The role of the volunteer in Malta has become a topic of public interest, mainly because of the confluence of three trends. First, all levels of government are encouraging volunteer work as a substitute for the government's declining role in the provision of social services. Indeed, the Manual on Special Leave for Government Employees contemplates the release of such employees to work with voluntary organisations. The objective behind it is to support the implementation of projects and activities that are aligned with government policy by enhancing their HR capacity.
Second, women, historically the source of much volunteerism in our country, have been entering the workforce in increasing numbers. Finally, the growth in the size of the retired population has led to a discussion of ways to use the time, talents and energy of older people. However, although there is interest in understanding and encouraging volunteerism, relatively little is known about the activity.
Over the last few years, it has transpired that Malta's voluntary sector is on the rise and has strong traditional roots in the country. Although the number of volunteers in Malta, around 1.5 percent of the population, appears to have remained stable over the past few years, reliable sources suggest that volunteers represent some 14 percent of the Maltese adult population and that the Maltese are at the forefront when it comes to donating money towards different causes.
Still, we conspicuously lag behind many other European countries. In Holland, for example, more than 43 percent of the population is involved in some sort of voluntary work, and the average time invested is four hours per week. A survey of volunteering in the UK two years ago suggested that close to three-fourths of the adult population took part in voluntary work, contributing significantly to the country's GDP. A survey in eight EU countries found an average participation rate in volunteering of more than 30 percent.
Volunteers make contributions to our society both through the direct tasks or activities they complete and indirectly by improving health and well-being, increasing skills and confidence, and strengthening trust, cooperation and innovation in communities.
However, to date, there has been limited investment in building on this research to analyse the benefits of volunteering and integrate it into policy priorities at the national or subnational levels. Stronger evidence and models could help nurture volunteering and its positive contributions, both for individuals and society in general.
Understanding the nature of this voluntary engagement is a key goal of any analysis. Our ability to foster and build support for volunteerism is partly dependent on how well we understand the ways people are already engaging every day in critical but uncompensated contributions in pursuit of the public good. Understanding who engages, under what circumstances, and why, should provide a foundation on which to more effectively promote civic engagement and volunteerism in pursuit of sustainable development goals and core development objectives.
Volunteer work can easily be defined as "unpaid work carried out for the benefit of those outside the household" and involves contributing time, skills, ideas and talents for charitable, educational, political, economic, humanitarian or other worthwhile purposes. The work itself is uncompensated, undertaken freely (not coerced) and serves the common or collective good rather than for private or personal gain.
Volunteerism can be informal and based on direct action and engagement with recipients, or it can be more formal and indirect, mediated through voluntary organisations or associations. By way of illustration, volunteer activities range from a neighbour helping a neighbour to a group of parents organising to clean a playground, to a formal volunteer group, such as the Parents Teachers Association, performing formally specified functions.
Volunteer activities also vary in their time requirements. People may participate in them from 1 to 52 weeks in a year, any day of the week and for any number of hours. Some activities are spread out over weeks or years; others are concentrated (for example, within communities after a disaster strikes).
Volunteering, like other activities, may entail some unpleasant aspects, and for people to be willing to undertake unpleasant tasks, they must be compensated in some fashion. Compensation for volunteering can take a variety of forms. Sometimes a volunteer receives only psychic or personal satisfaction, or there may be some public recognition. A range of monetary compensations exist as well, such as when some people receive income tax deductions for their volunteer work.
Despite having a robust analytical framework and a solid typology, sound and specific data on levels of volunteerism, especially data that can be disaggregated into these categories, are often still difficult to come by.
Yet, why do people volunteer? Is altruism the primary motivation, or do people volunteer out of some form of self-interest? Are people motivated 'to volunteer in general, or are they motivated to volunteer for particular types of activities? Such questions highlight an important policy area. If volunteerism is to be promoted to meet social needs, then the mechanisms that encourage volunteerism must be understood.
Measuring the impact of volunteering is increasingly important. Economic approaches can help to demonstrate the impact of activities, give visibility to both financial and wider social benefits to set alongside the costs of activities, and help make the case for investment.
We must encourage more people to join efforts as volunteers to contribute time to unmet social needs. They do not necessarily have the time; they just have the heart.
Dr Mark Said is a lawyer