INCLUSIVE VOLUNTEERING IN UKRAINE: REALITIES AND PROSPECTS

Abstract

Volunteering is a form of unpaid participation and assistance provided by individuals – volunteers – on a voluntary basis to support the community or specific social, environmental, humanitarian or charitable initiatives. It is the voluntary work that people do in their spare time to help others or to support a specific cause or mission. Volunteering can take many forms, including working at charity events, participating in environmental restoration, supporting seriously ill or needy people, providing educational assistance, participating in social campaigns, and much more. The main aspect is the volunteer spirit, commitment and desires to make a positive contribution to society or help those in need. Today, volunteering is a powerful movement in society that can take over some of the responsibilities of state social institutions. The basic idea is the unselfish willingness of one person to do work for the benefit of others, often anonymously. In other words, a volunteer spends his or her time, energy, knowledge and experience on activities aimed at helping other people or society as a whole. Recently, volunteer work has become widespread in Ukraine, which has made it attractive to many scholars and professionals who have focused their professional attention on this type of activity as an important resource for social work. The factors that lead to the intensification of volunteer activity include, first of all, the aggravation of social problems and shortcomings in the system of providing social services to vulnerable categories of the population. The role of volunteers is becoming extremely important for many organizations that actively engage them in social activities in both governmental and non-governmental structures. However, Ukraine has not yet created a clear model of volunteer work at all levels and centers, which would include effective mechanisms for selection and engagement, training and supervision, support and incentives - the main elements and stages of volunteer work.