends, benchmark programs and encourage better practices in employee volunteer programs.   Read article

Beijing, China: China is drafting a law to clearly define the rights and obligations of volunteers in a move to encourage more people to donate their time and skills, said an official with the Ministry of Civil Affairs on Tuesday, International Volunteer Day.  Read article

Seoul, Korea: The government of South Korea formed a committee on volunteer promotion to address social inclusion issues.  Read article

Niamey: Au Niger, le Chef du gouvernement M. Hama Amadou a lancé le programme de volontariat national du pays au moment où des millions de citoyens célèbrent les contributions de volontaires pour le progrès des sociétés et du développement.  Read article

Canberra, Australia: Volunteer firefighters, emergency services crews and other Australians who donate hundreds of hours of their time each year could be offered petrol vouchers, tax rebates or cash reimbursements under a new proposal to defray the soaring fuel costs.  Read article

Next week's Australian census will for the first time feature a question on volunteering. Recent research found that one in every three Australians is spending an average of 132 hours a year volunteering.  Read article